Anthony Fauci fires back after Aaron Rodgers' viral 13-minute ESPN rant

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Aaron Rodgers is approaching retirement, but the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback certainly isn’t letting go of one of his biggest rivalries — one that isn’t even on the football field.

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The four-time NFL MVP went on a fiery, 13-minute rant during an appearance on ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show on Monday from the Steelers training camp, going scorched earth on the former head of U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Anthony Fauci.

Rodgers, who has long been outspoken about vaccines and the COVID-19 pandemic, slammed the 85-year-old as an “absolute criminal” and an “absolute coward” during his nearly uninterrupted diatribe.

Fauci was once again in the 42-year-old star QB’s crosshairs, this time after repeatedly pleading the fifth amendment during a senate hearing.

The doctor, however, didn’t take the scathing criticism lying down, issuing a statement to the Athletic through his lawyer, David Schertler, on Tuesday.

“Aaron Rodgers doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Schertler said on Fauci’s behalf . “He should stick to football.”

What did Aaron Rodgers say about Anthony Fauci?

Rodgers apparently had something to get off his chest as soon as he stepped on set, asking how long he had on the program, with the response being eight minutes.

After his introduction, McAfee lobbed a softball question to Rodgers about the QB entering his final season, to which he responded that he was “going to plead the fifth … like that absolute coward Tony Fauci.”

This fired up the panel and the live audience and prompted a 13-minute monologue with only brief interruptions from McAfee or his four co-hosts.

“Absolute coward,” Rodgers continued. “Are you kidding me? You got a pardon and you pleaded over 100 times? What are you scared of, Tony? I thought you were the science?

“You get up there and you can’t answer a question? And how much time did the network spend on that? How much time did they spend on my responses every week? On my vaccination status? On Taylor (Swift) and Travis (Kelce)’s wedding? Did they do even a minute on Tony Fauci? No, I bet they didn’t.”

Rodgers then briefly waded into the scandal earlier this year involving Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel and NFL insider Dianna Russini , before being steered away from the subject by the hosts.

“Go back to the coward Tony Fauci, who’s spending the entire time writing in his diary about how fun it is to be famous?” Rodgers continued “What are you going to say about me now? What are you going to say about me now?

“No, seriously, now that you can’t talk about the COVID stuff, because obviously that was made in a lab in China … that’s not even questionable anymore. Tony Fauci is an absolute criminal, I’m on good terms with my family , what are you going to say now?

“I thought you had a pardon there, Tony. Why couldn’t you answer one question? We got four more minutes, let’s keep this s*** going.”

What did Steelers coach Mike McCarthy say?

While many fans and followers have grown tired of Rodgers’ outspoken nature, his head coach says that it won’t impact the team on the field.

Mike McCarthy told reporters on Tuesday, the day after Rodgers’ explosive rant, that the team is in “a good spot.”

“You know, these are grown men,” McCarthy said. “They all have different opinions. There’s no question about that. But at the end of the day, my job is to keep it about football, keep the focus on winning.

“That’s why we’re here. We have a good locker room. We have a player council that’s in place and we had our second meeting (Monday), and so I think we’re in a good spot.”

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