Aaron Rodgers calls Packers fans 'sweet,' signs his first baby bump at American Century Championship

Aaron Rodgers never misses the American Century Championship in Stateline, Nevada, and his first one as the New York Jets quarterback had some memorable moments, beginning with his best finish in 19 years in the 54-hole celebrity golf tournament.

He finished in the No. 5 spot on the leaderboard, ahead of all other NFL players, including past and present quarterbacks Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Derek Carr, Baker Mayfield, Tony Romo, Steve Young, Jim McMahon and John Elway. Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry won the event at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course, followed by tennis pro Mardy Fish; Joe Pavelski of the Dallas Stars, who is from Stevens Point; and former major league pitcher Mark Mulder.

Davante Adams, Charles Woodson and A.J. Hawk were among Rodgers’ former Green Bay Packers teammates who golfed in the tournament.

Country singer Jake Owen gets mistaken for Rodgers, just goes with it

The next time country singer Jake Owen plays Green Bay, he’ll have an even better Rodgers golf story to share with the crowd than his last one.

In his Instagram post, Rodgers shared a photo on the course with Owen, who does bear a resemblance to the quarterback, depending on their hair length and facial hair on any given day. It was so much so that Stugotz of the “The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz” thought he was talking to Rodgers during a 20-minute conversation with Owen at the tournament.

Once Owen realized as much, he decided to just go with it, even though he said it started "creeping me out a little bit."

Stugotz has been ribbed over the case of mistaken identity, with his colleagues pointing out Rodgers is about 75 pounds heavier and 6 inches taller than Owen.

In 2021, when Owen played the Green Bay Packers’ free Kickoff Weekend concert outside Lambeau Field, he talked about crossing paths with Rodgers on the celebrity golf circuit over the years.

“All I know about Aaron Rodgers is this: I’m a way better golfer, all right?” he said. “I’m only saying that to give ol’ Aaron a hard time.”

He told a quick story of how he once beat out Rodgers in a closest-to-the-pin charity competition at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am to take home the $100,000 check for his Jake Owen Foundation.

Rodgers autographing his first fan baby bump goes viral

After all his years golfing in the event as the Packers quarterback, this year’s tournament came with a fan first for Rodgers. It was the first time he was asked to sign a pregnant woman’s belly.

A video tweeted by “Sunday Night Football” shows him signing the baby bump of a woman in a bikini.

“This is the first one of those I’ve ever signed,” Rodgers tells her, as he gives her a high-five.

In a video interview with The Sacramento Bee, the woman, Billie Kirk of Lincoln, California, said she also got stomach signatures from legendary Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher, "The Office" star Brian Baumgartner and actor/comedian Ray Romano during the tournament.

Jets fans did the 'J-E-T-S' chant, Packers fans 'very sweet'

In an interview with the Golf Channel, Rodgers was asked about the reception he received from Jets fans vs. Packers fans at the event.

“Well, Jets fans have a very common chant they like to say. It goes something like ‘J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets,'" Rodgers said. "Packers fans very sweet out here. Lot of appreciation for my time there. It’s mutual. A lot of love and respect for them, but Jets fans are pretty excited.”

Romano and his three sons chatted up Rodgers

Romano and Rodgers are both regulars at the American Century Championship, but the "Everybody Loves Raymond" star couldn't help but tell him how excited he is to have him playing for the Jets this season.

Sports Illustrated reported that Romano had his sons, Gregory, Matthew and Joseph, along when they talked with Rodgers.

“My boys are super die-hard Jets fans. They wanted to say hello to him, so we went over and said hello," said Romano, who is from Queens, New York. “I said, ‘You’re one of us’ now. We talked about 'Hard Knocks.' And he was positive (about the Jets season). He said it looks good.”

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Kendra Meinert is an entertainment and feature writer at the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at 920-431-8347 or kmeinert@greenbay.gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KendraMeinert. 

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Memorable moments from Aaron Rodgers at American Century Championship