Travis Kelce has laughed off Aaron Rodgers’ new nickname for the Kansas City Chiefs tight end after the injured New York Jets quarterback called him “Mr. Pfizer” during his weekly appearance on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show.”
“I thought it was pretty good,” the 34-year-old Kelce told reporters on Friday, given the mustache he’s currently sporting.
“With the mustache, I look like someone named Mr. Pfizer. Who knew I’d get into vax wars with Aaron Rodgers, man? Mr. Pfizer against the Johnson & Johnson family over there.”
The Jets are owned by Robert Wood “Woody” and Christopher Johnson, members of the founding family of Johnson & Johnson, whose offerings include pharmaceutical and medical products.
Kelce, who starred in a Pfizer commercial promoting the Covid-19 vaccination, added that he was “comfortable” with the name while advocating for the vaccine.
“I got it because keeping myself safe, my family safe, the people in this building,” Kelce said. “I stand by it 1,000%. Fully comfortable with him calling me Mr. Pfizer.”
‘Moral victory’
After last week’s Sunday Night Football game between the Chiefs and the Jets, Rodgers was asked by McAfee about the 23-20 loss and Taylor Swift attending the game at MetLife Stadium.
“There’s some sort of moral victory out there that we hung with the champs and that our defense played well,” Rodgers, who tore his Achilles tendon in his first game with his new team last month after 18 seasons with the Green Bay Packers, told McAfee.
“Pat (Mahomes) didn’t have a crazy game, and ‘Mr. Pfizer,’ we shut him down. He didn’t have a crazy impact game. Obviously, he had some yards and stuff, but I felt like for the most part, we played really tough on defense and played well the last three quarters.”
Both McAfee and co-host AJ Hawk laughed at the joke.
McAfee asked Rodgers again about the nickname, to which the 39-year-old quarterback said: “He’s doing commercials for Pfizer, so I’m sure he’s owning it.”
In 2022, while still with the Green Bay Packers, Rodgers admitted to misleading the media about his Covid-19 vaccination status during an appearance on the ‘Joe Rogan Experience’ podcast.
Earlier that year, Rodgers said he had been immunized against the virus but a few months later, he missed an NFL game due to Covid-19 protocols and confirmed he was unvaccinated.
Paparazzi
In the same media conference on Friday, Kelce said that he and superstar musician Swift were “learning” to live with all of the added attention that has come with the high-profile speculation about the pair’s relationship.
“We’re learning with the paparazzi just taking photos from all over the place, but at the same time, it comes with it,” the two-time Super Bowl champion said.
“You got a lot of people that care about Taylor and for good reason. You know, just gotta keep living, learning and enjoying the moments.”
Kelce did not go into detail about the pair’s involvement.
The eight-time NFL Pro Bowler admitted 2023 has been good to him.
“I was on top of the world after the (February’s) Super Bowl and right now even more on top of the world, so it’s fun,” Kelce said.
CNN’s Katherine Dillinger contributed to this report.
