INGLEWOOD, Calif. — In the end, none of the things Aaron Rodgers did off the field mattered. Not his waiting all summer to tell the Packers what he wanted from them. Not his declining the COVID-19 vaccine or the subsequent media appearances in which he painted himself as the victim of a “woke mob.” Not the “Jeopardy!” hosting gig or, in an oh-so-2021 moment, holding his foot up during a Zoom call to try to prove he didn’t have “COVID toe.”
At the NFL Honors event Thursday night, the NFL made official what the rest of the league had seen all season: Rodgers was its MVP for the second year in a row. His résumé screamed it — an 111.9 passer rating, best in the NFL for the second straight year, as was his touchdown percentage, with the Packers scoring on 7% of his passes. For the second straight season, the Packers also went 13-3 in games Rodgers started; he missed one game in a 17-game season because of coronavirus protocols.
