Sportscaster Bob Costas slammed Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers for being unvaccinated against COVID-19 despite saying he had been "immunized."
NFL Network reported this week that Rodgers was among unvaccinated NFL players after the quarterback tested positive for the coronavirus.
NFL.com reported that the league and players' association denied an exemption that had been sought after Rodgers received a homeopathic treatment from his personal doctor before training camp to raise his antibody levels.
"There are a lot of people already in the media who cover the NFL on a daily basis, which I no longer do, who have labeled him a liar," Costas said on CNN, with the interview's video posted by Mediaite.
"If you want to be extremely kind, you could say that he was disingenuous. He was obviously comfortable with most of the media and football fans nearly unanimously believing he was vaccinated."
Rodgers will miss Sunday's game against the Kansas City Chiefs and can't return to the field or team practice facilities for at least 10 days.
Costas criticized Rodgers for not addressing his unvaccinated status honestly.
"No matter how anti-facts, anti-science, and anti-common sense some of the anti-vaxxers are, say whatever else you want, they've all owned it. They've all come out and said, 'this is what I believe; this is what I'm doing,'" Costa said on CNN. "Aaron Rodgers was disingenuous about it."
Costas clearly believed getting vaccinated, especially for athletes, is not a personal choice.
"I don’t want to be overly glib about this, but it's a personal choice whether or not to get a tattoo. Or whether you're going to have the sushi or the pizza," Costas told CNN. "But it's not a personal choice when it affects other people. Not only their health, for obvious reasons, but in the case of athletes on a team, it affects your team and their chance to win."
The legendary sportscaster said Rodgers, a three-time NFL MVP, will suffer publicly.
"He’s one of the greatest players of all time, that's obvious, but his reputation is going to take a hit out of this," Costas said. "He may get support, but on balance his reputation is going to be hurt."