David Schertler, the attorney representing Anthony Fauci, finally responded after Aaron Rodgers tore into the former federal health official on live television. And what did Schertler have to say? “Aaron Rodgers doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He should stick to football.” That was the response. No detailed rebuttal. No explanation. No attempt to address […]
David Schertler, the attorney representing Anthony Fauci, finally responded after Aaron Rodgers tore into the former federal health official on live television.
And what did Schertler have to say?
“Aaron Rodgers doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He should stick to football.”
That was the response.
No detailed rebuttal. No explanation. No attempt to address the substance of what Rodgers said. Just the old “stick to sports” routine, dusted off and sent into battle like anyone was supposed to be impressed.
Rodgers made his comments during a live appearance on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show” from Pittsburgh Steelers training camp in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
When asked about his career, Rodgers joked that he was going to plead the Fifth Amendment.
Then he made clear who he was talking about.
“Like that absolute coward, Tony Fauci,” Rodgers said. “Absolute coward. Are you kidding me? You got a pardon and you plead it over 100 times?”
Rodgers was referring to Fauci’s recent appearance before a Senate committee led by Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. According to the material released by the committee, Fauci allegedly invoked the Fifth Amendment repeatedly despite receiving a preemptive pardon from former President Joe Biden on Biden’s final day in office.
When someone has already received a pardon and still allegedly pleads the Fifth more than 100 times, people are going to have questions. That is not a conspiracy theory. That is basic human curiosity.
Rodgers simply asked those questions with all the subtlety of a linebacker hitting an unprotected receiver.
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Schertler, meanwhile, chose not to explain anything. He just told Rodgers to stay in his lane.
Fauci served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1984 to 2022 and became the public face of the federal government’s COVID response. He was deeply involved in messaging surrounding masks, lockdowns, vaccines, and other pandemic restrictions.
For years, much of the media treated Fauci as if questioning him was the same as questioning science itself. That was a very comfortable arrangement for a government official. It meant every criticism could be dismissed as ignorance before anyone had to answer it.
Rodgers clearly never accepted that arrangement.
During the pandemic, reporters repeatedly pressed him over his vaccination status. He later mocked Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce as “Mr. Pfizer” after Kelce appeared in advertising connected to the pharmaceutical company.
So when reports emerged that Fauci had allegedly invoked the Fifth Amendment repeatedly, Rodgers did not exactly respond with a carefully worded memo.
He went after him.
Rodgers also referenced Fauci’s pandemic diary, which was released by Paul’s committee. According to the supplied account, the diary allegedly included private observations that did not always line up with Fauci’s public statements. Rodgers further accused Fauci of enjoying his own fame during the pandemic.
When someone on McAfee’s show encouraged Rodgers to return to the subject, the quarterback was happy to continue.
“Go back to Fauci?” Rodgers said. “Go back to the coward Tony Fauci who’s ‘science,’ who’s spending the entire time writing in his diary about how fun it is to be famous? You gotta be kidding me.”
That is a brutal accusation.
It is also the kind of accusation an attorney would normally answer with facts.
Schertler did not do that.
He did not explain the alleged Fifth Amendment invocations. He did not address the pardon. He did not offer a detailed defense of the diary. He simply told Rodgers to focus on football.
There is one problem with that argument.
Rodgers is an American citizen.
He is allowed to have opinions about government officials, public policy, congressional testimony, pardons, lockdowns, vaccines, and anything else that affected millions of people.
Playing quarterback does not cancel the First Amendment.
Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy seemed to understand that. He told reporters that his job was to keep the team focused on football while recognizing that players are grown men with different opinions.
“These are grown men. They all have different opinions,” McCarthy said. “But at the end of the day, my job is to keep it about football, keep the focus on winning.”
That is a reasonable response.
McCarthy does not have to agree with Rodgers. He does not have to turn practice into a congressional hearing. He just has to coach the team.
Rodgers can speak for himself.
That is how free speech works. One man focuses on football. Another criticizes a former government official. The public decides whether the criticism holds up.
Schertler appears to prefer a different system: Athletes entertain, bureaucrats avoid uncomfortable questions, and everyone else stops paying attention.
Rodgers does not seem interested in that arrangement.
And after years of Americans being lectured by celebrities, politicians, corporations, health officials, cable-news hosts, and pharmaceutical spokesmen, it is a little late to declare that one quarterback should remain silent.
“Stick to football” is not an argument.
It is what people say when they would rather not answer the question.
