Travis Kelce doesn’t just have Taylor Swift’s attention. Days after his Chiefs edged the Jets in prime time, quarterback Aaron Rodgers referred to the star tight end as “Mr. Pfizer,” seemingly to poke fun at Kelce’s new promotion of flu and COVID vaccines.
“[It was a] moral victory out there,” Rodgers told “The Pat McAfee Show” Tuesday, referring to the Jets’ Week 4 defeat, “that we hung with the champs and that our defense played well, and Pat [Mahomes] didn’t have a crazy game, and Mr. Pfizer [Kelce], we kind of shut him down. He didn’t have his crazy impact game.”
Rodgers didn’t explicitly identify Kelce as “Mr. Pfizer,” but the implication is clear. The comments came days after Kelce starred in a new ad promoting the availability of both flu and COVID shots this fall. The commercial, which also features Kelce’s mother, Donna, is part of a partnership with Pfizer, the pharmaceutical company behind a vaccine developed in response to the COVID pandemic.
“I thought it was pretty good,” Kelce told reporters Friday about Rodgers’ remark. “With this mustache right now I look like a guy named Mr. Pfizer. Who knew I’d get into the vax wars with Aaron Rodgers, man? Mr. Pfizer vs. the Johnson and Johnson family over there.”
When asked why he appeared in the commercial, Kelce added: “I got it because of keeping myself safe, keeping my family safe, the people in this building, so yeah I stand by it 1000%. Fully comfortable with him calling me Mr. Pfizer.”
Rodgers has been outspoken about COVID-related promotions in the past. He infamously missed a game in 2021 due to the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols after admitting to possibly misleading the public about his vaccination status. He was openly critical of the NFL’s pandemic restrictions, arguing the league was on a “witch hunt” to shame unvaccinated players.
Years later, Rodgers is still seeking medical advice from his own doctors, including for his recovery from an Achilles tear he suffered four snaps into his highly anticipated Jets debut. So far, so good, he told McAfee on Tuesday.
“The next goal is to be able to walk without crutches,” he said. “It’s pretty obvious I’m well ahead of the normal protocols when it comes to rehab for this kind of thing, but that was always what my mindset was. … [We’re] being as smart as possible, not trying to stretch the Achilles but stretch the Achilles in a way that allows me to start doing movement quicker and to speed up whatever timeline has kind of been the standard for this type of injury.”
Rodgers hasn’t ruled out a return to the field later this year, even though Achilles tears have tended to be season-ending injuries.
