Former San Francisco 49ers linebacker Takeo Spikes delivered hard hits during his 15-year NFL career. Now a football analyst, Spikes is still nailing quarterbacks, only with his words, not his pads.
Spikes went on CBS Sports Radio’s DA Show on Thursday, November 11 and took issue with Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers for the circumstances around Rodgers having tested positive for COVID-19. Many believe Rodgers misled the public for telling people in August he was “immunized” rather than vaccinated, and not following all the protocols unvaccinated players must abide if they are not.
That, coupled with the league having fined Rodgers $14,650 as punishment, brought Spikes out on a verbal blitz. To put that figure in context, Dallas Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb earned a $20,000 fine for wearing an untucked jersey the same week as Rodgers’ punishment.
“When the news came out and you found out he lied, I’m like, ‘Well, that’s a level of arrogance along with privilege as well,” Spikes told The DA Show. “If he continues to do that and they let him continue to get away with it, then it’s really like, ‘Why should I complain when it’s really going to fall on deaf ears?’ And I know there’s been a lot of talk about Rodgers getting preferential treatment and all of that. Personally, I think it was wrong.”
ALL the latest 49ers news straight to your inbox! Join the Heavy on 49ers newsletter here!
Rodgers Took Responsibility for Making ‘Misleading’ Comments
Rodgers missed Week 9’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs on November 7 for testing positive for COVID-19 days before the matchup. The Packers fell to the Chiefs, 13-7. Rodgers is expected to play Sunday, November 14 when the Packers host the Russell Wilson-led Seattle Seahawks.
And at 7-2, the Packers are still in the driver’s seat for top seed in the NFC. But not all the dust has settled since the news broke.
On November 5, after he had tested positive, Rodgers went on The Pat McAfee Show because he said he was “in the crosshairs of the woke mob” and he wanted to tell his side of the story “before my final nail gets put in my cancel culture casket.”
Rodgers also said he sought alternative treatments rather than the NFL-endorsed vaccinations because he is allergic to an ingredient in the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, although he did not specify the ingredient.
Four days later, on November 9, Rodgers returned to the show, to state that he didn’t intend to mislead people about his vaccination status.
“I made some comments that people might have felt were misleading,” Rodgers said. “To anybody who felt misled by those comments, I take full responsibility for those comments.”
“I shared an opinion that is polarizing I get it. I misled people about my status which I take full responsibility of.. I’m gonna continue to try & be the best version of me moving forward” ~@AaronRodgers12
According to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky, the NFL concluded its investigation into the Packers’ COVID-19 protocols on November 9 and found multiple violations of league rules. The league fined the organization $300,000 for a combination of two protocol violations. Rodgers and WR Allen Lazard were fined individually at $14,650 each.
Demovsky’s article, according to a league source, highlighted the specifics behind the violations. Rodgers and Lazard were each fined for attending a Halloween party the weekend before the star quarterback tested positive for COVID-19, violating the protocol that prohibits unvaccinated players from gathering in groups of more than three outside the facility. The Packers were penalized for Rodgers not wearing a mask during his press conferences and for not reporting Rodgers’ and Lazard’s attendance at the party.
After Rodgers made his comments on his second appearance on The McAfee Show, Wisconsin-based Prevea Health said it had ended its nine-year partnership with the veteran quarterback.
Spikes: Rodgers’ ‘Lie’ was ‘Totally Irresponsible’
GettyTakeo Spikes, now a media personality, didn’t mince words when it came to Aaron Rodgers.
If the Packers can continue clicking on the field, time will tell.
Spikes said on The DA Show that as long as Rodgers doesn’t fracture the locker room, he doesn’t think the Packers will have any trouble or distractions on the field.
Still, the former 49ers linebacker from 2008 to 2010 said he’ll look at Rodgers differently in light that the quarterback got caught in what appears to be a lie.
“Just to come out and sit up there and lie in the beginning so you can take the heat off of yourself and take the heat and attention away from a very serious matter,” Spikes said. “I don’t know exactly what happened day in, day out while you’re inside that locker room. But I thought that was real foul of Rodgers. And I’m a big fan of his game. But that really got me looking at him sideways … The degree of which he lied, especially during these troubling times, is totally irresponsible.”
The Packers are 3.5-point favorites over the Seahawks, per CBS Sports.
READ NEXT: Late-Round Pick Showing Signs of Becoming Next Niners Star
Comments
Former 49ers Linebacker Blasts Aaron Rodgers’ ‘Lie’ as Sign of ‘Privilege’