Johnny Rodgers, the 1972 Heisman Trophy winner and a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, continues his recovery from COVID-19.
OMAHA — Nebraska football great Johnny Rodgers, back home after spending more than two weeks in the hospital with COVID-19, said Tuesday he believes his superior physical condition helped him have a better outcome than many 70-year-olds who contract the coronavirus.
The 1972 Heisman Trophy winner, in a telephone interview with The Associated Press from his Omaha home, acknowledged he has not been vaccinated. He said he thought a device he had installed in his home that purportedly weakens viruses, along with another type of air cleaning machine, provided him a measure of protection.
“I figured with all this, I’m just fine,” Rodgers said.
However, Rodgers said he now plans to get vaccinated once his doctors say he is able to do so.
“At the time I had it covered,” he said, referring to the equipment in his house. “I really wasn’t around a lot of people. It was just something unexpected — like being in closed quarters for 10 hours at a time (while traveling) — that threw me for a loop.
“At that particular point in time I wasn’t really that concerned about it because I was very healthy. I didn’t think I needed it. Now I think I most definitely need it. More people need it than don’t.”
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