Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers shocked a lot of people last week when he quietly revealed that he was engaged.
Rodgers made the surprising disclosure while offering an acceptance speech after winning the NFL MVP award.
MVP #3 for @AaronRodgers12 🏆🏆🏆 #NFLHonors @Packers pic.twitter.com/RU48Yh16Bc
— NFL (@NFL) February 7, 2021
“It’s an honor to win this award for the third time,” he said. “2020 was definitely a crazy year, filled with lots of change, growth, some amazing memorable moments. 180 straight days of having my nose hairs scraped.
“Playing for very little fans or no stands the entire season, I got engaged, and I played some of the best football of my career.”
That last bit, regarding getting engaged, is obviously what got the most press after the fact.
Given that he and actress Shailene Woodley had just gone public with the fact that they were dating, the news came as quite a surprise.
This week, Maria Pasquini of People magazine offered some insight into the hows and whys of the engagement and big reveal.
“They are very happy together,” a source said. “It’s not surprising he proposed so fast. When you know, you know, right?”
Yikes. Not great. https://t.co/TbKcmHXfyt
— Game 7 (@game7__) February 9, 2021
Alyssa Morin of E! seemed to confirm this.
“Following their surprise engagement, an insider exclusively tells E! News the couple is excited to start this next chapter together,” she wrote.
The Bucks owner’s daughter decided to bring 2021 in with a bang by stripping all her clothes off. https://t.co/UgzhEEna4o
— Game 7 (@game7__) January 7, 2021
“As the source puts it, ‘They can’t wait to get married and they want it to happen soon…They had a very intense connection from the beginning…They both knew early on that it was something special and different from what they had experienced in other relationships. It’s a quick engagement, but for those that know them, it didn’t come as a surprise.’”
Prior to this big announcement, Rodgers dated Danica Patrick for two years. They ended up splitting last July, with countless rumors of Woodley being involved in the break-up in some capacity.
Now we know what motivates Gronk to play so hard. https://t.co/xFnKnjoXQ4
— Game 7 (@game7__) January 24, 2021
A cryptic post by Patrick after the fact added fuel to the fire, but nothing was ever fully corroborated.
As of Tuesday, neither Rodgers nor Woodley has made any official announcements regarding the pending nuptials beyond the initial admission.
Given how tight-lipped the pair has been up to this point, it’s safe to assume that will likely be how they opt to proceed with everything going forward as well.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.