Hallucinogens Enthusiast Aaron Rodgers Will Be a Guest Speaker at the 'Largest Psychedelic Gathering in History'.

John Fisher. Getty Images.

Say what you will about Aaron Rodgers, but there's no doubting his qualifications as a true Renaissance Man. Quarterback. TV pitchman. Jeopardy! host. An explorer of the human condition, whether that's going on Darkness Retreats:

Advertisement

… or experimenting with mind-altering hallucinogens. And it's that last of Rodgers' keen interests that has landed him a prestigious speaking engagement at a scientific conference:

Source - Aaron Rodgers will be a mile high come June.

The Psychedelic Science conference lists the quarterback as a speaker for the event in Denver, from June 19-23. 

The event’s website promises classes and workshops that “offer an opportunity to dive into the world of psychedelic science.”

Appearing on the “Aubrey Marcus Podcast” last summer, Rodgers extolled the virtues of ayahuasca, a psychoactive tea that includes DMT, a hallucinogenic drug.

“To me, one of the core tenets of your mental health is that self-love,” Rodgers said at the time. “That’s what ayahuasca did for me, was help me see how to unconditionally love myself." …

He said that trying the drug led to an awakening and laid the groundwork for him to win consecutive NFL MVP awards in 2020 and 2021. 

“I laid there afterward on my mat and then opened my eyes and it felt like I was opening my eyes for the first time,” Rodgers said. 

“I really feel like that experience paved the way for me to have the best season of my career.”

Like what I think might be millions of Americans, my knowledge of substances like ayahuasca and DMT is limited to hearing them talked about on Joe Rogan. By a diverse group of users from archaeology researcher Graham Hancock to comedians like Doug Stanhope and Shane Mauss:

And I'm utterly fascinated by the topic. Not enough to actually try it myself. My grip on reality is tenuous enough as it is. So for now, I prefer to limit by vices to liquids, just enough cigars to not have to pay insurance premiums, and that opiate of the masses, religion, thankyouverymuch. 

But by no means to I judge the people experimenting with these hallucinogens. Like Hancock said on Rogan, ayahuasca is made by combining two particular plants that grow in the Amazon rain forest. Just two. Out of hundreds of thousands of species. How people were able to discover that this particular blend - not just one, not three or more - would produce an effect that would alter people's entire perception of existence is an astonishing question that will never be answered. The ones who used DMT describe a eerily similar experiences to the one in that Mauss video above. To the point they'll talk about passing through a sort of membrane into an entirely different plane. And say it makes our reality seem somehow less real. How can you not be interested in that? 

But then again, I'm an idiot who burps the alphabet into a keyboard all day. I'm not a businessman sitting on billions in inherited wealth who owns a multi-billion dollar NFL franchise. Like, say, Woody Johnson of the Jets, who might be hours away from putting the keys to his kingdom into Aaron Rodgers' hands. Johnson might have gotten all his money from the family pharmaceutical business. But I can't imagine he's comfortable with the idea of entrusting his franchise to a guy who's taking trips into an altered reality filled with purple girlfriends. 

Nor can I imagine the NFL is comfortable with their four-time MVP, who might be playing in the league's biggest market, giving speeches at Stoner Conventions. Again, that's not how I, or probably you, see it. But we're talking about the most safe, careful, conservative business enterprise in corporate America, who needs to market itself to kids, grandparents, suburban moms, churchfolk and the rest. Hell, it was just a couple of years ago that Josh Gordon got suspended for a year for testing positive for cannabis. It's got to be a stretch for the NFL to now accept one of the faces of the league going around talking about getting high as a lab rat like it's nothing.

Advertisement

Though I doubt they'll do anything, for the simple fact that Rodgers is good for business. And because he's proven before he can perform at a high level while whacked out of his mind on the kinds of drugs pro football does approve of:

So good luck, Jets. Aaron Rodgers is going to keep doing Aaron Rodgers things.