Former Cal quarterback Aaron Rodgers grew up in Chico, Calif., and plays professional football in Green Bay, Wis., but it seems some of Berkeley’s experimental culture may have rubbed off on him on the basis of his recent revelation.
Rodgers revealed in a podcast this week that his experience with the herbal psychedelic drug ayahuasca in Peru helped him to his best seasons in the NFL, which culminated in MVP awards in 2020 and 2021.
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence,” Rodgers said on the Aubrey Marcus podcast on Wednesday. “I really don’t believe. I don’t really believe in coincidences at this point. It’s the universe that makes things happen when they’re supposed to happen.”
Rodgers said his trip to Peru came just before COVID-limited travel in 2020.
“I told this story about my trip to Peru and my return to the country, ‘Argo‘ style,” Rodgers said in the podcast, “literally taking off half an hour before the nationwide shutdown like it was March 8, 2020, right before the pandemic hit.
In the wide-ranging interview, Rodgers explained what the experience with ayahuasca has done for him.
“For me, one of the fundamentals of mental health is self-love and that’s what ayahuasca has done for me,” he said.
He then developed the effect.
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“I had a magical experience 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. “, did he declare.
It’s easy to see why Rodgers credited this experience for his success in 2020 and 2021. His 2018 and 2019 seasons were decent, but not up to Rodgers’ standards, and it was suspected that his career was on the decline. But after the trip to South America, he had perhaps the best two regular seasons of his career at the ages of 37 and 38, winning MVP convincingly in both years.
What is ayahuasca? Here is what USA Today reports:
Ayahuasca, a reddish-brown drink with a strong taste and smell, contains the active chemical dimethyltryptamine, or DMT.
The Drug Enforcement Administration has classified DMT as a hallucinogen, and it is associated with religious practices and rituals in South America.
The herbal drink is typically made from the bark of the Banisteriopsis caapi vine and the leaves of the Psychotria viridis bush, according to the National Library of Medicine National Center for Biotechnology Information.
Nicknames include Huasca, yage, Kamarampi, Huni, brew, daime, the tea, and the purge, according to the Alcohol and Drug Foundation.
Ayahuasca has no approved medical use in the United States and is considered a Schedule I drug. Marijuana, heroin, LSD, and ecstasy are among the other Schedule I drugs. I.
The use of psychedelic drugs, even in medical settings, is illegal in the United States. But Oregon voted to legalize psychedelic mushrooms in 2020 and could become the first state to have legal access to mushrooms as early as this year, The Oregonian reported.
DMT is also listed as a banned substance by the NFL. NFL players are randomly tested for blood during training camp and throughout the season and playoffs. Rodgers said he used ayahuasca ahead of the 2020 season while on a trip to Peru with his ex-girlfriend Danica Patrick.
Some medical experts, citing clinical research, claim that there may be benefits to using ayahuasca in proper amounts and in a safe setting. But they said it could also be dangerous.
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Aaron Rodgers cover photo by Samantha Madar, USA TODAY Sports
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