Aaron Rodgers is one of the greatest quarterbacks ever to play the game. The former green bay Packer and current New York Jet has a Super Bowl win and four MVP awards to his credit and is expected to turn the Jets into an immediate contender. He is also a goofball.
More specifically, Rodgers is a free spirit and free thinker. As the quarterback has aged and stacked accomplishment after accomplishment, he has had trouble staying motivated at times. There have also been numerous times he has openly spoken of walking away from the game completely.
Rodgers has never been afraid of controversy, either. He misled the NFL about being vaccinated in 2020 and has made numerous appearances on different podcasts, including Joe Rogan, talking about Covid and body autonomy. While he was roundly criticized, time has also shown him to be right.
Rodgers has talked openly about his use of Ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic plant-based brew, and his use of psychedelic mushrooms over the years. He talked about that in an interview: “I really feel like that set me on my course to be able to go back into my job and have a different perspective on things, and to be way more free at work as a leader, as a teammate, as a friend, as a lover and I really feel like that experience paved the way for me to have the best season of my career.”
Speaking at a conference in Denver, Aaron Rodgers argues for the legalization of psychedelics: “Is it not ironic that the things that actually expand your mind are illegal and the things that . . . dumb you down have been legal for centuries?” https://t.co/LP07NW0z6D
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) June 22, 2023
He even spent four days in a cave doing a “darkness retreat” as he pondered his football career and where he wanted to continue it. In short, he is a complicated fella.
Rodger’s alternative lifestyle and quirky behavior are right on brand for what he did this week, as he was a guest speaker at the “Psychedelic Science” conference in Denver, Colorado. The event draws thousands of attendees, most probably wearing tie-dye, as they advocate for more scientific study of hallucinogenics.
Once considered dangerous and counter-culture, hallucinogenics have been gaining traction in the scientific community for their ability to create new pathways in the brain and improve depression, anxiety, and numerous other emotional issues.
Naturally, this flies in the face of big pharma, but conferences such as this bring attention and big names to the forefront to advocate for research. Will Smith’s son Jaden and former Texas Governor Rick Perry are also on the schedule to speak.
The use of psychedelics has grown immensely in recent years. Recent studies show over 5 million people 12 and over have taken hallucinogens. Colorado recently decriminalized mushrooms, allowing people to grow and possess them.
Despite the NFL’s rigid drug policy and their testing program, Rodgers is free to gobble all of the mushrooms and sip all of the Ayahuasca he wants. The active ingredient, Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), is a Schedule 1 drug, but since the league doesn’t list it as a banned substance, he is free and clear. Or at least his mind is.
Rodgers has a tall task ahead in 2023 to make the Jets respectable. Joe Namath was the last Jet quarterback to get the team to a Super Bowl, and that was the first one in 1969. If history follows and Rodgers can’t return the franchise to respectability, he may just pack a snack and a drink and head back to his cave.
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