Aaron Rodgers reveals surprise origin story with mystery wife Brittani

Aaron Rodgers first met his mystery wife, Brittani, in 2017 — years before his relationships with Danica Patrick and Shailene Woodley.

“At the time, she was leaving the States and going back to Europe,” he said about Brittani on Thursday’s episode of the “Not Just Football with Cam Heyward” podcast. “And my biggest regret is not begging her to stay or proposing right there.”

The NFL star, 42, admitted that not pursuing Brittani “sent me into a tailspin” and he became “emotionally unavailable for [the next] seven or eight years.”

“I’d met the person that was going to change my life,” he explained. “After that, I just poured everything 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, but we were separated by an ocean for a lot of it.”

One year after meeting Brittani, Rodgers began dating Patrick, 44. He and the racing driver broke up in 2020.

Rodgers went on to get engaged to Woodley, 34, in 2021, but they ended their relationship a year later.

Speaking about Brittani on the podcast, Rodgers said, “She was engaged, then I got engaged, and luckily, for me, we came back together.”

The former Green Bay Packers quarterback also confirmed he and Brittani eloped, but he avoided sharing more details about his proposal.

“It was quick, but I had a little something set up when I was over there, a surprise for her, but that’s about all I’m going to say about that,” Rodgers said.

Rodgers revealed in June 2025 that he secretly tied the knot, divulging very little about his wife or their wedding — other than they’d wed “a couple of months ago.”

He later shared his feelings about his “incredible” wife, Brittani, that July.

“When you meet the right one and you’re with the right one, your whole world changes in a second,” the athlete told NFL Network at the Steelers’ training camp.

“And to have that person that unconditionally loves you behind the scenes, there’s no better feeling in the world and I have the most incredible wife.”

On Heyward’s podcast, Rodgers revealed his wife “deserves a lot of the credit” for helping him reunite with his estranged family.

“Just to be able to get to that point to think about having the conversations, she was a big part of that,” he stated. “And not that she was pushing anything, she wasn’t.”

“It was more and you guys can probably relate to this, when you’re loved by someone in such an unconditional, beautiful, pure way, it changes your perspective on all of your relationships around that, that becomes your anchor point,” he added.