Danica Patrick Sounds The Alarm For Future Boyfriend After Split

Race car driver Danica Patrick started dating Green Bay Packers star Aaron Rodgers in 2018, and in December 2019, Page Six reported that they purchased a stunning $28 million Malibu estate. Although all seemed to be going well (they went on an epic trip together to Machu Picchu in March 2020), rumors circulated in July 2020 that the two of them had split up. The evidence? Patrick unfollowed the quarterback on Instagram. Burn. Despite Rodgers still following Patrick as of September 2020, the Nascar alum's rep confirmed to E! that they are "no longer together."

Soon after confirming the split, Patrick shared some cryptic messages on her Instagram page, including a quote from a licensed marriage and family therapist named Vienna Pharaon, Page Six noted. The note read, "Look at the chosen relationship in your life and notice any themes. What role do you play? Who are you with them? Who do you believe you need to be? What stories do you tell yourself about what they can offer you? What can they or can't they handle?"

The passage concluded, "The way you choose people may offer you insight into what you're craving or what shifts you may need to make in order to shift an overworked role you've held for a long time." Talk about keeping things cryptic. 

However, Patrick has since ditched the vague-quoting and is now expressing her feelings in her own words. And, as it turns out, she has a message for her future boyfriend.

During a September 2020 appearance on the Quibi series, The Rachel Hollis Show, Danica Patrick reflected on her split from Aaron Rodgers, recalling, "I said this at the beginning of the last relationship. I was like, 'Look. You either grow together. One grows and one doesn't. Or you grow apart.'" She added, "I have never experienced growth without pain." 

As difficult as that must have been, Patrick channeled her struggles into something positive. Now, she has a different outlook on dating, explaining, "The next guy has his work cut out for him because my intuition, my standards, my boundaries, my wants and needs are off the charts." She revealed, "I've gotten to know me so much more." And, as a result, her relationship requirements are "much more narrow and specific."

What's more? Patrick isn't stressing about the critics who doubt she can find true love. Case in point: In August 2020, when a commenter on Instagram pointed out the racecar driver's divorce (Patrick married Paul Hospenthal in 2005 and they finalized their divorce in 2013) and other failed relationships, she had the best response. "If we let what one person thinks of us be our reality, we are doomed," Patrick said, per ET Online. "Realize that what someone says to us has a lot more to do with their own wounds and reality than ours. Our reality is our decision. Still not easy — but true."

Danica Patrick isn't the only one speaking out these days. In September 2020, Aaron Rodgers was a guest on The Pat McAfee Show, and, although he didn't specifically mention his split from Patrick, he did discuss his renewed passion for football and life in general.

Rodgers shared, "I have just a new and increased love of life. And I've made decisions and changes and habits that put me in a lot better head space and there's just a lot of things that have come together in my life over the last few months that have really been enjoyable and reminded me, given me perspective, on life and in football to view things through the most positive lens I possibly can." 

He also seemed to be in excellent spirits, declaring, "I'm having so much fun and it starts with love. And then surrounding yourself with people that you really enjoy."  Could that have been a subtle dig at Patrick? Or was he genuinely keeping things positive by complimenting the people who are currently a part of his life? Who can really say?

Although it's great to hear both Danica Patrick and Aaron Rodgers are doing well, it's still sad to think of where they once were. Patrick, for example, described her relationship with Rodgers as "fantastic" during a November 2019 SiriusXM interview with Jenny McCarthy, per Page Six. When McCarthy asked when the couple planned to get married, Patrick played it cool, saying, "That's one of those things. You can't be attached to something going a certain way because if you really want something to happen there's that equal energy of being afraid that it's not going to happen, so you just have to let it go and be like, 'Well, am I having fun today? Yep, then life's good.'" 

Then, she jokingly predicted, "I'll probably get proposed to tomorrow now." 

Sometimes life doesn't go the way you want, even for successful athletes with lots of cash. Nevertheless, both Patrick and Rodgers have a lot going for them — she has her new set of standards, and he has a renewed love for football.