Getty NFL Hall of Famer Dick Butkus is seen during the Illinois Fighting Illini and Michigan Wolverines game at Memorial Stadium on October 12, 2019 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
There has never been any love lost between the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers. That sentiment, or rather lack thereof, applies to players and fans of both franchises and stretches back across decades of rivalry.
Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus recently earned the prestigious blue checkmark next to the name on his Twitter account and has been terrorizing the social media landscape in hilarious fashion ever since. In that time, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has become a favorite target of Butkus. The reigning NFL MVP’s recent breakup with his fiancé and Hollywood actress Shailene Woodley opened the door for the Bears’ great to get a little personal with his intergenerational foe, and Butkus did not pass up the opportunity.
for all of you who have asked
i am not the reason shailene woodley and @AaronRodgers12 have broken up
“For all of you who have asked, I am not the reason Shailene Woodley and @AaronRodgers12 have broken up,” Butkus tweeted on Wednesday, February 16.
The following day, Butkus doubled-down on his Rodgers razzing.
every time i try to engage here my phone gets interupted by someone named shailene whatsapp
“Every time I try to engage here, my phone gets interrupted by someone named Shailene WhatsApp,” Butkus wrote online.
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Rodgers Started Twitter Beef With Bears After Taunting Crowd Earlier This Season
GettyQuarterback Aaron Rodgers, of the Green Bay Packers, warms up prior to the NFC Divisional Playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers at Lambeau Field on January 22, 2022 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)
As to whether Butkus is out of line to come after Rodgers and his personal relationships is a matter of perspective. One notion that is less open to argument, however, is that Rodgers started any and all subsequent beef with Bears players and fans after he taunted the crowd during a game at Soldier Field earlier this season.
Rodgers scrambled for six yards and a game-sealing touchdown in the fourth quarter of a Week 6 road victory over the Bears. Afterwards, the impassioned quarterback turned to the end zone crowd and shouted words that continue to echo throughout Bears Nation months later.
Fox Sports NFL posted video of the incident online October 17.
“I STILL OWN YOU.” – Aaron Rodgers to Bears fans
“I still own you,” Rodgers can be heard saying to Bears fans on the video.
The real-time Fox broadcast of the game caught even more sound.
“I’ve owned you all my f****** life!” Rodgers shouted. “I own you! I still own you!”
Butkus, Rodgers Twitter Feud Could Continue in Context of Green Bay Unrest
GettyBrian Urlacher (left) and Dick Butkus (right), of the Chicago Bears, take the field for the team’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles in an NFC Wildcard Playoff matchup at Soldier Field on January 6, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
Much like Butkus’ Twitter jabs aimed at the quarterback, Rodgers’ comments to Bears fans may have also been out of line. However, the veracity of the quarterback’s claims is above questioning.
Rodgers is 10-3 over 13 career starts at Soldier Field, leaving Chicago with a victory 11 of the last 12 times he has visited. But while Rodgers has gotten the best of the Bears for most of his 17-year career with the Packers, Butkus has clearly owned Rodgers in social media circles over the last week.
Butkus may have occasion to take more shots at Rodgers and the Packers in the weeks and months ahead, as the QB is expected to make a decision soon as to whether he will return to Green Bay in 2022. Rodgers’ future with the team has come back into question after the Packers lost in heartbreaking fashion to the San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional Round of the playoffs in January.
Green Bay has earned a bye week in each of the last three NFL postseasons, but has failed to make it to the Super Bowl each time.