Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers: 'I'm not part of this woke cancel culture'
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers values his ability to speak out and doesn't regret his unfiltered comments.
During his weekly appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show" in Wisconsin, Rodgers discussed Sunday's recent post-game taunt at Chicago Bears fans following the Packers' 24-14 win over division rival Chicago Bears.
"All my f–-ing life, I own you," Rogers inside the stadium. "I still own you. I still own you."
Later, the quarterback said he was reacting to a Bears fan flipping him off.
Rodgers also reacted to the idea that some could view his words as offensive or problematic by telling the hosts, "There is this culture that exists, that gets off, I think, on shrinking people, keeping them small, keeping them in a box, quieting them through cancelization or demeaning comments.
"I also exist outside of that in different realm where I do feel confident in things I say. And I do stand by what I do. I like to speak the truth, and I’m not part of this woke cancel culture that gets off on trying to silence people all the time."
Over the course of his career, Rodgers has generally gotten the better of the Bears during the rivalry games – he holds a 22-5 win record.
"I don’t think I was saying something that wasn’t necessarily close to the truth. If you don’t like it that’s fine, it’s your prerogative," said Rodgers of his comments, adding that the aggressive and celebratory comments were a "spur of the moment" occurrence. "I didn't plan on telling the crowd I owned them," he said.
Continuing to take aim at the concept of cancel culture, Rodgers asked "Are we getting that soft as a society that we can't have a back and forth now?"
"Somebody can ... say whatever the hell they want, which they should be able to, but the one time I say something back I've disrespected an entire city and organization," he continued.
The longtime star maintained his initial position, holding to the sentiment that "it was fun. I don't regret it at all."