Sunday, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers told the Bears he owned them.
Tom Brady heard him.
So did the one lifelong Bears fan who happens to play for the team. Bears tight end Cole Kmet, who grew up in Arlington Heights, understands the sentiment — even if he hated it.
“I mean, let’s face it, he’s not totally wrong,” Kmet said Wednesday. “He’s been pretty successful against the Bears in his career, so it’s on us to kind of change that narrative going forward.”
Rodgers’ celebration after his 6-yard, game-sealing touchdown in the fourth quarter Sunday — He screamed, “All my [bleeping] life, I own you!” to fans flipping him off — is a piece of smack talk that just won’t go away.
Brady, the sport’s most accomplished and famous player, jumped on the topic Monday. Speaking on his SiriusXM show, Brady joked with host Jim Gray about Rodgers’ touchdown celebration.
“I was studying a little on the Bears and Packers,” said Brady, whose Buccaneers host the Bears on Sunday. “Before we get started I wanted to say congrats to Aaron Rodgers, obviously. I know he’s a great quarterback, but I guess he’s now a shareholder of the Bears.
“I saw a clip of him really enthusiastically telling the crowd how happy he is to own Soldier Field. That’s really great stuff. He owns the Bucks now. Part-owner of Soldier Field. He’s got a great career beyond football.”
Rodgers has owned 1% of the Milwaukee Bucks since 2018. And, if you ask him, the Bears in perpetuity.
“I didn’t see it ’til after the game,” receiver Darnell Mooney said. “It’s just his emotion, his flare or whatever. I’m pretty sure we had some things to say about them as well. It’s just him going against the Bears. ... It’s just him doing his thing emotion-wise.”
"I wanted to say congrats to @AaronRodgers12. Obviously, he's a great QB but, I guess he's now a shareholder of the Bears"@TomBrady talks Bears & more
— SiriusXM NFL Radio (@SiriusXMNFL) October 20, 2021
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Stitcher – https://t.co/s4nXsBUPV7
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Apple – https://t.co/mmObAKi5fa pic.twitter.com/MpW30Yb3V0
It rubbed Bears fans — and former players — the wrong way. On the WSCR-AM postgame show Sunday, former Bears center Olin Kreutz said he wanted to “punch him in the face, to be honest,” though he acknowledged that Rodgers’ ownership of the Bears was deserved.
“Just because you’re right,” Kreutz said, “it doesn’t make you right for doing it.”
Rodgers is 22-5 in starts against the Bears, with his first start coming in 2008 — when Kmet was 9. He’s had a front-row seat to the dominance. Kmet tried to be diplomatic when he was first asked about the celebration, joking that that the Bears “didn’t see the TV copy” of the film that featured Rodgers’ audio.
“So that wasn’t really that big of a deal,” he said. “It is what it is. We’re focused on this week, and we’re just moving on from that.”
The rest of the football world isn’t.
