Bears journeyman safety Adrian Colbert had never met NFL star Aaron Rodgers or tried ayahuasca before a trip to Costa Rica last offseason. Now he’s a fan of both, calling Rodgers “a brother for life.”
Colbert, who is on the Bears’ practice squad and has played in three games this season, described the excursion as “very powerful” and said it led to a deep connection between him and Rodgers.
“I was very moved by the type of person that he is — very caring, intelligent, vulnerable, strong-willed,” Colbert told the Sun-Times. “I admire him, especially with how free and vulnerable he was even with that type of recognition in the world.
“He’s a strong and loving person that people don’t see from the outside. People misunderstand him because in this game or any other type of professional setting, they expect you to fall in line. When you fall in line, you lose a sense of yourself. He inspired me to live my life, my truth and not really care what other people think.”
Rodgers is in his second season with the Jets, but before that, he tormented the Bears as the Packers’ starting quarterback from 2008 through ’22. He went 25-5 against the Bears, including the playoffs, and screamed, “All my [expletive] life, I own you,” to fans at Soldier Field in a 2021 game.
So Colbert’s warm feelings toward him are an outlier at Halas Hall.
Nonetheless, Colbert was invited on the trip by Bills linebacker Von Miller and Dolphins safety Jordan Poyer, both friends of his. Those three, along with Rodgers and five other people, did a six-hour ayahuasca ceremony on the first two nights, a two-hour session in an ancient sweat lodge on the third night and another six-hour ceremony on the fourth night.
Ayahuasca is a psychoactive drink made from plants that Colbert called “a brew.” He said people drink as many cups as they want based on how their body reacts to it.
“It’s kinda like tea, but it’s not tea,” he said. “They don’t sell it at Starbucks.”
Colbert repeatedly mentioned the “vulnerability” of the experience and said it had a lasting effect by guiding him to live freely. One lasting image was Rodgers dancing inhibited during the ceremony.
“I hit him up a couple weeks ago just expressing the gratitude for him making that entire experience easier,” Colbert said. “He taught me what ‘surrender’ meant in ceremony, and it was nonverbal. It was how eloquently he flowed through the ceremony when the music was playing and he was dancing. It was really cool.
“I used to always be so insecure at not being able to dance or not being good at something, so I wouldn’t even try it, even though it made me feel good. But seeing him do that gave me the power to join along and embrace it.”
Colbert plans to go back with his girlfriend next year and hopes Rodgers will invite him back, as well.