Aaron Rodgers’ future as a quarterback is hardly in doubt. He is having another MVP-caliber season, and if he is cut free by the Green Bay Packers after this season, there is no question his services will be in high demand, COVID-19 protocols breach or not.
But what about Rodgers the pitchman, the easygoing brand ambassador of State Farm commercial fame that’s earned him millions of dollars? Can he survive misleading (or lying, depending on one’s perspective) about his vaccination status, breaking protocols, and then when found out, blaming others for his predicament? Can he overcome a perception he is a kook who leans on Joe Rogan for questionable COVID-19 and vaccine advice?
“He sullied his reputation in a big way,” said Doug Shabelman, CEO of Burns Entertainment, an agency that matches celebrity endorsers to companies. “It’s not something that’s going to go away for some time.
“It’s not so much the vaccination status, per se,” he continued. “It’s what he said, how he lied, how he flaunted the rules of protocol. That’s where it gets more controversial than anything. And then what he said about what he, you know, what treatments he was doing, and all these different things and how the NFL sent in a stooge. It was very unbecoming. And that’s where companies want to say, ‘I want to take a step back from working with him.
