Aaron Rodgers is the back-to-back reigning NFL MVP, and he thinks he found the secret to finding an extra gear in his late 30s: psychedelics.
The Green Bay Packers quarterback said on the Aubrey Marcus Podcast that he credits ayahuasca — a tea containing hallucinogenic drug DMT — for improving his mental health and his play on the field.
“To me, one of the core tenets of your mental health is that self-love,” Rodgers said on the podcast. “That’s what ayahuasca did for me, was help me see how to unconditionally love myself.”
Ayahuasca is common in Central and South America. He went to South America before his MVP season in 2020, and he said it’s not a “coincidence” that his play improved after drinking the tea. He threw for 48 touchdowns versus only five interceptions with a 70.7% completion rate in 2020 — statistically one of the two best seasons of his 17-year NFL career.
“I had a magical experience with the sensation of feeling a hundred different hands on my body imparting a blessing of love and forgiveness for myself and gratitude for this life from what seemed to be my ancestors,” he said.
Rodgers, 38, also credits the psychoactive tea with making him a better leader and teammate.
“I really feel like that experience paved the way for me to have the best season of my career,” Rodgers said.
According to the Alcohol and Drug Foundation, DMT (dimethyltryptamine) is a “very strong psychedelic found in a number of animals and plants.” Psychedelics can cause users to “hallucinate” and alter their “thinking, sense of time and emotions.”
• Jacob Calvin Meyer can be reached at jmeyer@washingtontimes.com.
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