1983–present
Who Is Aaron Rodgers?
Football player Aaron Rodgers was the longtime starting quarterback of the Green Bay Packers through 2022 and now plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played football at Butte College and the University of California at Berkeley before being drafted by the Packers in 2005. Named Green Bay’s starting quarterback three years later, Rodgers led his team to victory in 2011’s Super Bowl XLV and won four MVP awards, setting numerous NFL passing records along the way. In 2023, he was traded to the New York Jets but suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in his first game for the team. Unable to find a foothold with the Jets, Rodgers left the team at the end of his two-year contract and joined the Steelers in 2025.
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: Aaron Charles Rodgers
BORN: December 2, 1983
BIRTHPLACE: Chico, California
SPOUSE: Brittani (2025–present)
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Sagittarius
Early Life
Aaron Charles Rodgers was born in Chico, California, on December 2, 1983. He was the second of Ed and Darla Rodgers’ three sons. Football was an early love for Rodgers, who, at age 2, could sit silently and watch an entire NFL game. At age 5, he could pick out different football formations on the television screen and throw a football through a hanging tire.
Also a talented baseball player, Rodgers starred for his Raleigh Hills Little League team when the family lived in Beaverton, Oregon, in the mid-1990s. After returning to California, Rodgers set a variety of school passing records as quarterback for Pleasant Valley High School. However, coming from a small town like Chico hurt his college prospects. Unable to land a Division I scholarship, he enrolled at Butte College, a junior college in nearby Oroville, California, in 2002.
College Career
During his one year at Butte College, Rodgers led the school to a 10-1 record and a No. 2 national ranking. He was also named his conference’s MVP. His success with the program caught the eye of scouts at the University of California at Berkeley, and the following season, Rodgers enrolled there and became the team’s starter.
During his two years at Berkeley, Rodgers led a vaunted offense that propelled him to break several school records and helped make him a Heisman finalist in 2004. Rodgers bypassed his final year at Berkeley to enter the 2005 NFL draft and was one of college football’s top prospects. But, even while garnering praise for his passing attack, the 21-year-old saw his fortunes sink on draft night. Despite being considered a top 10—maybe even top five—pick, he lasted until the 24th selection of the first round, when the Green Bay Packers selected him.
NFL Career
Rodgers is now in his 21st season playing in the NFL. The quarterback was part of the Green Bay Packers’ roster from 2005 through 2022. He played for the New York Jets the next two seasons and joined the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2025.
Green Bay Packers: Super Bowl Win and Four MVP Awards
For Rodgers, coming to Green Bay meant sitting and watching the team’s starting quarterback Brett Favre, an ironman of a football player who started every game for the Packers since 1992. Finally, in 2008, after Green Bay elected not to re-sign the then-38-year-old Favre, 24-year-old Rodgers got his chance to quarterback the team as a starter. Rodgers didn’t waver, manning QB duties for all 16 regular season games while throwing for 4,038 yards and 28 touchdowns.
The football player endeared himself to Green Bay fans and proved he was one of the game’s elite quarterbacks when he steered the Packers to victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV in early February 2011. On the big stage, Rodgers earned MVP honors, completing 24 of 39 passes for 304 yards and notching three touchdowns.
Rodgers maintained his spot among football’s top performers in succeeding seasons. When he made his 100th regular season start in December 2014, he ranked first in NFL history in career touchdown passes, yards, and passer rating among all quarterbacks at that point of their careers. At the end of the season, he was voted NFL MVP for the second time.
Rodgers continued to put up elite numbers, leading the NFL with 40 touchdown passes in 2016. However, his 2017 season was derailed by a fractured collarbone in week 6, and his return late in the year wasn’t enough to push Green Bay back to the playoffs.
The Packers felt comfortable enough to offer their 35-year-old quarterback a lucrative contract extension before the start of the 2018 season, and Rodgers responded with vintage play, throwing an impressive 25 touchdowns against just two interceptions. However, the Packers sputtered to their worst record since his first year as a starter, finishing 6-9-1.
Rodgers delivered similar production in 2019, and this time, the Packers surged to the top of their division with a 13-3 record before they were overwhelmed by the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game. The quarterback won his third and fourth NFL MVP awards for the 2020 and 2021 seasons, but the Packers lost in the conference championship and divisional rounds, respectively.
During the ensuing offseason, there was rampant speculation that Rodgers could retire or demand a trade out of Green Bay. Instead, the Packers signed him to a contract extension in March 2022 worth $150.8 million over three seasons. However, the deal didn’t work out, as the Packers finished 8-9 the next season and missed the playoffs. Rodgers admitted he played through most of the season with a broken thumb he suffered in Week 5.
New York Jets: 2023 Injury
Ready to move on, Rodgers announced in March 2023 that he intended to play for the New York Jets the following season, who needed a starting quarterback. On April 24, ESPN reported that Green Bay agreed to trade him to New York in a deal involving the exchange of six draft picks. Rodgers, then 39, and the Jets soon agreed to a two-year contract, with the quarterback taking a pay cut but receiving a guaranteed $75 million.
Many NFL analysts believed the addition of Rodgers would make the Jets a Super Bowl contender, given their already stout defense. However, in his season debut in September 2023, Rodgers was on the field for only four plays before suffering a torn Achilles in his left leg. The injury ended his season and left his playing future in doubt.
However, Rodgers recovered and returned to start the 2024 regular season in an opening game against the San Francisco 49ers. Rodgers ended the season with 28 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions, as the Jets put up a poor 5-12 season record after firing head coach Robert Saleh in early October. That all but confirmed the quarterback wouldn’t be returning to the team in 2025, but whether he retired remained to be seen.
Pittsburgh Steelers
For several months after the Jets released him, Rodgers’s future was uncertain. Then, in early June 2025, after talking with several teams, he signed a one-year contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers worth $13.65 million.
The veteran quarterback said he’s “pretty sure” the 2025 season will be his last in the NFL. “That’s why we just did a one-year deal,” Rodgers said on The Pat McAfee Show. “Steelers didn’t need to put any extra years on that or anything, so this was really about finishing with a lot of love and fun and peace for the career that I’ve had. I played 20 fricking years. It’s been a long run. I’ve enjoyed it, and no better place to finish than in one of the cornerstone franchises of the NFL.”
Height and Stats
Rodgers, who is listed at 6 feet 2 inches tall, is known for his arm strength and playmaking ability in clutch moments. This is most evident in his four career “Hail Mary” completions, including a 61-yard touchdown to beat rival team Detroit Lions in December 2015, now known as the Miracle in Motown.
This, combined with his accuracy, has made Rodgers one of the most productive quarterbacks in NFL history. As of September 4, 2025, he ranks seventh all-time in passing yards (62,952) and fifth with 503 passing touchdowns, behind only Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, and Brett Favre. His career stats, according to Pro Football Reference, include:
- Regular season games: 248
- Passing completion percentage: 65.1
- Passing yards: 62,952
- Passing touchdowns: 503
- Interceptions: 116
- Rushing yards: 3,573
- Rushing touchdowns: 35
- Pro Bowl selections: 10
- MVP awards: 4
Off-field Controversies
While Rodgers’ status as an elite quarterback has never been up for debate, his behavior away from the field has sometimes drawn polarizing reactions from fans.
Rodgers has been estranged from his parents and two brothers, Jordan and Luke, since 2014. The rift became public in 2016 when Jordan competed on the reality TV show The Bachelorette, telling bachelorette JoJo Fletcher that he and Aaron don’t speak to each other. “It’s just the way he’s chosen to do life,” Jordan said. “I chose to stay close with my family and my parents and my brother [Luke].”
COVID-19 Vaccines
The MVP also hasn’t been afraid to publicly voice his opinion on hot-button topics. Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Rodgers became a vocal critic of vaccine mandates and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. After telling reporters he was “immunized” in summer 2021, Rodgers sparked backlash when he tested positive for the coronavirus later that year as an unvaccinated player. According to NFL rules, he had to undergo a 10-day isolation period.
Rodgers spoke about the incident in the 2024 biography Out of the Darkness: The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers. “If there’s one thing I wish could have gone different, it’s that, because that’s the only thing [critics] could hit me with,” he told author Ian O’Connor about his false declaration that the was immunized.
Feud with Jimmy Kimmel
Late night TV host Jimmy Kimmel joked about Rodgers’ coronavirus incident on his show Jimmy Kimmel Live!, sparking a prolonged public war of words between the two. In March 2023, the comedian again took a jab at Rodgers, calling him a “tin-foil hatter” for hinting at conspiracy theories during an appearance on ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show.
Their feud escalated in January 2024, when Kimmel threatened to sue Rodgers after the football star seemingly suggested without evidence Kimmel was connected to an unreleased “list” of associates of Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial for federal sex trafficking charges. “There’s a lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, really hoping that doesn’t come out,” Rodgers said on The Pat McAfee Show. “I’ll tell you what, if that list comes out, I definitely will be popping some sort of bottle.”
Kimmel vehemently denied any connection to Epstein and angrily responded to Rodgers’ comments on social media site X (formerly Twitter). “Your reckless words put my family in danger. Keep it up, and we will debate the facts further in court,” he wrote.
Kimmel was never mentioned in any documents related to Epstein. He addressed the spat with Rodgers on his show, saying he would accept an apology from Rodgers if he offered one. Rodgers later said his comments were misinterpreted, and he never meant to suggest Kimmel was involved in any criminal activity. “I’m not stupid enough to accuse you of that with absolutely zero evidence, concrete evidence. That’s ridiculous,” Rodgers said.
Wife
Rodgers, who has had several high-profile relationships over the years, is now married to a woman named Brittani. The athlete has shared very little about their relationship and only shared the news of his marriage when asked about the ring on his left ring finger during a June 2025 press conference. He told reporters he and his wife had been married for “a couple months” at that point.
The next month, he told sports analyst Pat McAfee about the impact of his relationship. “To have that person that unconditionally loves you behind the scenes, there’s no better feeling in the world, and I got the most incredible wife,” Rodgers said. “I just really love her, and I’m so thankful to have her by my side at the end. When you have that stability and that rock behind you at the house, you feel like you can do anything.”
Prior to his current girlfriend, Rodgers dated actor Olivia Munn from 2014 to 2017. In early 2018, he was revealed to be dating race car driver Danica Patrick. However, in July 2020, Patrick’s rep confirmed the pair was “no longer together.”
In an MVP acceptance speech in February 2021, Rodgers said he was engaged amid reports that he was dating actor Shailene Woodley. Later that month, Woodley confirmed their engagement on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon. However, the couple called off their engagement in February 2022 and, following an attempt to reconcile their relationship, split for good in April of that year.
After that, the quarterback was linked to Mallory Edens, a model and former Princeton University track and field athlete.
Documentary and Jeopardy! Host
Rodgers’s comeback from the devastating injury that ended his 2023 football season was the subject of the 2024 Netflix docuseries Aaron Rodgers: Enigma. It followed the football player during his recovery from a torn Achilles tendon he suffered during his first game with the New York Jets.
The documentary wasn’t Rodgers first time on television. In April 2021, he served as a guest host of the popular trivia game show Jeopardy! for 10 episodes. The quarterback, who had won a celebrity edition of the show in 2015, was one of several notable figures to fill in as emcee while the show searched for a permanent replacement for beloved host Alex Trebek, who died in November 2020 from pancreatic cancer. The hosting gig also raised nearly $237,000 for charity.
Rodgers even told USA Today he was interested in becoming the show’s full-time host. However, his playing schedule wouldn’t allow for it.
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