Aaron Rodgers defied medical science, not for the first time, with his improbable return for the New York Jets.
The 39-year-old’s season appeared to be over when four snaps scored in the opening game against the Buffalo Billshe ruptured his left Achilles tendon.
The quadruple NFL MVP underwent surgery on September 14, but as part of an unprecedented rehabilitation effort, he returned to Jets practice this week, less than three months after his initial injury.
Many reports point to a potential mid-December return for Rodgerswhile some suggest the Christmas Eve match with the Commanders is more likely.
Either way, he would become the first player to suffer a torn Achilles and return to play in the same season.
This would be an achievement for Rodgers, who is often considered a polarizing figure by many due to his stance on COVID-19 vaccinations and his perceived conspiratorial nature (he recently described a UFO encounter in the latest episode of “Hard Knocks”).
THE super bowl XLV MVP is also famous for employing esoteric and often unconventional methods for his health and wellness over the years.
Reflecting on his decision to stay with the Green Bay Packers or joining a new team this offseason, Rodgers revealed he participated in a four-day and night “darkness retreat” to help him regain some mental clarity.
“It’s four nights of total darkness,” Rodgers told “The Pat McAfee” show in February.
“It’s a dark retreat. I’ve had a number of friends who have done it and had profound experiences. It’s something that’s been on my radar for a few years now and I felt like it would be awesome to do no matter where I leaned after this season, so it’s been on the calendar for months and months.
He also said the experience centered around “sensory deprivation isolation” and that he might end up hallucinating.
Not that this is the first time Rodgers has experimented with illusions and figments of the imagination.
In August 2022, the QB claimed on “The Aubrey Marcus Podcast” that drinking ayahuasca — a South American herbal psychedelic drug typically brewed in a tea — helped him win back-to-back MVP awards in 2020 and 2021.
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence. I really don’t. I don’t really believe in coincidences at this point,” he said.
“It is the universe that makes things happen when they are supposed to and there are signs and synchronicities all around us at all times if we are awake enough to see them, understand them and listen to our intuition when ‘she’s addressing us. or, you know, hitting us over the head and saying, “Hey, idiot, this is what you’re supposed to do.”
Rodgers is certainly no stranger to lengthy retirements and going off the grid in order to recalibrate mentally and physically.
Last year he shared details of a 12-day cleansing and healing method called Panchakarma that he had recently undertaken.
“I just came off a 12-day cleanse where you follow a specific diet and you do these treatments every day,” Rodgers said at the time.
“You don’t really do anything else.” You kind of have to turn off everything else. You don’t train, you don’t put in any effort or anything. It’s a kind of refocusing, not only does it heal physically but I think it takes away mental stress. And then the spiritual part, I think it allows you to appreciate the meditations a little more.
Rodgers said he returned from the Panchakarma process, associated with Ayurveda, an ancient system of medicine rooted in India, full of gratitude to those close to him who had helped him on his journey.
The 10x Pro Bowler has never shied away from trying alternative medicine, diets and lifestyle habits.
Even recently, while recovering from Achilles surgery, the Jets quarterback revealed that the “healing” nature of dolphin sex sounds coming from the ocean near his home in Malibu l had helped.
“There are ideas that some of the noises that dolphins make when they’re having sex, their frequency actually heals the body,” Rodgers said.
Rodgers is one of the greatest NFL quarterbacks of all time, and his rapid recovery from Achilles surgery at nearly 40 years old is nothing short of astonishing.
Although his unique methods may seem bizarre to most outsiders, it’s hard to argue with the results.
