The NFL has decided on punishments for the Green Bay Packers and a few of their players over COVID-19 protocol violations.
The league fined the Packers $300,000. Aaron Rodgers and Allen Lazard were each fined $14,650.
Packers fined $300,000 for COVID violations of the NFL and NFL Players Association protocols, while Aaron Rodgers and Allen Lazard each fined $14,650, per @RobDemovsky.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 10, 2021
ESPN’s Adam Schefter says the Packers were told that future violations could result in harsher discipline, such as a change to their draft position or loss of picks.
Packers also were made aware that future violations could result in escalated discipline – possible change of draft position or loss of draft choices. https://t.co/R1J9LN5iN2
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 10, 2021
Rodgers missed the Packers’ game last weekend against the Kansas City Chiefs, while Lazard missed the team’s Week 8 game against the Chiefs. Both players are unvaccinated.
The public learned last week that Rodgers was unvaccinated despite giving off the public perception that he was vaccinated. A misleading answer the quarterback gave to a question in August about his vaccination status led to the belief that he was vaccinated (more here). He also misled people about his vaccination status by not wearing masks in multiple situations, such as in press conferences, which were violations of the league’s protocol for players who have not received the COVID-19 vaccine.
Rodgers apologized on Tuesday for misleading people about his status.
The NFL’s actions are likely intended to save face publicly. The league knew that Rodgers was not vaccinated and could see he was violating protocol by not wearing masks, but no fines were ever publicly announced until now since the issue became a huge topic of conversation.
