It seems like Aaron Rodgers is never out of the spotlight. Recently, he has been in the news for his almost superhuman recovery path from an Achilles tear injury. He had sustained the injury during the New York Jets’ season opener against the Buffalo Bills. Cam Akers completed the fastest timeline in sports history in 5 months. No one expected him to make a recovery sooner than 5 months. But now he seems well on his way to returning to the gridiron sooner than experts had believed.

But A-Rod occasionally makes headlines for another reason: his use of unconventional medical practices. It seemed to have started with his prolific use of percocet. On The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, he said, “[I played] on percocet. It was more for pain management, so I wasn’t taking any high dosage, but stupid, ultimately.” Although he has stopped using the opioid and non-opioid combination medicine, he has now forayed into other alternative medical practices. So, is it possible his unconventional practices have somehow enabled his super-fast recovery?

Aaron Rodgers saw himself as a target of Big Pharma for his beliefs

Stirring the pot further, A-Rod made an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show before the start of the 2023 season, when people were still speculating if he would continue with the Green Bay Packers, or even continue playing football. When McAfee brought up the rumors, he took them in an entirely different direction. “Listen, there’s heroes and villains in sports and entertainment and I think because of my stance on COVID and maybe some other things, I’ve been cast as the villain.” When he caught the virus, he admitted to having used Ivermectin (which the WHO had discouraged people from using) to help him get better.

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Ever the rebel, since then, he has been on a crusade against Big Pharma. “When you go up against some of those powers that be, put yourself in the crosshairs, they’re gonna paint you a certain way. That’s fine. That’s their prerogative. But I think I responded pretty good in those times.” Did it stop him from believing in what he thought was good for him?

At the Psychedelic Science 2023 convention, the Jets player shocked the world when he “came out” as an ayahuasca user. He claimed that he had been trying it out for a few years but didn’t want to admit it publicly. He was unsure of how people would receive the news. But when he won back-to-back NFL MVP titles, he knew he had to share the gift with others as well. The Guardian reported that Rodgers said, “You know, it’s going to be hard to cancel me, because, you know, the previous year, 26 touchdowns, four interceptions. We had a good season. Ayahuasca, 48 touchdowns, five interceptions, MVP. What are you going to say?” And now it seems his efforts have borne fruit, as other players and even the league have started to explore this uncharted territory.

Rodgers might have pushed the NFL to be more open-minded about alternative medicines

Jordan Poyer, who plays as a safety for the Buffalo Bills, revealed that he had started to explore ayahuasca after Aaron Rodgers pioneered it. “Aaron Rodgers opened me up to plant medicine with ayahuasca. I was very curious when he announced it and when he started talking about it on The Pat McAfee Show, and so I started researching it.” After participating in a retreat where he tried it, he said he felt “revitalized” and came out as a “new man.”

And now the NFL is onto alternative medicines as well. The NFL and the NFLPA jointly announced that researchers from the American Society of Pain and Neuroscience and Emory University will conduct studies into “alternative pain management solutions,” including cannabidiol. Putting money where their mouth is, they committed $526,525 for the research. Allen Sillis, who is the league’s Chief Medical Officer, threw his weight behind the mission. “We are always seeking new knowledge, techniques and tools to ensure that NFL athletes are treated with the best possible care.”

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In 2022, the league awarded $1 million to researchers at two universities. They were the University of California-San Diego and the University of Regina in Canada. The whopping sum was meant for studies that focused on the effects of CBD on general pain recovery and “neuroprotection methods that may reduce the use of prescription medication.” Are we witnessing a revolution in player recovery and injury management? If yes, then Aaron Rodgers will go down in NFL lore as the man who started it all.

Editorial Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of EssentiallySports. 

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