Cal Sports Report

Aaron Rodgers' First Tattoo Is Cryptic -- Of Course

Former Cal quarterback says each part of the intricate ink art has meaning, so others are interpreting it for him

Jake Curtis

Many athletes have tattoos, but when a controversial, 38-year-old, four-time NFL MVP gets his first tattoo and claims the intricate image has all kinds of meanings, it gets attention.

That’s the case for former Cal quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who displayed his first tattoo on Instagram this week.

The tattoo was drawn by Hungarian artist Balazs Bercsenyi and Rodgers added this information along with the tattoo:

First tattoo. From the 🐐 himself @balazsbercsenyi

Grateful for his mastery and friendship 💪🏼❤️ 🇭

There’s a deep and meaningful story and connection to absolutely each element of this art piece, and I’ll share a little more about that one day. For now, just thankful for @balazsbercsenyi and his patience and artistry. #tattoo #astrology #theelements #

Hmmm. The plot thickens.

So presumably it is everyone’s job to try to figure out the meanings, and, of course, a lot of people did just that – sometimes seriously, more often humorously.

The New York Post reported on perhaps the most newsworthy interpretation, claiming it relates to his rumored girlfriend, Blu of Earth.

Blu, whose real names is Charlotte Brereton and is a popular podcaster, motivational speaker and entrepreneur, shared a tattoo on Instagram in 2019 that was drawn by the same artist (Bercsenyi) and had similar images.

“An initiation. A return to truth. A stand for unconditional love. A right of passage. A reclaiming of my own body,” Blu wrote at the time. “Thank you to my soul brother @balazsbercsenyi for adorning my vessel with your light.”

Last month, the Post reported via SideAction that Rodgers has been linked to Blu.

Whether any of the Post report is true is uncertain, and it does not end the search for the meaning of Rodgers’ tattoo.

The two lions – one docile, the other roaring – are the first things that attract attention, and NFL folks will note that the Packers face the Detroit Lions twice each season. Extrapolate that a little further and you could interpret this as an allusion to Lions quarterback Jared Goff, who, like Rodgers, is a Cal alumnus.

OK, that interpretation is a bit far-fetched and self-serving, but most internet sleuths are coming up with wild decoding answers.

CBS Sports suggests (facetiously) that the eye relates to his new contract extension, which makes him the highest paid NFL player in history in terms of annual income.

My guess here is that Rodgers included the all-seeing eye in the tattoo design to let the Packers know he wants his entire $150 million contract paid out in one dollar bills. It's the only thing that makes sense. The one dollar bill has an all-seeing eye on the back.

SportsBlog Nation notes the constellations atop the tattoo may have meaning for Rodgers, whose birthday is December 2, making him a Sagittarius:

Rodgers has the intersection of Scorpio and Aquarius at the center of the design, which represents the Winter Solstice, bisected by Sagittarius, which is his star sign. At this point I am 1,000 percent convinced Rodgers

read this 2020 article from the Sonoma Gazette

on the importance of the Winter Solstice to each sign and hung on every sentence of this like his life depended on it.

“Sagittarius:

As your ruling planet, Jupiter, transits into Aquarius, you could relax into a framework that is more comfortable that is more accepting of individuality and freedom. This fits right in with your own drive to independence, of action and thought than the past year has allowed.”

Somewhere in that tattoo must be a reference to his bet with Charles Barkley in which Rodgers will cut off his man-bun if he finishes behind Barkley in this weekend’s celebrity golf tournament in South Lake Tahoe, Nevada.

OK, maybe not.

A lot of tweeters have their own interpretation of Rodgers’ tattoo.

Here are just a few:

To be honest I was expecting more creativity from the twitter universe.

Meanwhile, we anxiously await Rodgers’ explanation of the tattoo's meaning.

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Cover photo by Wm. Glasheen, USA TODAY Network

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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