Aaron Rodgers is making headlines after offering a blunt assessment of the attention surrounding his former relationships, including his engagement to actress Shailene Woodley.
During the Thursday, September 10, episode of the Not Just Football podcast, Rodgers, 42, claimed that the public profiles of some of his former partners were at their highest while they were dating him.
“The height of their fame is when they were with me,” Rodgers said, arguing that mentioning his name continues to generate attention because he considers himself a “lightning rod.”
His comments came shortly after Woodley, 34, won a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her performance in Hulu’s Paradise.
Rodgers and Woodley confirmed their engagement in February 2021. Their relationship later ended, with the pair going their separate ways before getting married.
During the podcast appearance, Rodgers also shared his version of how their engagement unraveled. He claimed Woodley removed her engagement ring only a few months after his proposal and said the pair later made attempts to reconnect without successfully rebuilding the relationship.
Rodgers pushed back against narratives suggesting that he was solely responsible for the breakup or its emotional aftermath.
“There’s just a lot of narratives out there that are just not true,” he said.
The quarterback also addressed former girlfriend Danica Patrick, whom he dated from 2018 to 2020, while expressing frustration about former partners continuing to discuss him publicly.
“It’s been years,” Rodgers said. “Stop talking about me. Move on with your life. Live your life.”
Woodley previously spoke about the emotional impact of a past relationship in a September 2024 interview with Bustle, describing experiencing “a broken heart that healed and broke again.”
She said the experience eventually taught her that she did not need to understand why every relationship unfolded differently than she had hoped.
Rodgers’ latest remarks have renewed attention on one of his most public relationships while also reigniting debate around his claims about fame, attention and his former partners.
