Aaron Rodgers has made striking new remarks about former girlfriend Danica Patrick, claiming the retired NASCAR star was “depressed” while they were together and alleging the pair struggled with “intimacy” during their romance.
The NFL star’s comments arrive more than a year after Patrick publicly reflected on their breakup, describing her time with Rodgers as “emotionally abusive” and saying the relationship “wore me down to nothing.”
Patrick and Rodgers, who is expected to enter what could be his final NFL season, first became romantically linked in January 2018. The couple later stepped into the spotlight together with a red-carpet appearance at the ESPY Awards that same year.
Their relationship appeared to grow more serious by late 2019, when they purchased a home together in Malibu. The pair then spent the early months of 2020 living in the popular Southern California beach community.
But the romance ultimately came to an end that summer, with Rodgers and Patrick separating in July 2020 after a little more than two years as a couple.
Speaking on the “Not Just Football” podcast on Thursday, Rodgers pushed back against Patrick’s past characterization of him, taking issue with suggestions from her previous interview that painted him as a “monster partner.”
Aaron Rodgers has criticized Danica Patrick, claiming she was “depressed” during their relationship
The NFL standout and former NASCAR driver began dating in January 2018 before splitting in July 2020
‘No one cares what they have to say until they say my name,’ Rodgers said during the interview with his Pittsburgh Steelers teammate Cam Heyward.
‘I dated two women who nobody gives a f*** about unless they drop my name – and they like to say their version of the history of what actually happened.
‘So I’m this monster of a partner and it’s just f***ing horses***. Number one: Why are you still talking about me? It’s been years.
‘I dated Danica. She had just retired [in November 2017]. 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. Then it was going a certain direction obviously. There was no intimacy; there was nothing.
‘I’m buying a house in Malibu and she goes, “Do you want to buy it together?” And I said no. And she said, “You know what that means then?” And I said, “Yeah, that’s the way things are going.” She said, “Well, let’s get counseling.” Then we got counseling. Then Covid hits and we’re stuck together.
‘She tells a story that she was so blindsided and getting left by you, and that he leaves a trail of blood around him. And I’m like, what are you talking about? That’s not what happened.’
Patrick, who has become a staunch supporter of Donald Trump in recent years, opened up on her relationship with the Super Bowl champion to ex-ESPN broadcaster Sage Steele last summer.
When asked to name the most painful experience of her life, Patrick said: ‘The breakup with Aaron in 2020, because it was sudden. It felt like it was my life.
‘So when you live with somebody, it’s your whole life… and because the nature of the relationship was emotionally abusive, so that wore me down to nothing.
Patrick claimed their relationship was ’emotionally abusive’ and ‘wore me down to nothing’
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The four-time MVP was also previously in a relationship with actress Shailene Woodley
Rodgers claims Woodley told him she had to ‘go f***’ another man before they got married
‘Someone that you know, 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. He leaves a trail of blood.
‘I don’t think I’m saying too much earth-shattering stuff – there’s been enough out there.
‘But it gave me the greatest gift, which is myself. It gave me the greatest gift of how much I needed to show up for myself and take care of myself.’
Rodgers’ last public relationship was with actress Shailene Woodley, with the pair going their separate ways in 2022 after two years together. He also dated another actress in Olivia Munn.
Speaking about his brief engagement to Woodley, he claims the ‘Paradise’ actress told him she had to ‘go f***’ another man before telling Rodgers she didn’t want to be with him anymore.
‘I proposed to Shailene and she said yes. Now, she maybe felt like she was forced to make a decision. She could have said no,’ Rodgers continued.
‘A couple days after that she tells me, “Before we get married, I gotta go f*** this guy,” and I’m like – because her story is that I ruined her life and gave her crazy depression because I left her.
‘But in actuality, she told me that and then she took off the ring by March – I proposed in December – and we had a couple of times where we tried to get reunited and nothing ever happened. There wasn’t even a relationship in 2022 to break off.
‘She literally told me, “I don’t want to be with you” after we tried some reconciliation in 2021. There’s just a lot of narrative out there that isn’t true.’
Our News Outlet has contacted reps for both Patrick and Woodley for comment.
The quarterback, 42, is set to suit it up for a 22nd and final season in the NFL with the Steelers
The quarterback, 42, is set to suit up for a 22nd and final season in the NFL after signing a $25 million contract to return to the Steelers. Their first game is against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.
A source recently revealed to Our News Outlet that Rodgers will shun a post-football career in the public eye, instead retreating to a role as a family man per his promise to mystery wife, Brittani, with whom he discreetly tied the knot last year.
‘After this season, don’t expect to see much of Aaron Rodgers in the public eye,’ the insider shared.
‘Once his career ends, he plans to step away from that world almost entirely. Outside of a future Hall of Fame appearance or maybe the occasional Kentucky Derby sighting, he has no interest in television work or staying in the spotlight.
‘His focus is fully shifting toward life as a husband and, hopefully, a father, regardless of how this final season plays out. Even if an injury cuts things short, his decision is already made. It’s a promise he made to both himself and his wife.’
