Aaron Rodgers has shared his side of his split from Danica Patrick, and it’s very different from hers. On the Sept. 10 episode of the Not Just Football with Cam Heyward podcast, the 42-year-old Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback looked back on his two-plus years with the retired race car driver, 44, which ended in July 2020.
His version
Rodgers said the relationship got hard after Patrick retired from racing. He said she was struggling, and that he stayed because he wanted to support her. By the end, he said, the two had grown distant, and there was little real connection left. He said they tried couples therapy at Patrick’s suggestion before breaking up during the pandemic.
Her version
Patrick has described the relationship very differently. On The Sage Steele Show in 2025, she called it emotionally abusive, said it wore her down and accused Rodgers of leaving “a trail of blood” in his past relationships. On the podcast, Rodgers said her account doesn’t match his memory, and he questioned her claim that she was blindsided by the breakup. Patrick had not publicly responded to his latest comments at the time of publication.
Life after
Rodgers also talked about his wife, Brittani. He said they first met years ago, went separate ways and were each engaged to other people before reconnecting. He also mentioned his 2021–22 relationship with actress Shailene Woodley, and he argued that public “narratives” about his love life have little to do with what actually happened in private.
Our take
Breakups rarely have one true version, and here two people have publicly described the same relationship in opposite ways. Only the two of them know what happened. What’s clear is that Patrick’s words from 2025 stuck with Rodgers, and he’s now chosen to answer them in public too.
