It was October 17, 2021. Soldier Field was loud, angry, and cold.
The Chicago Bears were trailing the Green Bay Packers 17-14 in the fourth quarter. It was a tight game, the kind that usually makes fans chew their fingernails to the nub. Then, Aaron Rodgers happened. He scrambled to his right, gave a little pump fake that froze Bears linebacker Alec Ogletree in his tracks, and dove into the corner of the end zone for a six-yard touchdown.
The game was basically over. But the drama was just starting.
As Rodgers stood up, he didn’t just do his signature "Championship Belt" celebration. He looked right into the stands and screamed at the top of his lungs: "I still own you! I still own you!"
What triggered the Aaron Rodgers I still own you moment?
Most people think Rodgers just woke up that day and decided to be the ultimate villain. Honestly, it was a bit more reactive than that. After the game, Rodgers explained that he caught a glimpse of a woman in the front row. She wasn't cheering. She was "giving him the double bird"—middle fingers high in the air for the world to see.
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Rodgers said he "blacked out" in a good way. The adrenaline took over.
He didn't just shout it once. He screamed it repeatedly. "I've owned you all my f***ing life! I own you! I still own you!" The microphones picked up every single syllable. It was raw. It was petty. And for Bears fans, it was the most painful thing they’d ever heard because, deep down, they knew he was right.
Does Rodgers actually own the Bears? The math is brutal
You can’t really argue with the numbers. If this were a court case, the evidence would be overwhelming. By the time Rodgers left the Packers for the New York Jets, his record against the Bears was a staggering 24-5. Think about that for a second.
- Winning Percentage: He won over 82% of his games against Chicago.
- Touchdowns vs. Interceptions: He threw 64 touchdowns against just 10 interceptions in those 29 games.
- The Soldier Field Factor: He went 11-3 in Chicago's own stadium.
It wasn't just that he won; it was how he won. He beat them in the 2010 NFC Championship game on their home turf to go to the Super Bowl. He beat them with a broken knee in 2018 after trailing by 20 points. He beat them on 4th-and-8 in 2013 with a division-clinching touchdown to Randall Cobb.
By 2021, when the Aaron Rodgers I still own you line dropped, it wasn't trash talk. It was a status report.
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The immediate fallout and Chicago’s reaction
The reaction in Chicago was exactly what you’d expect: pure, unadulterated salt. Local radio hosts spent a week losing their minds. Fans felt disrespected. But interestingly, some of the players were more "meh" about it.
Bears tight end Jimmy Graham, who actually played with Rodgers in Green Bay, basically said, "Look, we just have to stop him." He didn't take it personally. He knew the business. Even Justin Fields, who was a rookie at the time, eventually sought out Rodgers' number to pick his brain. It’s hard to hate a guy that much when you're trying to figure out how to play at his level.
However, for the average fan on the South Side, it became the ultimate symbol of the lopsided nature of the Packers-Bears rivalry. For decades, it was the "Monsters of the Midway" vs. "The Frozen Tundra." But in the Rodgers era, it turned into a one-sided beatdown.
The "Heel Turn" of Aaron Rodgers
This moment was also a turning point for how the general public viewed Rodgers. Before this, he was mostly the guy from the State Farm commercials—clever, slightly smug, but generally likable.
After "I still own you," he fully leaned into the villain role. This was the same season as the "immunized" controversy and the weekly Pat McAfee Show appearances where he shared his... let's call them "unique" worldviews. He stopped caring about being the golden boy. He realized that if he was going to be the bad guy in everyone else's story, he might as well be the best bad guy possible.
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Why it still matters in 2026
Even now, years after Rodgers moved to New York and eventually moved toward the twilight of his career, "I still own you" is a phrase that lives in the Hall of Fame of sports trash talk. It changed the rivalry.
Now, every time a Packers quarterback—like Jordan Love—steps onto Soldier Field, the first thing anyone thinks about is if the ownership papers were transferred. Love has done a decent job of keeping the tradition alive, but he hasn't quite reached the level of vocal disrespect that Rodgers displayed that afternoon in 2021.
Actionable Takeaways for Football Fans:
- Know the history: If you're going to talk trash in the NFC North, you have to acknowledge that the Packers-Bears rivalry hasn't been "competitive" in the traditional sense for nearly two decades.
- The power of the "Hot Mic": This moment proves why the NFL loves mic'ing up players. One sentence can create five years of marketing material.
- Watch the tape: Go back and watch the 2021 Week 6 highlights. The scramble itself was a masterclass in veteran savvy. The shout was just the cherry on top.
Rodgers might be gone from the division, but the "ownership" remains a permanent part of Chicago's sports psyche. It’s a reminder that in the NFL, if you want someone to stop talking, you have to actually stop them on the field. Until then, the trash talk stays valid.
Next Steps:
If you want to see the exact moment it happened, search for the "Week 6 2021 Packers vs Bears highlights" on YouTube. Pay attention to the camera angle right after the touchdown—you can see the specific fan Rodgers was yelling at. You can also look up his career splits on Pro Football Reference to see just how much he dominated the rest of the NFC North during his prime.