Aaron Rodgers will not be suspended or penalized in any way for his ayahuasca-induced trips. The Green Bay Packers quarterback tried to grow and gain personal insight, so during his two trips to Peru in 2020 and 2022, he took ayahuasca, a hallucinogen.
Many thought the drug was on the list of banned substances by the NFL, especially as the plant-based psychedelic contains DMT, a psychoactive component that is illegal in the US.
However, Brian McCarthy, NFL’s spokesman, said the hallucinogen won’t be a problem for Rodgers as it won’t return a positive test result and isn’t in breach of NFL’s substance abuse policy.
Learned to Be More Gentle with Himself
In an interview with Peter King from NBC, Rodgers claimed that the plant-based drink had a positive effect on him. The star quarterback said he went to Peru to do “a lot of healing” and “sat three different nights with the medicine.”
Most of the treatment was focused on himself and his goal was to discover what “unconditional love” for himself looked like. That, in turn, allowed him to love others unconditionally too.
Rodgers said that he understood he had to be “more gentle” and forgiving with himself. He confided to King that he had a lot of negative voices and self-talk in the past, so the healing process was quite long.
Fell in Love with Football a Little Deeper
Rodgers, an NFL MVP for two consecutive seasons, came under fire for his vague and even misleading comments regarding COVID vaccines and his vaccine status last season.
However, during the interview, he said that he now feels more enthusiasm about competing in the NFL than ever before. Rodgers said the ayahuasca trips he did during the 2020 and 2022 NFL offseasons made him fall in love with the game “a little deeper.”
The quarterback was clear to add that it wasn’t just the hallucinogen that helped him. He claimed to have worked on himself a lot and that he was also meditating, changed his habits, and was eating better. In short, he took better care of himself, and all those things combined made him look at every day with a bit more joy.
Not all experts on the matter agree with Rodgers though. Alli Feduccia, who is an expert in psychedelic substances, advises great caution and “thorough research” before people start using the hallucinogen and go to ayahuasca retreats.
Feduccia said it was paramount that people received “counselling and support” during their ayahuasca sessions so that they could process and integrate the “intense experiences” the drug could cause.
