Aaron Rodgers

Some Lesser Known Facts About Aaron Rodgers

• Aaron Rodgers is a renowned American professional footballer playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL).

• His father is a Texas-born chiropractor (a health care professional who treats pain disorders, such as back and neck pain) and a footballer who played as an offensive lineman for the Chico State Wildcats from 1973 to 1976.

• Rodgers belongs to English, Irish and German ancestry.

• After some days of his birth, his family moved to Ukiah, California. He is the middle child of his parents. Aaron Rodgers is not on good terms with his family.

• In an interview, Aaron mentioned that his father often tossed a football with Aaron and his siblings, and told them not to drink and not to party in college, or they would limit themselves in sports like he did. Aaron took this advice seriously.

• At the age of ten, he was featured on the front page of the Ukiah Daily Journal for his top performance at a local basketball free-throw competition.

• Later, his family relocated to Beaverton, Oregon, where Rodgers attended Vose Elementary School and Whitford Middle School. He played baseball in the Raleigh Hills Little League, taking on positions as shortstop, centre field, and pitcher.

• In 1997, his family moved back to Chico 1997, and Aaron attended Pleasant Valley High School, starting for two years at quarterback and garnering 4,421 passing yards.

  

• He set single-game records with six touchdowns and 440 all-purpose yards.

• In 2001, Rodgers established a single-season school record by amassing a total of 2,466 yards.

• He graduated from Pleasant Valley High School in spring 2002, after scoring 1310 on the SAT and with an A− A-average.

• Despite a strong high school football record, Rodgers didn’t get much attention from big college football programs. He mentioned that it was likely because he was small for a football player at the time, only 5 feet 10 inches tall and 165 pounds.

• In an interview, Aaron mentioned that he wanted to play for Florida State University under coach Bobby Bowden, but was rejected.

• The University of Illinois offered an opportunity to compete for a scholarship as a walk-on. However, he declined the invitation and considered quitting football to play baseball instead.

• He was also thinking of giving up entirely on the idea of playing in professional sports and attending law school after completing his undergraduate degree.

• Eventually, in 2002, he was recruited to play football at Butte College, a junior college near his hometown of Chico, California. In his freshman year, he threw 26 touchdowns, which led the school to a 10–1 record, the NorCal Conference championship, No. 2 national ranking.

• In 2003, he was transferred to the University of California, Berkeley. Soon, he was named the starting quarterback in the fifth game of the 2003 season.

• In 2004, he guided the team to a 10–2 record and a number nine ranking in the season’s final Associated Press poll.

• Rodgers was also named first-team All-Pacific-10 Conference. After the school lost in the Holiday Bowl, Rodgers announced that he was forgoing his senior year to turn professional.

• In 2005, Rodgers was chosen by the Green Bay Packers in the first round of the 2005 NFL draft. Rodgers signed a five-year contract worth $7.7 million with the Packers that included $5.4 million in guaranteed money.

  

• From 2005 to 2007, in his first three seasons of the league, Rodgers saw only limited action and appeared in just seven games. During these years, he also served as Brett Favre’s backup.

• In March 2008, when Brett Favre announced his retirement Green Bay Packers quarterback position went to Rodgers for the 2008 NFL season.

• In his first season as a starter, Rodgers quickly proved that he was one of the best quarterbacks in the league by passing for 4,038 yards in the season, as well as throwing for 28 touchdowns and only 13 interceptions.

• On October 31, 2008, Rodgers signed a six-year, $65 million contract extension that would last through the 2014 season. In his first full season with the team, the Green Bay Packers finished with a 6-10 record and missed the playoffs.

• In 2009, his exceptional passing continued as he threw for 4,434 yards and 30 touchdowns, leading the Packers to an 11–5 record and a playoff spot.

• In October 2009, Rodgers was named NFC Offensive Player of the Month, when he passed for 988 yards, completed 74.5 per cent of his passes, and recorded a passer rating over 110 for all three games played during the month.

• He became the first NFL player to achieve consecutive 4,000-yard passing seasons in his first two years as a starter.

• Additionally, he recorded a passer rating of 103.2, which is the second-best in franchise history, behind Bart Starr’s 1966 mark of 105.0. He was also selected to play in the Pro Bowl (the National Football League’s all-star game for the 2008 season).

• In 2010, Aaron Rodgers led the Green Bay Packers to a Super Bowl XLV victory (2010 season), throwing for 304 yards and 3 TDs, and earned games’ Super Bowl Most Valuable Player honours.

• In the 2010 NFL season, Rodgers was named the FedEx Air NFL Player of the Year for his passing performance.

• For his performance in the 2010 season, Aaron was ranked 11th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2011.

• In 2011, Aaron won the NFL Most Valuable Player award, receiving 48 out of 50 votes, and set multiple NFL records, including 13 games with a passer rating over 100 and 12 consecutive games with at least two touchdown passes.

• In 2011, Rodgers set numerous NFL records. He recorded a passer rating of over 100.0 in thirteen games during the season, including twelve games in a row (both records), and a passer rating of 110.0 or higher in twelve games, including eleven in a row (also records).

• Rodgers’ 2011 NFL season was later ranked as his third greatest passing season of all time by the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) is an American international basic cable sports channel in 2013.

• Rodgers was named to the Pro Bowl for his performance in the 2011 season and received a First-Team All-Pro honour. Additionally, he was voted by his fellow players as the best player in the league in the NFL Top 100 Players of 2012.

• In the 2012 NFL season, Aaron Rodgers threw 39 touchdown passes, leading the NFL in passer rating (108.0), touchdown-to-interception ratio, and passing touchdown percentage. His outstanding performance earned him the NFC Offensive Player of the Week award multiple times, as well as the Player of the Month honour for October.

• In 2012, Rodgers was also ranked sixth by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2013.

• In the 2013 NFL season, Rodgers missed seven regular-season games because he fractured his collarbone in a practice game.

• In 2013, he was ranked No. 11 by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2014.

• In the 2014 NFL season, Aaron threw for 4,381 yards, 38 touchdowns, and just 5 interceptions to earn his second NFL MVP award.

• In 2014, Rodgers became the second player in NFL history and the first since Daryle Lamonica in 1969 to throw six touchdown passes in the first half.

• He was voted the AP NFL Most Valuable Player for the 2014 season, receiving 31 votes, and was named NFC Offensive Player of the Year by the Kansas City Committee of 101.

• He was ranked as the second-best player in the NFL Top 100 Players of 2015 by his fellow players.

• In 2015, he was named to his fifth Pro Bowl and was ranked as the sixth-best player by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2016.

• In 2016, Aaron led the Packers to six straight wins to finish the regular season, win a division title, and advance to the NFC championship game.

• In 2017, He again suffered a collarbone fracture and played just seven games of the 2017 season.

• On August 29, 2018, Rodgers signed a four-year extension with the Green Bay Packers worth $134 million with a $57.5 million signing bonus.

• In 2019, he became the 11th player in NFL history to eclipse 50,000 career passing yards, achieving the milestone on a 39-yard touchdown.

• In 2020, Rodger had a career-high 70.7 completion percentage, while throwing for 4,299 yards and a league-leading 48 touchdown passes to win the third NFL MVP award

• In 2021, Rodgers passed for 4,115 yards and 34 touchdowns to earn his fourth NFL MVP honours.

• Rodgers became the fifth player to win consecutive MVPs and the first since Peyton Manning between 2008 and 2009. Rodgers joined Peyton Manning as the only players in NFL history to win at least four MVPs. He was ranked third by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2022.

• In March 2022, Rodgers officially signed a 3-year contract extension worth $150.8 million, with $101.5 million guaranteed. The new contract made him the highest-paid player in North American sports history on an annual basis.

• Rodgers finished his 2022 NFL season with 3,695 passing yards, 26 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions, which marked the most for Rodgers in a single season since 2008. He was ranked 51st by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2023.

• In April 2023, Aaron Rodgers was traded from the Green Bay Packers to the New York Jets in a high-profile deal involving multiple draft picks.

• Renowned footballer Joe Namath allowed Rodgers to wear his retired No. 12 jersey; however, Rodgers announced that he would revert to wearing the No. 8 jersey he had worn throughout his college career with the California Golden Bears.

• In the first week of his Jets’ debut, Rodgers suffered an injury to his left ankle and underwent surgery.

•  Rodgers returned for the 2024 season, but he and the team struggled and could not win.

•  In March 2025, the Jets released Rodgers, and he became a free agent.

• In June 2025, Rodgers signed a one-year contract to play under head coach Mike Tomlin on the Pittsburgh Steelers.

• He officially signed his one-year contract worth $13.65 million, which includes $10 million guaranteed and can be worth up to $19.5 million with incentives. The team also announced that Aaron Rodgers will continue to wear his number 8 jersey.

• Since 2008, Rodgers has gained recognition for his distinctive touchdown celebration, which he and his teammates refer to as the “Championship Belt.” After scoring, Rodgers celebrates by mimicking the act of putting an invisible championship belt around his waist. This gesture has been praised by WWE wrestler Triple H and has become popular among Green Bay fans, who often mimic it during games.

• Aaron Rodgers was known for his interest in alternative medicine. In 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Rodgers claimed that he had been “immunised.” However, later in an interview, he mentioned that he had not been vaccinated and instead he had taken homoeopathic treatments.

• He promotes the use of ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic drink.

• As a frequent guest on podcasts and radio shows, Rodgers has sometimes promoted conspiracy theories, including the unfounded claim that the U.S. government created the AIDS and COVID-19 epidemics. He is the subject of the documentary “Aaron Rodgers: Enigma” (2024).

• In January 2012, Rodgers became an honorary member of Tau Kappa Epsilon, a social college fraternity.

• In April 2018, Rodgers was announced as a limited partner in the ownership group of the Milwaukee Bucks, making him the first active NFL player to have an ownership stake in an NBA franchise.

• Aaron Rodgers was featured in several commercials, such as State Farm Insurance, Pizza Hut, as well as numerous local Wisconsin-based advertisements.

• In May 2015, Rodgers appeared as a contestant on Celebrity Jeopardy! (An American television quiz show), where he won $50,000 for his charity. In April 2021, he appeared as a host in the same show.

  

• Rodgers is the founder of a charity firm named ItsAaron. He has also donated funds to the University of California, Berkeley, to renovate the athletic facilities and established an endowed scholarship for transfer students at the school. In 2021, he was honoured by the school for his charitable work.

• In 2021, Rodgers donated $1 million to help small businesses in Chico and Butte County, California. In 2024, he organised a flag football tournament and raised $3 million for charities.

• In June 2025, in an interview, Aaron Rodgers mentioned that he had gotten married a few months prior without confirming the identity of his wife.

• Aaron also enjoys playing golf.