Danica Patrick officially launched her podcast, Pretty Intense, back in August, and it’s featured a wide range of guests. But no one’s appearance has been more highly anticipated than Aaron Rodgers’.
The Green Bay Packers quarterback and Patrick’s boyfriend was on the episode released Thursday, and in nearly two hours, they covered just about every topic, from football (obviously) to Jeopardy! to his sweet tooth to his UFO sighting.
Patrick confirmed the two were dating back in January of 2018, but they first met at the 2012 ESPY Awards and were friends first. So of course, they know a lot about each other, which didn’t hinder their conversation as Danica treated him like almost any other guest on her podcast (except for the fact that he spent Christmas with her family in matching pajamas).
But there was just too much to focus on one detail of their in-depth conversation. So instead, here are the 11 most important things we learned from Rodgers’ conversation with Patrick.
1. Why Rodgers wants the ball for clutch moments
Even if you’re not part of the winning or losing fan base, football fans know what kind of ridiculous throws Rodgers can make during a two-minute drill or on the last play of the game.
“I feel like everyone can almost feel that you know it’s going down,” Danica said. “You’re the most clutch player ever. And I feel your mental shift into a new space. There’s a sense for that. Can you feel that?”
After he said yes, she asked what that feels like. Rodgers continued:
“Calm, yeah, very calm. When I was [five or six], and I watched Joe Montana take the Niners down the field against the Bengals and threw a touchdown to John Taylor for the win, I remember thinking that’s what I wanted to do.
“Then fast forward, I’m 14, and I’m watching MJ, Michael Jordan, last game with the Bulls, and he crosses up [Bryon] Russell at the foul line and drains a mid-range shot. And that’s what I always said, like, ‘I want to do that. I want the ball in the clutch moments.'”
2. Rodgers has a huuuuge sweet tooth
There are a lot of things Rodgers misses about his healthier diet, which he praised Danica for contributing to with her healthy cooking. And while he thinks his healthy eating helps his performance and recovery significantly, he still thinks about what he doesn’t eat anymore.
“I miss Blizzards for sure from Dairy Queen, 100 percent,” he said, adding it’s the Oreo and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup mix that he loves. “I miss going after gallons of ice cream. I miss Starburst jelly beans for dinner.”
But he does throw in a couple extra cheat days when Patrick isn’t in town (because apparently she never has cheat days). She joked that their supply of vegan chocolate chips “goes way down” when she’s not around.
Rodgers: The best part is sometimes when you hide them and you think I’m not going to be able to find them, but I doooo.
Danica: You do, because I don’t try real hard.
3. Rodgers wanted to be on Jeopardy! from a very young age
Rodgers actually was on the game show in 2015 for Celebrity Jeopardy! week and won $50,000 for charity. And his love for the game show started at a young age.
When he was about five or six years old, he said, he would spend several days visiting his grandparents, and if he visited during the week, he’d watch Jeopardy! with them.
“If it was weekdays, Grandma and Grandpa were watching Jeopardy!, so we were watching Jeopardy! So you got used to seeing Alex up there. Can’t say I would have got any of the questions right, but I do remember enjoying listening and learning and trying to follow what the questions were and why they were asking them in a silly way and why you were answering in the form of a question. and from that point forward, I wanted to be on Jeopardy!“
4. Part of Rodgers’ ideal meal includes a pie from Jordy Nelson’s grandma
Well, for his last meal anyway. While grilling Rodgers with what Danica described as “in-house” questions – not questions from random Instagram users — she asked what his final meal, or “death row meal,” would be. Rodgers listed off a wide variety of things, including three desserts: A blizzard from Dairy Queen, some cupcakes and “a pie from Jordy Nelson’s grandma. I’m going to put that in there as well.
Patrick asked, what kind of pie?
“The Butterfinger or Snickers, and I’m not sharing.”
5. His adventurous retirement plans
Also in this line of questions, Danica asked Aaron what three things he wants to do when he retires. He rattled off the first two, skiing and skydiving, quickly. But he couldn’t think of a specific third item, until the couple started talking about traveling, which they both love to do together.
Rodgers said he really wants to go to Egypt, adding: “Before I die, I would like to stand between the paws of the Sphinx.” It’s something he said he’s been thinking about for five years.
6. He thinks mustaches can be a little creepy
Rodgers said Tombstone is one of his “all-time favorite movies,” which also made him always want a good mustache because “Kurt Russell has a badass mustache in that.”
He explained that when he was in his 20s, he always had this line of thinking about mustaches.
“If you are under 35, then your mustache needs to have some sort of brevity, a joke to it,” 36-year-old Rodgers said. “So now it’s a little creepy at times, but I do enjoy it. I think the creepy goes away when it covers the top lip. Then it’s totally cowboy.”
7. Rodgers estimates he does up to 12 crossword puzzles a week
Danica clarified early on the podcast that for those of us who don’t know, Rodgers is particularly smart. When he was a kid, he said he’d take alternative studies classes a couple times a week with other gifted children and would learn about everything from chess to Greek mythology to the weather in grade school.
But he also loves crossword puzzles — another thing learned from his grandparents — and estimated he does up to a dozen a week. He said he does all the ones in his New York Times app, he’ll do USA TODAY‘s and he’ll do ones in the local Green Bay paper if he gets a copy. He also goes through the Times‘ app and pulls out some archived crossword puzzles.
“I do enjoy them, but also I’ve had a number of concussions and you worry about your future brain functions, and I feel like doing crosswords, doing Sudoku, doing KenKen, watching Jeopardy!, brushing your teeth with a different hand, tying your shoes in different orders — there’s a lot of different things that you can do to stay sharp mentally, and I think that’s one of them, crosswords.”
8. Danica has changed his life
Another question from the people close to them, Patrick asked how she’s impacted his life. From a practical standpoint, he said: “I can’t have as many cheat days, that’s for sure. And then now we’ve got a couple dogs hanging out all the time. That’s been fun. They’re good dogs. They are good dogs, and they make life better.”
He also described both her discipline and work ethic as “inspiring” and praised her curiosity and open-mindedness. And then he explained how, on a deeper level, Danica’s brought peace in his life.
“From an emotional standpoint,” Rodgers said. “I think you’re a very steady person, so that’s been nice to have a steady energy. Energetically, I think you have a steadiness about you. You know who you are and that brings even more calm to the house, which you know me, I’m always about calm and energetic cohesiveness and peace. And you’re a peacemaker. Sometimes you fight for it, but you’re a peacemaker.”
9. Rodgers is an active reader
Danica applauded him for his giant book collection, and Rodgers said he wishes he could read more. But when he finds the time, he goes to town on something.
“I enjoy reading books on JFK,” he said. “I recently read a crazy expose [with] just unbelievable detail about his life. The most dense book. I literally read it three times just to try and wrap my head around the information in it.”
Danica then reminded him that he went through three highlighters and took notes while reading that book.
“I love to highlight and underline in my reading,” he continued. “Because there’s so much information, and I want to retain it.”
10. He’s apparently only bad at a handful of activities
When Patrick asked if there’s anything he’s not good at, Rodgers said:
“Yeah, I’m terrible at badminton. I tried wake boarding in high school, and I was terrible at it. Tried surfing before. I’d like to try that again and be good at it, but I’m not good at that.”
11. Rodgers claims he’s had a UFO encounter
He said he was with a friend in New Jersey in early 2005, and they heard an alarm and went outside.
“In the sky, we saw something moving through the clouds,” he said. “The only reference that makes sense for people who have seen Independence Day is that scene when the spaceship is coming through the atmosphere, and the airplane’s coming toward it, and it’s just kind of a moving orange object. That’s what it was in the sky.”
Rodgers said he thought whatever he saw was moving at not a high speed but he was struck by how large it was. He said it clearly “it was unnatural, 100 percent” and not like something he’d seen before, like a 747.
“This was tremendous size and moving left and right, glowing orange like fire, and we were just all frozen. It was me, my buddy and his brother just frozen. Then it goes out of sight, [and we] kind of look at each other like, ‘What in the hell was that?’ And then nobody spoke. …
“Before we could say anything, fighter jets [imitates fighter jet noise]. If you’ve ever been to a flyover or an air show, you know what that sounds like. And I’ve been in the league a long time and seen flyovers and been to air shows as a kid and seen Top Gun. You know what that sounds like, right? It’s four of them, and then nothing. Turn the news on, nothing. Check the papers the next day, nothing.”
He said he continued to look into it and said the alarm they heard was from a nearby nuclear power plant, where he learned a number of UFO sightings occur.
Either way, Rodgers and Patrick acknowledged they both definitely believe there is more life in the universe beyond Earth because “it’s not logical to me,” he said.
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