Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers‘ use of a hallucinogenic drink called Ayahuasca, didn’t violate the NFL‘s drug policy, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. During an appearance on “The Aubrey Marcus Podcast last week, Rodgers revealed that he drank the psychedelic brew during a retreat to Peru in 2020 and it helped lead him to back-to-back MVP seasons.
According to Schefter, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said on Monday that the psychedelic wouldn’t have resulted in a positive test on either the substance abuse or performance-enhancing substance policies.
“I think there’s so many myths and rumors about it,” Rodgers said during the interview. “The fear around it is, you’re going to s–t yourself, it’s just a big throw-up fest … but the negative framework of it is that is the experience, not the deep and meaningful and crazy mind-expanding possibilities, and also deep self-love and healing that can happen on the other side.”
Rodgers also stated that the experience would make him a changed man immediately, saying “I came back and knew that I was never gonna be the same.”
The All-Pro quarterback believes it’s no “coincidence” that he’s won the league MVP during the 2020 and 2021 seasons after his experience with Ayahuasca. Rodgers is now setting the record straight about what he calls negative stereotypes about the Ayahuasca plant and the ceremonial drink made from it.
“I had a magical experience with the sensation of feeling a hundred different hands on my body imparting a blessing of love and forgiveness for myself and gratitude for this life from what seemed to be my ancestors,” Rodgers said when describing his first experience.
Now, Rodgers believes he’s more equipped to lead the Packers to glory — and the Ayahuasca plant has helped with that.
“To be way more free at work, as a leader, as a teammate, as a friend, as a lover,” Rodgers said. “I really feel like that experience paved the way for me to have the best season of my career.”
