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Aaron Rodgers pulled back the curtain on his private life with his wife, Brittani.
During Thursday’s installment of the “Not just Football” podcast, the Steelers quarterback explained that his wife, Brittani, was the one that got away before his broken engagement with actress Shailene Woodley in 2022 and his split with former NASCAR driver Danica Patrick in 2020.
“In 2017, I met my wife, and at the time, she was leaving the states and going back to Europe,” Rodgers said. “My biggest regret is not begging her to stay and proposing right there because that sent me into a tailspin of — what can I be accused of as a partner in a relationship. I was emotionally unavailable for those 7 or 8 years because I had met the person that changed my life.
“After that, I just poured everything I had into football. I think I got a lot out of that, for sure. But I knew I was supposed to be with this one person and I couldn’t; we were separated by an ocean for a lot of it.”
Rodgers explained that Brittani had gotten engaged before he proposed to Woodley in December 2020.
“And luckily for me we came back together,” he added.
Rodgers claimed Woodley took off her engagement ring in March 2021, and they reconciled that year before calling it quits for good in 2022.
Rodgers accused both Patrick and Woodley of sharing false narratives about their relationships with him that made the former four-time NFL MVP look like a bad partner.
As mentioned, Rodgers said he was “emotionally unavailable” while dating Patrick and Woodley after meeting his wife in 2017.
He brought up Patrick’s remarks in a May 2025 interview, when she said he left “a trail of blood” after their breakup — and comments previously made by Woodley that she was depressed over their breakup.
Rodgers went public with his marriage to Brittani during his first season with the Steelers, though he’s been cagey about details of his relationship and her identity remains shrouded in secrecy.
He told reporters last June that the pair had been married “a couple months” when he was asked about his black ring on his wedding finger.
Rodgers elaborated on their elopement during his appearance on the “Not Just Football” podcast on Thursday.
“We eloped. So it was quick,” he said. “But I had a little something set up when I was over there a surprise for her. that’s about all I’m going to say about it.”
Their backstory involved meeting in Texas.
“We met in 2017, she as living in Austin and she had gone to the University of Texas, which is also kind of weird because I hated Texas forever,” he said.
“… Then I found out that my grandfather… had gone to Texas as well. I was like, here’s a school I had always disliked, but I liked Vince Young and I had him in the QB room for a week or two.
“… She moved back over to Europe and we kept in touch and there were a couple times where I thought things would work out. Then she got engaged and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s done,’ and I got engaged and I thought, ‘Oh, I’m done too.’ but then obviously [Woodley] had her own prerogative and took her ring off in three months.”
There are no public photos of Rodgers and Brittani.
It’s unclear if she’ll attend his Steelers games before he retires after this season.
The Steelers host Atlanta on Sunday to begin their season.
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