The Green Bay Packers are making all sorts of off-the-field moves this offseason – and allegedly so is star quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
According to a report on Tuesday from sports gossip website Terez Owens, Rodgers was seen with racing star Danica Patrick at his favorite restaurant in Green Bay after Christmas. According to the site, "An onlooker said that Danica and Aaron were all over each other, kissing and couldn’t seem to keep their hands off each other."
Today, fellow gossip site The Blast finally got around to asking Danica Patrick if the rumors were true about her and Aaron Rodgers. Her answer? No answer. Or maybe that IS an answer? (No, it's not.)
Now before any JSCommenters head to their keyboards to rant about why the Packers are doomed next season because Rodgers will be distracted by this rumored new sports power couple or some other dumb, sexist, regressive garbage that should condemn them to Bears fandom for life, take this report with some Himalayan lamp-size grains of salt.
Terez Owens is a fairly notorious sports gossip huckster site that has routinely tried to goadingly claim Rodgers is gay – even posting just last April that he was dating Nick Jonas – with nothing to back up those claims. Add in the fact that Patrick just ended a five-year relationship with fellow driver Ricky Stenhouse barely two weeks ago, that the Packers season just ended two days ago and, most damning, that Patrick's a diehard Bears fan, and there's a very strong chance this is merely some sad desperate sports fan fiction.
But it's the first January in a long time without a single down of Packers football on the schedule, and it's really freaking cold, and everyone's back at work again after the holiday break, so let's have some fun and catch up with some factoids about arguably the most powerful and influential side of this potential sports power couple.
1. She's a native Wisconsinite
If these two actually are an item, they might have something to bond over other than their multiple ESPY appearances: a bond with Wisconsin. Indeed, while Patrick was raised south of the border in Roscoe, Illinois, she was born in Beloit. Her record-setting, ceiling-shattering career also got a helping hand right here in Milwaukee, when in 2002 she harangued owner Bobby Rahal into signing her as a driver just when it seemed her fledgling Indy career might run out of gas.
2. Her racing passion began with a crash
According to a Sports Illustrated profile from 2008, Patrick's impressive racing career got off to an ... inauspicious start. Put more bluntly, she slammed into a concrete wall.
As a 9-year-old, Danica's father set up a makeshift track for her and her sister, Brooke, to race go-karts in a parking lot by his Peoria business. But shortly into their first lap around the oval, Patrick's breaks failed and she drove 25 miles per hour straight into a concrete wall. Luckily, things improved significantly from there.
3. She's retiring ... with plenty of side projects to keep her busy
Those with just a passing interest in auto racing might be surprised to hear that Danica Patrick is hanging up her helmet this year. She tearfully announced her retirement last November, noting "nudges" such as sponsorship issues as the reason for stepping away from the steering wheel, but she will finish out her career after the upcoming Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500, the latter served as the venue of some of her most iconic achievements.
But don't be concerned about what Danica Patrick's going to do with all of her newly found free time. Other than potentially dating a two-time NFL MVP, the racer has more than enough to keep herself busy now that she's no longer on the oval. For instance, she may no longer be on the track, but she won't be far from it, as she reportedly will join NBC's NASCAR coverage.
As for life outside the fast line, she's got plenty on her plate, as well. Just last week, for instance, she released her workout, diet and health book "Pretty Intense," complete with a workout promotional segment this morning on "Good Morning America."
.@DanicaPatrick demonstrates some workout moves from her new book "PRETTY INTENSE" and shares secrets for a healthier new year! pic.twitter.com/qhkvGPhlDy — Good Morning America (@GMA) January 2, 2018
5. Including a wine!
And in case that wasn't enough, she's also the proprietor of a vineyard in Napa Valley, producing a Cabernet Sauvignon that received a 91 out of 100 from Wine Spectator, which called the vino "intense and lively, with a vivid core of blackberry, wild berry and raspberry flavors." Only wine descriptions could make grape squeezings sound as invigorating as racing more than 200 miles per hour.
6. She loves dogs too
As we learned during his last relationship and watching that popular State Fair commercial, "must love dogs" is a requisite for Aaron Rodgers. Luckily, Danica is a dog person, owning puppers ever since childhood and having two – a Belgian Malinois named Ella and a Siberian Husky named Dallas, who even has his own Twitter handle – with Stenhouse. Not sure what the parental situation is with Dallas and Ella now that mom and dad split, but at least for this rumor's sake, Rigsbee would be safe with the rumored new couple.
Now, just keep Clay Matthews and his drone away from the garage.
As much as it is a gigantic cliché to say that one has always had a passion for film, Matt Mueller has always had a passion for film. Whether it was bringing in the latest movie reviews for his first grade show-and-tell or writing film reviews for the St. Norbert College Times as a high school student, Matt is way too obsessed with movies for his own good.
When he's not writing about the latest blockbuster or talking much too glowingly about "Piranha 3D," Matt can probably be found watching literally any sport (minus cricket) or working at - get this - a local movie theater. Or watching a movie. Yeah, he's probably watching a movie.