Green Bay Packers fans hate the Chicago Bears and Bears fans hate the Packers, that’s just the way it is and the way it’s been for nearly 100 years.
However, sometimes unexpected things happen that change the way certain fans see the guys they once saw as enemies moving forward.
A couple of weeks ago, the Green Bay Packers paid a visit to Chicago for a Week 10 matchup and while everyone knew they weren’t going to see Aaron Rodgers play that weekend, a couple of Bears fans got a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
The day before the game, Bears fans Julia Nicoll and her 11-year-old son, Peter, decided to check out the holiday decorations downtown Chicago and it turned out to be a very good decision. While they were waiting to cross the street, Peter recognized the Packers quarterback standing nearby and what happened next was pretty awesome.
According to the story in the Green Bay Press-Gazette by Kendra Meinert, Julia didn’t think it was actually Rodgers, considering it was Saturday afternoon in Chicago, but that quickly changed once she approached him.
“I never in my life can talk to celebrities. If I go to a book signing, I don’t even talk to them, because I don’t want to bother people, but somehow I had it in me to say, ‘Are you ...?’ really quietly. I didn’t even finish the sentence, because I didn’t want the other people at the corner to bug him if he just wanted to be alone, which I totally get, so I kind of stopped myself.
“He looked right at me and said, ‘I am.’”
After telling Julia that he was indeed Aaron Rodgers, the two-time NFL MVP turned around and introduced himself to Peter with a simple, “Hi, I’m Aaron.”
Thinking it was just going to be a quick encounter, it ended up being something a lot more. Rather than carrying on with his night and walking away, the six-time Pro Bowl selection ended up walking with Julia and her son for the next 15-20 minutes and had a regular conversation as if they’ve been friends for years, according to Julia.
“The thing for me that really stood out as so awesome was he asked us questions. I would say he asked us more questions than I asked him, because I didn’t want to be nosy and because I didn’t want to invade his privacy.”
Meinert mentions in the story in the Green Bay Press-Gazette that Peter apologized to Rodgers for being a Bears fan, but the Packers quarterback told him it’s alright because he’s from Chicago and that’s how it’s supposed to be.
It’s pretty awesome when you hear one of the biggest names in sports do something like this.
(H/T Green Bay Press Gazette)
