Aaron Rodgers unloads on ex-girlfriend Danica Patrick, Donald Trump and MAGA in explosive interview

Pittsburgh Steelers QB hit back at his ex-girlfriend's criticisms while also calling out the U.S. President's lies on podcast.

Published Sep 11, 2026  •  4 minute read

Danica Patrick (left) and Aaron Rodgers attend the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Sports in 2018. Getty Images for Nickelodeon

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Aaron Rodgers isn’t much of a gunslinger on the field with the Steelers, but put a mic in front of him and he’ll certainly fire some shots.

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In a wide-ranging interview on teammate Cam Heyward’s podcast, the Pittsburgh QB tore into ex-girlfriend Danica Patrick, Donald Trump and the MAGA movement, as well as offering a sharp critique of ESPN’s coverage of the Mike Vrabel-Dianna Russini scandal.

In Thursday’s episode of Not Just Football, Rodgers began by calling out former NASCAR star Patrick, whom he dated for around two years.

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What did Aaron Rodgers say about Danica Patrick?

“The height of their fame was when they were with me,” Rodgers said, also apparently referring to ex-fiancee Shailene Woodley. “They get clicks when they say my name, just like the idiots on TV because I am a lightning rod … Stop talking about me, you’re not relevant, move on with your life. You’re lying.

“No one cares what they have to say until they say my name. I dated two women who nobody gives a f*** about unless they drop my name and they like to say their version of the history of what actually happened.

“So, I’m this monster of a partner and it’s just f****** horses***. Number one: Why are you still talking about me? It’s been years.”

The four-time NFL MVP then recalled his time with Patrick, who had recently retired from competing in NASCAR.

“I dated Danica. She had just retired. She was depressed and not fun to be around,” Rodgers said. “But I didn’t leave her because I was trying to be there and be a good partner. Then it was going a certain direction obviously. There was no intimacy, there was nothing.

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“I’m buying a house in Malibu and she goes, ‘Do you want to buy it together?’ And I said no. And she said, ‘You know what that means then?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, that’s the way things are going.’ She said, ‘Well, let’s get counseling.’ Then we got counseling. Then COVID hits and we’re stuck together.

Rodgers then claimed that Patrick’s account of their relationship was false, saying that “she tells a story that she was so blindsided and getting left by you, and that he leaves a trail of blood around him.

“And I’m like, ‘what are you talking about? That’s not what happened.'”

What did Rodgers say about Trump and MAGA?

The 42-year-old Super Bowl winner, who has ties to U.S. health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., also tore into U.S. President Donald Trump over his failure to deliver on campaign promises and also declared the MAGA movement dead.

“There’s no MAGA movement,” Rodgers stated. “There’s no ‘Make America Great Again’ movement because the guy you elected hasn’t done any of his campaign promises.

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“Trump gets into office running on all these policies. You know, he’s going to go after the swamp and go into Fort Knox and cut the vaccine stuff and not go into foreign wars and end the Ukraine stuff and … what’s actually happened? … Transparency in the Epstein files? Absolutely nothing.”

Rodgers continued by saying: “There’s been nothing but the obstruction of transparency with this entire administration.”

The QB, who is retiring after this NFL season, also called FBI Director Kash Patel a “moron” while also criticizing former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

“Politics is a total sham,” Rodgers said.

What did Aaron Rodgers say about ESPN?

Rodgers also went in on ESPN and the network’s coverage of the affair between NFL insider Russini and New England Patriots coach Vrabel.

The pair – who are both married to other people — had been spotted getting close together earlier this year at an Arizona resort, leading to more pictures of them together in the past to surface online.

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“ESPN is really scared because I can speak up and speak my mind,” Rodgers said, referring to a recent appearance on the Pat McAfee Show.

“But I also said, ‘You’re a gutless organization,’ because they haven’t said anything. They spend so much time on certain issues, but you won’t talk one second about the Dianna Russini situation?”

Rodgers then called out the major U.S. sports network for its “hypocrisy” after giving far more coverage to the arrest of 49ers CEO Jed York on prostitution charges last month.

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“When you click on ESPN.com, they will rotate the 8 stories or whatever they have, but they usually have the one story that’s featured. That was the featured story,” Rodgers said of the York story in August. “So you’re bringing how many millions of eyes to that situation? Why do you want to throw Jed York under the bus? I don’t know.

“But does that have the same effect as a reporter who has intimate relations with a coach who has a vote for MVP, has a vote for Coach of the Year?

“The fact that ESPN spent zero time on that story, but Jed York gets popped in San Fran, it’s literally on the top of their roll right now. That’s hypocrisy.”

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