Aaron Rodgers is entering his 18th NFL season, and he’s only getting better with age, having won the last two NFL MVP awards. The world just found out this past week that he may have had a bit of help with those awards.
The reigning NFL MVP revealed that he went on an “ayahuasca journey” this summer, traveling to Peru to ingest the plant-based psychedelic. In a recent appearance on the “Aubrey Marcus Podcast”, Rodgers compared his experience with the drug to “feeling 100 different on my body, of love and forgiveness for myself and gratitude for this life.”
“We sat three different nights with the medicine. I came in with an intention of doing a lot of healing of other relationships and bringing in certain people to have conversations with. Most of the work was around myself and figuring out what unconditional love of myself looks like of myself. In doing that, allowing me to understand how to unconditionally love other people but first realizing it’s gotta start with myself. I’ve got to be a little more gentle with myself and compassionate and forgiving because I’ve had some negative voices, negative self-talk, for a long time. A lot of healing went on.”
Many wondered what the league would think about this admission. Now, we know.
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reported Monday that the league and the players union have confirmed that ayahuasca is not a prohibited compound or a PED by NFL rules.
“The primary psychoactive ingredient, N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), is a Schedule I drug under federal law. It’s not a problem under NFL law,” Florio wrote.
Rodgers explained that he used the substance as a vehicle to discover himself and what makes him tick.
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“I think it’s unlocked a lot of my heart. Being able to fully give my heart to my teammates, my loved ones, relationships because I can fully embrace unconditionally myself. … When you figure out a better way to love yourself, I think you can love people better because you’re not casting the same judgment you cast on yourself on other people. I’m really thankful for that.”
Rodgers completed 68.9 percent of his passes for 4,115 yards, 37 touchdowns, and only four interceptions across 16 starts last season. Over the last three seasons, Rodgers is 39-9 as the team’s starter during the regular season.
While Rodgers’ recent playoff record is more spotty, the Packers have been in contention over the past few years in large part because of him.
