Aaron Rodgers wants to team with RFK Jr. to debate the COVID vaccine against 'Mr Pfizer' Travis Kelce and Dr. Fauci

Aaron Rodgers didn't get to face Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs on the field earlier this month after the quarterback tore his Achilles in the New York Jets' Week 1 game.

But the former Green Bay Packers four-time MVP wants to now face him off the field in a vaccine debate.

It all started when Rodgers on "The Pat McAfee Show" Oct. 3 called the Chiefs superstar tight end "Mr. Pfizer" for appearing in a Pfizer commercial advocating for people to get their flu and COVID-19 shots together this fall. Pfizer is one of the makers of the COVID vaccines.

Later in the week, Kelce responded saying he never thought he'd "get into the vax wars with Aaron Rodgers. Mr. Pfizer versus the Johnson & Johnson family over there.”

Rodgers, who drew a firestorm in 2021 for his outspoken views around vaccines and the COVID-19 pandemic, now has thrown down a challenge to Kelce.

"Listen, Mr. Pfizer said he didn’t think he’d be in a vax war with me," Rodgers said Tuesday on "The Pat McAfee Show."

"This ain’t a war, homie, this is just conversation. But if you want to have some sort of duel, debate have me on the podcast, come on the show, let’s have a conversation."

Kelce hosts a popular podcast "New Heights" with his brother, Jason, also an NFL player. Rodgers is a regular guest every Tuesday on McAfee's YouTube show, which simulcasts on ESPN. He also frequents other podcasts like "The Joe Rogan Experience" and "The Aubrey Marcus Podcast," where his off-the-field activities are the main topics of discussion.

Aaron Rodgers wants RFK Jr. to join him in a COVID debate against Travis Kelce and Dr. Anthony Fauci

Rodgers, who has been at the center of the vaccine debate since the 2021 NFL season and hasn't let up in the years since, wants a partner to take on Kelce.

He would choose Robert Francis Kennedy Jr., also known as RFK Jr., who is running as an independent for president and someone the quarterback often references on social media. Kennedy, nephew to the late President John F. Kennedy, has been denounced from many in his family over controversial statements and conspiracy theories he has expressed around vaccines and the pandemic.

Rodgers called RFK "my man."

Rodgers said Kelce's partner can be Dr. Anthony Fauci, who served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1984 to 2022, and was the chief medical adviser to the president from 2021-22.

McAfee steered Rodgers on this path after bringing up that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine Instagram account posted a football jersey with Kelce's number on it with the name "Mr. Pfizer" on the back and that he should get some royalties. The Instagram caption reads "We just might put this through R&D," referencing research and development.

"Just wow, it’s fascinating," Rodgers said. Then he added "the triggering, was that not incredible last week people getting absolutely triggered" by his "Mr. Pfizer" comment.

Aaron Rodgers plays for the Jets, who are owned by Woody Johnson, of the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical company that made a COVID vaccine

Rodgers is in his first season playing for the New York Jets, a team that is owned by Woody Johnson, a member of the founding family of Johnson & Johnson, the pharmaceutical company and makers of one of the COVID-19 vaccines.

"Listen, the Johnsons have been great to me," said Rodgers, who supports others who haven't gotten vaccinated against COVID-19. "I don’t mind if you call me Mr. Johnson and Johnson.

"I don’t play for the Johnson and Johnson cooperation. I play for the New York Jets. I made a tiny little joke for a guy shilling for a potentially corrupt company, and everybody kind of loses their minds a little bit."

OPINION: Anti-vaxxer Aaron Rodgers makes a fool of himself mocking Travis Kelce as 'Mr. Pfizer'

Aaron Rodgers has been one of loudest critics of NFL around COVID-19 pandemic

Rodgers has used the "debate" line before when discussing the pandemic. After the Packers' 2021 season ended with a home playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Rodgers said on "The Pat McAfee Show" that "love and connection and debate" will get the country out of the pandemic. He also said name calling doesn't help anyone's cause and didn't want to be associated with any political party.

Rodgers, who initially said he didn't get vaccinated because he was allergic to the ingredients in the mRNA vaccines, was one of the loudest critics of the NFL's health and safety protocols during the 2021 season after he tested positive for COVID and violated league policy for breaking rules approved by the NFL Players Association. Rodgers unsuccessfully tried to get around the protocols for non-vaccinated players that season when he filed a 500-page report stating why his homeopathic treatments should have constituted as him being vaccinated. He told the media before that season he was "immunized" when asked about his vaccination status.

Rodgers has also advocated for the drug ivermectin, something he said he took after discussing the virus with podcaster Joe Rogan. Fauci and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have warned against using the anti-parasitic drug as a treatment for COVID-19.

"Well there is a lot of propaganda out there," Rodgers claimed about Pfizer. "Lot of prop out there."

With the conversation going in a direction probably not planned when the over 45-minute interview started, Rodgers probably correctly said "I think ESPN better cut this off."

The network didn't but it's clear the vaccine topic isn't ending any time soon for Rodgers.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Aaron Rodgers wants RFK Jr to debate vaccine with him vs Travis Kelce