Aaron Rodgers' deep dive into Shark Week airs Monday on 'Monster Tag'

Kendra Meinert | Green Bay Press-Gazette

In a globe-trotting off-season that has felt like a game of “Where in the World is Aaron Rodgers?,” it’s next stop, Shark Week.

The Green Bay Packers quarterback turns up off the coast of San Diego in “Monster Tag,” airing at 7 p.m. Monday as part of the Discovery Channel's annual week of programming dedicated to all things shark.

For the special filmed earlier this summer, Rodgers, Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn and New England Patriots tight end Robert Gronkowski joined top marine biologists in the Pacific Ocean to learn about shark populations and how to help boost their declining numbers.

Rodgers broke the news of his deep dive into adventure with an Instagram post on June 28 that showed him underwater with a shark — no cage. “This is me. This is a shark. This is on shark week in July. Check us out!”

It immediately prompted (mostly) good-humored gasps from Packers fans. “Keep your throwing arm away from the part of the shark where the teeth are located please,” someone commented on his Instagram. “Isn't there a no swimming with man-eating sharks clause in your contract?!” asked another.

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Rodgers told reporter Peter King that the Discovery contacted him about doing the TV show and he was 100 percent in.

“The only reason I wanted to do the shark thing is I have two main fears: sharks and heights. I’m not gonna jump out of a plane. But sharks, I don’t know,” he said in the debut of King’s new Football Morning in America column. “I watched ‘Jaws’ when I was a kid and always felt like they’re in the water, out in the ocean water, and one’s got my name on its back and it’s gonna munch on me. I wanted to conquer that fear because I love the water. I love paddleboarding.”

Rodgers said the experience of having a blue shark swim up to him, requiring him to forcefully put a hand on its head, as instructed, was “terrifying.”

“Honestly, I was blacked out,” he told King. “It just came up to me and all I was thinking was, ‘Oh my god it’s actually happening. What do I do?’ Okay, boom. I just moved his head down to the right. But it was fun. I have a different appreciation for sharks now. I’m OK with ’em.”

Rodgers’ off-season travels have taken him to India for 90 minutes with the Dalai Lama and to Africa for a hearing aid mission with Starkey Hearing Foundation. He was at the Daytona 500 in February and the Indy 500 in May to cheer on girlfriend Danica Patrick. He did his annual outing to the Kentucky Derby with teammates in May and golfed last weekend in the American Century Championship celebrity tournament in South Lake Tahoe, Nevada. On Wednesday, he walked the red carpet with Patrick at the ESPYs in Los Angeles.

The 30th anniversary of Shark Week starts Sunday and runs through July 29. The full schedule is at discovery.com.