Aaron Rodgers' arrogance in full view while Packers' elite standing suddenly in jeopardy

Big news in the NFC North: Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers will miss at least 10 days because he's unvaccinated and Bears coach Matt Nagy will return from COVID protocols, damaging both teams' chances of winning this week.

Rodgers is about to experience unwanted side effects.

He has destroyed his curated image as an elevated thinker.

He has forfeited any sympathy he may have garnered as the Packers treated him like an asset instead of a god.

He has damaged his team's chances to win the Super Bowl before Green Bay kicks him out of town.

In August, reporters asked Rodgers if he was vaccinated. He answered "yeah" and that he was "immunized,'' indicating he was vaccinated.

Rodgers will not play on Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs. Whether he can return in time to play against Seattle the following week remains in doubt.

If Rodgers' absence contributes to one or two losses and those one or two losses cost the Packers a home berth in a playoff game and the Packers lose that game, Rodgers will be to blame.

The Vikings' solidarity has been damaged by key players refusing to get the vaccine. Mike Zimmer sounded disgusted this summer when talking about star players refusing to do what would benefit the health and viability of the Minnesota Vikings.

The Vikings' performance this year — and especially on Sunday night against Dallas, when the entire team seemed to blow mental and emotional gaskets — may well have been sabotaged by divisions in the organization over vaccines.

Kirk Cousins demonstrated his lack of leadership by refusing to get vaccinated for the good of the team that has paid him $161 million. The difference between Cousins and Rodgers is that Rodgers lied about it, and did so in a typically smarmy way.

Rodgers reportedly sought homeopathic solutions to COVID and petitioned the NFL to be considered vaccinated. Apparently, chamomile tea doesn't cut it. The NFL refused. Rodgers then pretended he was vaccinated.

Defenders of people like Rodgers and Cousins use the phrase "personal choice'' to explain the decision to avoid vaccines.

It would only be a personal choice if you lived alone on an island. If you want to participate in society, it's a dangerous, selfish choice. It is an anti-fact and anti-science choice. It is a conscious decision to believe in weaponized disinformation instead of league doctors, team doctors and America's brightest medical minds. It's a betrayal of team values.

This summer, when the Cowboys were dealing with their own unvaccinated players, Cowboys great Michael Irvin said: "My thing is, even if I had them, even if I had those fears, that there's something here, I still am going to get vaccinated," he said. "Because the fear don't override my desire to win a championship."

We hear coaches and athletes say so often that winning is of paramount importance that we sometimes mistakenly believe it.

Rodgers has always painted himself as an intellectual. He spends interviews belittling any question or questioner that doesn't ascend to his level of genius. He is a hypersensitive bully who has gotten away with his arrogance because he is also one of the greatest quarterbacks ever to snap on a chinstrap.

Beware the athlete who equates sporting success with worldly intelligence, or virtue.

The Packers have had two Hall of Fame quarterbacks start almost all of their games since 1992. Brett Favre allegedly sent inappropriate photos to a sideline reporter and is now repaying money to the state of Mississippi as the result of fraud charges against him. Rodgers has pouted about the Packers drafting Jordan Love ever since the Packers drafted Jordan Love, even though he once played the role of Jordan Love.

I used to enjoy entertaining the idea of Rodgers following Favre to Minnesota. Now I hope he leaves football to host a game show I'll never watch, one where he gets the answers in advance so he can pretend he's the smartest guy in the room, even though we now know better.