Getty Aaron Rodgers and Danica Patrick pictured at The 2018 ESPYS.
Danica Patrick is dating Aaron Rodgers, but there is just one problem with his new girlfriend. Patrick grew up a huge Bears fan, which just happens to be one of the Packers biggest rivals. Patrick has ditched her navy and orange in favor of green and gold. The Packers opened the season against the Bears, and Patrick was on-hand to witness her boyfriend’s gutsy performance.
You may remember Patrick’s priceless reaction to Rodgers’ game-winning touchdown pass in the game.
Her face says it all! @DanicaPatrick @AaronRodgers12 @packers
Rodgers was carted off the field earlier in the game, and it appeared his season may be in doubt. After the game, Patrick took to Instagram to give her boyfriend a shoutout.
“What an unreal night! Such a display of passion, commitment, and talent. So proud of you @aaronrodgers12. ❤️?,” Patrick posted with a photo of Rodgers.
Patrick was seen in subsequent weeks decked out in Packers gear like the photo below shows.
Patrick spoke about the rivalry in an interview with Jimmy Kimmel.
“The hardest thing is I grew up right on the state line of Wisconsin,” Patrick said per CBS Sports. “I was born in Wisconsin but we lived in Illinois, so my dad grew up with all Packers fans. What he says is I’m not against the Packers, I’m against the Packers fans. So I don’t know what that really means because now I’m a Packers fan.”
Danica Patrick’s Family Are Still Packers Fans
Patrick may have pledged her allegiance to the Packers, but her family is unwilling to do the same. Patrick’s father, T.J., spoke with Autoweek about his dedication to the Bears as well as his original plans to tackle Aaron Rodgers while wearing a Chicago jersey when they first met.
“I’m still a Bears fan,” TJ Patrick told Autoweek. “I’m always going to be a Bears fan. I can’t be a Packers fan. Danica is still a Bears fan, but that doesn’t mean she can’t be an Aaron Rodgers fan…Actually, the first time we met him I told the kids I was going to wear my Brian Urlacher jersey and tackle him. I couldn’t find it. He walked in and asked, ‘Where is your jersey?’ I told him I couldn’t find it. He said, ‘I would respect you a lot more if you had it on.’ He’s good about it. He knows. He is very intelligent and still has a sense a humor.”
This could make for very animated discussions around the holidays, but T.J. may want to put his tackling plans on hold with Rodgers battling an injured knee.
As for his daughter, Patrick may be retired, but that does not mean she has a lot of spare time. Patrick described a typical day in a recent interview with ESPN W.
“But I’m not very good at sitting around,” Patrick told ESPN W. “For me, when I’m at home, I turn music on. I watch a little bit of news in the morning. I go to the gym every morning, come back, have lunch, have something to eat. I have grocery store runs, shipping things, signing things, calls, meetings, interviews. GoDaddy is doing the ‘Pretty Intense’ program in-house within GoDaddy so I go online and talk to those people on the forum and then I do live, kind-of-like Skype calls, but they’re using this different program. I’ll do hour-long calls to talk to people. It’s definitely not super regimented all day, every day. I love to go walk my dogs. I’ll go out and walk the dogs for an hour or two. And I’ll make dinner and cook. Days go by.”
Patrick Admits She No Longer Cheers for the Bears
It sounds like Patrick is fully dedicated to the Packers, which means she has given up her love for the Bears. Patrick explained to ESPN W that it has not been difficult, but other fans still do not understand how she could switch so easily.
The Packers obviously played at noon [on Sept. 23] and then afterward, the Bears-Cardinals game was on and they were playing at Phoenix and I’m like, “Oh, I have houses in both of those cities” [in Chicago and Phoenix]. It was the first time, I felt like I really was like, “Don’t win, don’t win” and then they did. The Bears are having a great start to the year actually. I’m very comfortable with the transition. Anyone that wonders why I don’t cheer for the Bears, it’s not like it’s an in-house rivalry of like, “Oh, you cheer for this team, I cheer for that team.” It’s like, “No, you play for that team.” I can never understand when people are like, “Why don’t you cheer for the Bears still anymore?” I’m like, “Well for obvious reasons.” Usually with a sports teams or an athlete, whatever it may be, a driver, usually you need to have a reason, right? Maybe it’s because you’re from the city. Or maybe it’s because you’re dating one.
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Danica Patrick Was a Huge Bears Fan Before Dating Aaron Rodgers