Aaron Rodgers has debuted his first tattoo, with the football star opting for an intricate fine-line design composed of astrological elements, constellations and lions.
The Green Bay Packers quarterback, 38, showed off the “deep and meaningful” ink on Instagram on Wednesday, where he shared two close-up photos of the tattoo, which covers a large portion of the inside of his forearm.
In the caption, the football player revealed that he has a “connection” to “each element” of the art piece and that he commissioned Hungarian artist Balazs Bercsenyi to tattoo the design.
“First tattoo. From the [goat emoji] himself @balazsbercsenyi. Grateful for his mastery and friendship,” Rodgers wrote in the caption. “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.”
In addition to multiple constellations, the tattoo also includes small symbols depicting the astrological symbols for Scorpio and Aquarius, as well as Rodgers’ own astrological sign, Sagittarius.
The design features an eye and two lions as well, with the animals, one of which appears to be roaring, depicted facing one another. The tattoo, which is composed of many circular elements, also features a smaller circle at the bottom, in which the ocean is drawn, and a fanned symbol down towards Rodgers’ wrist.
While Rodgers’ alluded to his deep “connection” to the piece, friends and fans were divided over the tattoo, with some sharing their appreciation of the art while others joked about the new ink.
“...I hope this is a henna tattoo,” Green Bay offensive tackle David Bakhtiari jokingly wrote in the comments, while someone else suggested that Rodgers’ tattoo “seems kind of new agey”.
The tattoo also sparked a number of memes on Twitter, where some claimed the design looked “basic” or like it could be found on Pinterest.
“Aaron Rodgers got his tattoo straight off an Urban Outfitters shirt, I love it,” one person tweeted, while another joked: “Aaron Rodgers’ tattoo just tried to get me to join an essential oil multi-level marketing scheme.”
“I can’t wait for a National Treasure movie where Nicolas Cage has to find the clues embedded within Aaron Rodgers tattoo,” someone else wrote.
The ink also prompted one person to jokingly suggest Rodgers asked for a design that was “half Illuminati, half Chronicles of Narnia”.
Others pointed out that Rodgers’ tattoo looks similar to his rumoured girlfriend Blu’s tattoos. “BREAKING: Can confirm Aaron Rodgers and his purported new girlfriend, Blu of Earth (actual name) now have matching tattoos from the same artist. Either we’re gonna crash and burn or we have the powers of witchcraft on our side. Only time will tell,” one person tweeted, in reference to claims that Blu, the co-founder of Florescence, a “modern mystery school for women to reclaim the magical, radically authentic, wise, wild, unapologetic you,” is a witch.
Blu recently denied that she identifies as a witch on Instagram, where she also clarified that her name is Blu, not Blu of Earth.
Someone else hypoethesised that the athlete, who recently broke off his engagement to Shailene Woodley, may “possibly be going through a midlife crisis with that weird tattoo”.
While the tattoo sparked both confused and amusing responses, there were many who were impressed by the ink. “Gorgeous work,” one person wrote, while someone else added: “This is sick.”
Others just shared their hope that the tattoo would bring luck to the football player in the upcoming season.
“Hope that’s on the left arm. That right arm is strictly for touchdowns,” one comment reads.
