By OnMilwaukee Staff Writers   Published Apr 01, 2013 at 5:04 AM

MALIBU, CALIF. – The way Aaron Rodgers describes it, it was just a casual man date, two MVPs and one beautiful seaside mansion in Malibu. After amazing seasons for both the Packers quarterback and the Brewers left fielder, the two men from California become close friends. In fact, during the first few months of 2012 they had grown inseparable, until the baseball player suggested the football player try something out of the ordinary.

"We were just drinking Michelob Ultras, watching the sun go down, still sweaty after our workout in Ryan’s gym, when RB8 suggested something that seemed straight out of, well, left field," said Rodgers from his winter home in Chico, Calif.

Said Rodgers, "He looked at me with a glint in his eyes, dug something out of his pocket and said, ‘You’ve gotta try this, bro.’"

For a split second, Rodgers said he thought Braun was handing him Limelite energy drink, but the quarterback had already told the Brewers outfielder that he would never try it.

Instead, Braun produced what looked like a large Band Aid and handed it to a confused Rodgers.

"He was giggling when I asked him what this was," said Rodgers. "He said, ‘It’s a Rogaine patch. For your head and your balls.’"

Rodgers said he knew that Rogaine is a banned substance in both the NFL and MLB, so he said he was confused when his friend showed it to him.

According to Rodgers, Braun said, "No, bro, it’s cool. You can’t get caught with this, as long as you don’t fall sleep while wearing it. Then your hair growth levels will shoot through the roof. But that will never happen."

"Obviously, I took one look at this, not to mention Ryan’s bulging, excited eyes, and said, ‘No way, bro. Not worth it.’"

Rodgers said the slugger wouldn’t take no for an answer. "He kept talking about how if we think we’re great now, we could be historically great if we both had even more hair. I was like, dude, how much more swoopy do your want your hair?"

Asked Rodgers, "Will me sticking Rogaine on my nuts keep a linebacker from busting through our offensive line? Unless that answer is yes, I’m straight."

It’s true that some players have reportedly used a Rogaine patch for a "Red Bull" burst of hair growth, and if used properly, it can be hard to detect.

"But once I saw Ryan walking around his pool literally covered in these patches," said Rodgers. "He had them on his forehead, under his armpits on the soles of his feet and on each butt cheek. I was like, ‘Bro, you’re playing with fire, and given how hairy you already are, those will be hard to peel off. All he said was, 'That's what she said!'"

None of this comes as a surprise to former MLB arbitrator Shyam Das, who said he can only speak now that it’s been a year since Commissioner Bud Selig fired him for overturning Braun’s P.E.D. suspension.

"Oh yeah, we knew about all that Rogaine," said Das, who’s new, less scrutinized job is spearheading negotiations between North and South Korea. "The bigger problem was that baseball test collectors were watering down Braun’s urine specimens with Mountain Dew so they could sell little vials on eBay. This collection regimen was managed directly by Tony LaRussa, so it was invalid from the start."

Braun, however, has maintained his media silence, except for one verbal statement at the Brewers’ Spring Training facility at Maryvale Baseball Park in Phoenix.

He said in a statement Sunday, "Obviously, my story has been contemporaneously documented since this program began. Obviously, I am a brilliant and gifted baseball player and human being, and obviously, I categorically and contemporaneously deny any wrong doing. I am far too intelligent to do anything like this, contemporaneously or obviously. The system in the way it was applied to me in this case was fatally flawed. I initially took a humanistic approach and explained to (baseball investigators) that I literally didn’t get one-tenth of an inch of new hair. My hair has been virtually the exact same for six years. All of those things are documented contemporaneously, and if anything had changed, I wouldn’t be able to go back and pretend like it didn’t change. Obviously."

Jose Canseco couldn’t be reached for comment, but did issue a typo-laden tweet Sunday, "'Eastbound and Out' is based on my life, I wish the producers would contact me I can help the with more info."