Amid Vaccine Controversy, Green Bay Packer Aaron Rodgers Sells San Diego Estate

It’s been a tumultuous couple of years, both professionally and personally, for superstar Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, one of the highest paid athletes in the NFL.

A bit more than two years ago, not too long after he signed a new contract with the Packers, which came with a $57 million signing bonus, and while dating race-car driver Danica Patrick, Rodgers paid British pop star Robbie Williams $28 million — in cash! — for a Malibu estate that had previously been owned by Netflix honcho Ted Sarandos and, in the late Aughts, had been leased to Janet Jackson. (He still owns this house.)

It wasn’t too long after that he and Patrick went their separate ways and he soon hooked up with “Big Little Lies” star Shailene Woodley, who announced their engagement in early 2021, on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” because that’s the way famous folk roll, folks.

Things really got tight and complicated for the 3-time NFL MVP, however, last fall over the Covid-19 vaccine. When asked if he had been vaccinated, he initially claimed he was “immunized” but later admitted he “misled” people about his vaccination status. (He remains unvaccinated and just this week spouted off about how he thinks his “divisive” vax status is the “only reason” people wanted the Packers to lose in the playoffs.)

Meanwhile, as the vaccine controversy raged last year, Rodgers was concurrently arranging for the sale of his long-time home in the ritzy Del Mar area of San Diego. Cleared of personal belongings and staged with a bunch of generic furniture, the one-acre gated estate came for sale last October and was sold, as the New York Post revealed, late last year for $5.13 million, a bit below the almost $5.2 million asking price but 2.5 times the $2.055 million paid close to 13 years ago.

Built in the late 1980s and significantly upgraded since, the pan-Mediterranean home sprawls across 5,770 square feet and showcases rustic distressed wood floors, vaulted ceilings, wrought-iron stair railings, and, in the up-to-date high-end kitchen, mossy-green marble-like quartzite countertops. Floor plans show there are four bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms.

At the center of the multi-winged home, an octagonal foyer leads to formal living and dining rooms, while the kitchen flows into a spacious dining area and family room that, in turn, spills out to the gardens. Other notable amenities include a wine cellar, a semi-detached games room, and a basement-level movie theater. Guest and family bedrooms are all located on the main floor, while the homeowner’s suite occupies the entirety of the second floor and includes a private office/study with fireplace, a balcony, a walk-in closet, and a spa-style bath.

Outside are well tended plantings and a generously watered lawn, expansive terraces and courtyards, and an eight-sided swimming pool with attached spa.

The property was listed with Orva Harwood and Lauren Fields, both with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties; the buyers were represented by Bayley Bachiero, also with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties.

The 2011 Super Bowl champion has been tossing the pigskin for the Green Bay Packers since 2005, where he currently pulls down more than $27 million a year but has recently been cryptic about his future with the team. Speculation continues to ramp up now that Packers offensive coordinator Nathanial Hackett has just been hired as head coach of the Broncos, in Denver, just down the road from Boulder, where Woodley has long maintained a home.

Sounds like things just might remain in flux for Rodgers, at least in for the foreseeable future.