Getty Aaron Rodgers #12 of the Green Bay Packers walks off the field after defeating the Chicago Bears 23-16 at Soldier Field on November 12, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois.
Green Bay Packers‘ quarterback Aaron Rodgers is not walking back inflammatory comments he made about the Chicago Bears earlier this season. In fact, he’s doubling down on them.
When the Packers and the Bears first squared off at Soldier Field in October, Rodgers was caught on camera audibly yelling “I still own you!” at Bears fans who were taunting him following a touchdown run. While such comments are typically not broadcast for public consumption, trash talk between opponents and with fans is the norm on NFL football fields, regardless of the plastic and wholesome image the league’s public relations office does its best to sell to the viewing public.
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To Rodgers’ credit, he did not back down from the comments following Green Bays’s 24-14 victory over Chicago on October 17. And he did the exact opposite of backing down from what he said when asked again about his comments Wednesday.
No regrets from 1️⃣2️⃣ as he faces the Bears again.
“I don’t regret saying it at all,” Rodgers said.
“I don’t know that you can question a whole lot of what I said,” he continued. “We have gotten the better of them the last 27, 28 times we have played ’em, for the most part.”
Rodgers has Owned Bears During Green Bay Tenure
GettyPackers QB Aaron Rodgers is public enemy No. 1 in Chicago.
Rodgers was not just reeling numbers off the top of his head. He chose the figures of 27 and 28 games deliberately. He did so because it represents the sample size racked up over the 14 years the QB has spent as the starter in Green Bay. Rodgers served three seasons as the backup to Hall of Fame signal caller Brett Favre to begin his career.
During the Rodgers era, the Packers have dominated the Bears, winning 22 of 27 regular season matchups against Chicago, per The Football Database. He is also 1-0 against the Bears in the playoffs, winning the 2010 NFC Championship Game in Chicago by a score of 21-14 on the way to the Packers’ only Super Bowl title with Rodgers at the helm.
The Bears last beat the Packers almost three years ago, in December 2018. They will travel to Lambeau Field on Sunday, December 12, where Chicago has not won in more than five years.
Victory will again be tough to come by, as the 9-3 Packers sit one game behind the NFC-leading Arizona Cardinals and are playing for home field advantage the rest of the way. Not to mention, it will be Bears rookie QB Justin Fields’ first trip to Green Bay — one he will have to make during the grip of winter dragging a faltering 4-8 team in tow.
Green Bay Fans Adjusting to a More Vocal Rodgers This Year
GettyAaron Rodgers, of the Green Bay Packers, celebrates after defeating the Chicago Bears 24-14 at Soldier Field on October 17, 2021.
Whether this will be Rodgers’ final year in a Packers uniform remains to be seen. The sure-fire Hall of Fame QB made known in the offseason his desire to be traded, citing lack of inclusion on player personnel decisions and play calling during crucial situations. His most recent complaint of the latter can be traced back to the 4th quarter of the 2020 NFC Championship Game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which Green Bay lost after head coach Matt LaFleur took the ball out of his MVP quarterback’s hands in crunch time.
Rodgers’ attitude toward a prospective future with the team has been met with some criticism from the Packers’ faithful. More critiques and scrutiny came the quarterback’s way when he was forced to miss a game against the Kansas City Chiefs, which ended up being one of Green Bay’s three losses on the year, due to the NFL’s virus protocol.
It became clear that Rodgers had misled the media and the public as to his vaccination status, saying he was “immunized” while technically referring to homeopathic treatments to raise his immunity rather than one of the FDA-approved vaccines.
Rodgers spoke loudly in the aftermath, citing biological autonomy and allergy concerns, among other less valid arguments, as the reasons behind his vaccination decision. He was also defiant in the face of the idea that he had been dishonest, though he backed off from that position, and several other controversial takes, in the weeks to come.
Still, there is no question that this is the most brazen brand of Rodgers any around the NFL have ever seen, at least publicly. The 38-year-old reigning NFL MVP has one of the strongest voices in football and has decided this year to use it.
It is said that with increased age comes decreased concern about voicing one’s opinions and how others might react to them. This appears to be the case with Rodgers since the preseason and if nothing else, it has made for one of the most interesting years in Packer land in recent memory. With the Bears coming to town Sunday, it is once again time for Rodgers to put his money where his mouth is, like he has done successfully against the division rival so many times before.