From waffles to Legos, 9 new things we've learned about Danica Patrick, Aaron Rodgers

Between the Indianapolis 500 and the Kentucky Derby, "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" and "The Jenny McCarthy Show," we've been seeing and hearing a lot from Danica Patrick and Aaron Rodgers in the last few weeks, offering a glimpse into their lives.

A quick spin through some of the highlights:

» They share a love for reading. Patrick has said bonding over books is one of their many common interests. Case in point: Associated Press auto racing writer Jenna Fryer reported that Patrick showed up for Indy 500 media day with a sunburn, “a surprise gift from an afternoon spent in Green Bay, reading books while lying in the grass with boyfriend Aaron Rodgers.”

» She’ll be cheering for the Packers this season, but her dad? Well ... Patrick has made it clear in interview after interview that even though she grew up in Roscoe, Illinois, as a Chicago Bears fan, she’ll be cheering for Rodgers and the entire Green Bay Packers team. Her dad, however, is a different story. T.J. Patrick told Autoweek, “I’m always going to be a Bears fan. I can’t be a Packers fan.”

He had some fun with the rivalry when he first met Rodgers.

“Actually, the first time we met him I told the kids I was going to wear my (former Bears linebacker) Brian Urlacher jersey and tackle him,” T.J. Patrick said. “I couldn’t find it. He walked in and asked, ‘Where is your jersey?’ I told him I couldn’t find it. He said, ‘I would respect you a lot more if you had it on.’

“He’s good about it. He knows. He is very intelligent and still has a sense of humor.”

Expect to hear more of that storyline when the Packers open the season against the Bears at Lambeau Field for “Sunday Night Football” on Sept. 9.

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» They’ll come full circle when she hosts the ESPYs. Patrick will make history as the first woman to host the ESPY Awards on July 18 in Los Angeles, a “secret” she had teased on her Instagram account before making the announcement May 22 on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” She’s been going to the sports awards since 2005, and it was there in 2012 that she first met Rodgers and exchanged emails.

» He has a Super Bowl ring, but she has her own Lego statue. The week before the Indy 500, in honor of her final race before retirement, Lego Systems Inc. surprised Patrick with a life-size likeness made of 14,819 Lego bricks. It took nine people nearly 200 hours to design and build it.

» He likes a good laugh. The couple caught Jim Gaffigan’s tour stop in late April at the Resch Center, where they posed backstage with the comedian and several other Packers players. Rodgers also caught Kevin Hart’s show at the Resch in 2015 (with former girlfriend Olivia Munn) and Bill Burr at the Meyer Theatre last year. If Brett Favre was a good bet to turn up at country concerts during his time in Green Bay, Rodgers is similar when it comes to visits by A-list comedians.

» She makes him waffles. During a recent appearance on “The Jenny McCarthy Show” on SiriusXM, Patrick talked about being from the Midwest, the end of her racing career, the “childlike excitement” of being in love and how she met Rodgers. McCarthy asked her for something that’s special and romantic people don’t know about them. “I like to make waffles on Sundays, and we eat waffles on Sunday. That’s cute, right?” They're from-scratch waffles, by the way, made with the recipe in her “Pretty Intense” health, fitness and wellness book.

» That’s her dancing with Adam Levine. She’s one of 26 inspiring women who make cameos in the new video for “Girls Like You” by Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B, released on Wednesday. She joins Jennifer Lopez, Aly Raisman, Ellen DeGeneres, Gal Gadot, Mary J. Blige, Sarah Silverman and others, as they each take their turn dancing around frontman Adam Levine. The guest appearances were shot in March in Los Angeles, according to “Entertainment Tonight.”

» His Kentucky Derby trip is a decade-old tradition. During an on-camera interview with NBC before this year’s race on May 5, Rodgers talked about watching the Kentucky Derby as a kid and dreaming about going someday. He’s been coming for the last 10 years, bringing along Packers teammates, former teammates and close friends. Some of his guests, including several offensive linemen, have been his guests year after year. “We have an email chain that goes around starting in January, and the guys are pretty excited about it,” he said.

» She would like her own cooking show. She told Delish that while she has been pitched ideas in the past, she’s holding out for the perfect fit — and something that’s different from what’s already out there. “Like in my book, I want to show more about the mind-body connection. Something that shows how food can complement a healthy lifestyle.”



