NFL star Aaron Rodgers is being slammed online after speaking about his two-year relationship with ex Danica Patrick. The pair dated from January 2018 to July 2020, and despite things appearing to be amazing from the outside, Rodgers said in a new interview that it was quite the opposite.
“I dated Danica [Patrick]. She had just retired. She was depressed and not fun to be around, but I didn’t leave her because I was trying to be there and be a good partner,” the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback said on the “Not Just Football” podcast.
After some time, Rodgers said things between him and Patrick started to go downhill. “There was no intimacy; no nothing,” he said, which ultimately led to his decision not to purchase a home with the professional race car driver in Malibu.
According to Rodgers, the pair tried to work on their relationship by attending couples therapy; however, they decided it was better to call it quits during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“She tells a story that, ‘I was so blindsided by getting left by you, and he leaves a trail of blood around.’ I’m like what are you talking about? That is not what happened by any means,” Rodgers said.
Patrick Claims Her Relationship With Aaron Rodgers Was ‘Emotionally Abusive’
In 2025, Patrick appeared on an episode of “The Sage Steele Show” and said that her breakup with the Super Bowl champion was the most difficult time of her life.
Patrick, 44, said the split was “sudden” and that because the relationship “was emotionally abusive,” it had an even bigger effect on her.
“People could never imagine that I would lack … any confidence or belief in the simple things about who I am. Everything was torn to bits,” Patrick shared further. “Yeah, he leaves a trail of blood. I don’t think I’m saying too much earth-shattering stuff after we — there’s been enough out there.”
Aaron Rodgers Shared Why He Thinks His Relationship With Patrick Didn’t Work
Also on the “Not Just Football” podcast, Rodgers said part of the reason his relationship with Patrick didn’t work was that he was “emotionally unavailable,” noting that he met his now-wife, Brittani, just before dating Patrick; however, timing kept them apart.
“I was emotionally unavailable, I think, for those seven or eight years because I met the person that had changed my life,” he said. “And after that, I just poured everything I had into football, and I think I got a lot out of that for sure.”
Rodgers’ statements about Patrick didn’t land well with the public, and on Reddit, users roasted him for airing “his dirty laundry about an ex.”
“Aaron Rodgers is a piece of sh-t,” someone wrote, while another added, “Hey, man. This is a gross thing to do.”
A third user posted, “I’m shocked that a narcissist a**hole was also an a**hole to his significant other and is still being an a**hole.” Meanwhile, a fourth shared, “He seems to be very angry and bitter for a supposedly happily married man.”
Rodgers Shares More About His Relationship With Another Ex
Patrick isn’t the only ex Rodgers spoke candidly about. Elsewhere during the podcast episode, the former Green Bay Packers player opened up about his short connection with “Secret Life of the American Teenager” star Shailene Woodley, claiming the actress made a wild request days before their marriage.
“She maybe felt like she was forced to make a decision, she could have said no. But not a couple of days after that, she tells me before we get married like, ‘I got to go f**k this guy,” Rodgers alleged, adding that Woodley took her engagement ring off months after saying “I do.”
Rodgers explained why he’s speaking about his previous relationships now and said he wanted to combat the alleged lies. “There’s just a lot of narratives out there that are just not true, and they portray things a certain way because they can get away with it,” he said. “No one knows what they’re doing.”
He added, ” The height of their fame was when they were with me.”
What Rodgers Is Looking Forward To Most After Retirement
Rodgers’ comments come days before the Pittsburgh Steelers play their first game of the 2026-27 season against the Atlanta Falcons. Although this is Rodgers’ final year in the NFL, the star athlete said he’s already looking forward to what’s next.
“I’m hopefully going to be supporting my pregnant wife because we’re going to start a family, and I am not going to be making a lot of appearances or statements,” he said, according to a previous report from The Blast. “And I’m looking forward to a life of quiet after 22 years in the pros and three in college and getting my body healed up and working on a family.”
