Aaron Rodgers Went Full Blown Stoner Older Brother When Describing The Power Of Words At A Psychedelic Conference Yesterday
PFT - Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers did indeed speak on Wednesday at a psychedelics conference in Denver. While doing so, Rodgers made a pitch for such substances to be legalized.
“Is it not ironic that the things that actually expand your mind are illegal and the things that . . . dumb you down have been legal for centuries?” Rodgers said, via audio provided to PFT. “We’ve got to change that. We’ve got to change that. It’s through awareness and education.”
Growing up my buddy Josh had an older brother. He was in his late 20's and still worked at the local Convenient store. When we would hang out at Josh's house his brother would always be in his room blasting Pink Floyd, incense burning, basking in the glow of his weed leaf and magic mushroom black light posters.
When you walked by you could hear the bubbling of the bong rips followed by the deep bellowing cough of a man with no responsibilities other than stocking shelves and twisting fatty joints.
If you ever were unfortunate enough to cross paths with him on the way to the kitchen you might get caught in a conversation with him that went a little something like this...
“You know,” Rodgers said, “words are so interesting. They have such power in their spells. There’s a reason it’s called ‘spelling,’ because the way that the letters are put together have such power.”
And you would just nod your head and respond, "sick." Then Josh's brother would give you a half hug, half dap and tell you how not all Josh's friends are losers and how you are "alright in his book." Then he and his bloodshot eyes would retire back to his hippy cave and let you get back to playing NBA Jam with Josh.
Aaron Rodgers is the Josh's brother of the NFL.
Now I'm actually not against the things Josh's brother Aaron said at this conference. In fact, I agree with a lot of it. I have friends who have had their lives saved by psychedelics. Mired in a battle with PTSD they absolutely were not winning, micro dosing psilocybin brought them peace and clarity and allowed them to return to a somewhat normal life.
My ex was getting her Masters in mental health counseling and wanted to specialize in psilocybin treatments for trauma and PTSD so I am very familiar with their amazing track record in helping people.
But god damnit I can't help but laugh at Aaron Rodgers because no matter how much good he is doing by advocating for the normalization of these therapies, he always still somehow comes across sounding like the guy on Ancient Aliens.
Jerry Thornton did an excellent job (as he always does) of laying out the concerns Jets fans might have about their savior pimping LCD on stage like he's the lead singer in a way a Doors cover band who is way too into the whole thing. And I completely get why some people would take pause at the idea of the face of their franchise moonlighting as the melting face of the acid trip community.
But when Aaron wasn't going full burnout and waxing poetic about "words man!" he was also dropping some gems yesterday too.
“I guarantee you all these bums who want to come after me online about my experience and stuff, they’ve never tried it,” he added. “They’re the perfect people for it. We need to get these people taking it.”
“Success in life was holding the Lombardi Trophy,” Rodgers said. “Now I’ve done it. Now what? Now what’s the purpose of all this?”
People who spend their entire life commenting on other's actions and words (of which I am one) tend to forget that those people are real and have feelings, needs, wants, and concerns. I completely agree with Rodgers that the world would be a lot more chill if we could get guys like Skip Bayless to trip balls one time and expand his mind beyond LeBron's nutsack and his oddly placed microwave.
We, as common folk, believe that winning the Super Bowl and being the best quarterback on the planet IS the end goal. But what if you achieved that at an early age? What if you got there and realized everything you worked for was amazing but it wasn't the end all be all? What if you wanted to get all introspective with it and search for a deeper meaning within yourself?
To do that you might need the help of a darkness retreat and a couple hundred dollars worth of something the US government considers a Schedule 1 drug. And there in lies the problem.
Alcohol is far worse for you than psilocybin and yet it is available in every corner store. I'm not sure making shroomies available at the local gas station is the answer but it should be destigmatized and more available to those who need it.
What's the worst that can happen? More guys being super mellow, expounding on the power of words, and trying to explain how the color blue might taste? That doesn't sound so bad to me.