What's on Aaron Rodgers' bingo card of Green Bay-area musts? Frosty Tip in Dyckesville? Check. Fish fry? Check. Cheese curds? Well ...

Kendra Meinert, Green Bay Press-Gazette
·4 min read
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers smiles after the Christmas Day game against the Cleveland Browns at Lambeau Field. Rodgers said he's embraced the culture of Green Bay during his time with the Packers.
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers smiles after the Christmas Day game against the Cleveland Browns at Lambeau Field. Rodgers said he's embraced the culture of Green Bay during his time with the Packers.
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GREEN BAY - After 17 years of living in Green Bay, Aaron Rodgers knows the area well enough to know going to the old-fashioned walk-up window of Deprey's Frosty Tip in Dyckesville for an ice cream cone is a rite of summer for locals.

But after 17 years of living in Green Bay, the Packers quarterback also still doesn’t quite see the mouth-watering deliciousness in a bag of fresh, squeaky cheese curds like a lot of locals do.

In other words, Wisconsin: You win some, you lose some.

During his regular Tuesday appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” Rodgers revealed what's on his Green Bay bingo card — or “scavenger hunt list,” as he called it — of must-dos if you want to get the authentic experience of what life is like here. He often shares that Green Bay bucket list with young players who are new to the city and want to get to know what it’s all about beyond Lambeau Field.

“Here’s some of the things you’ve got to do to ingrain yourself in the culture of Green Bay: I’m talking about going to a supper club. Going to a fish fry on Friday or Saturday. ... You’ve got to go ride the (Zippin Pippin) roller coaster at Bay Beach (Amusement Park). That’s an important one," Rodgers said. "You’ve got to spend time in Door County. You’ve got to go to the Frosty Tip in Dyckesville. It’s a good place, man. You’ve got to go ice fishing.”

It’s a solid list, and because he’s still a self-described “Cali boy” at heart, he gets a free pass on suggesting a fish fry on a Saturday when Wisconsinites know its synonymous with the Friday night social calendar.

Show co-host A.J. Hawk asked Rodgers what it was like coming in as a California native, replacing Brett Favre, “a country dude” who seemed to fit in so effortlessly in a “hard-working, gritty town” like Green Bay, and then winning over fans with his play.

Rodgers knew it would be a change for fans, who were used to seeing Favre wrestle teammates on the sidelines and do commercials for Wranglers jeans. (Rodgers, by contrast does commercials for IZOD.)

“I think an important part of being a quarterback, face of the franchise is embracing the culture,” Rodgers said. “I feel like I’ve done that. I’ve lived here for 17 years. I’ve got friends outside of football who live in this town. I love the interaction with the fans. They basically know where they can possibly see me is one of like three places, but I enjoy the culture here.”

That includes curds — if by default.

“Even eating cheese curds, which, unless they’re fried, to me, have absolutely zero taste and definitely no nutritional value, but it’s one of those things you just do to become part of the culture," Rodgers said.

Taking one for the team, you might say.

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For Rodgers, who also has a home in Malibu, California, settling into life in the smallest market in the NFL wasn't as much of a stretch as people may think. He grew up in small communities in northern California that he said gave him an appreciation for small towns and the hard-working people who live in them.

“When I got here I knew it was going to be a good marriage between how I grew up and where I come from and this town,” he said.

He made a point to study Wisconsin and travel all across it, including the Northwoods, Door County, Milwaukee, Madison and Wisconsin Dells, which bills itself as “The Waterpark Capital of the World.”

“I got to know the people here and what they’re all about and what makes this region so special, and I embraced it and embrace it to this day,” Rodgers said. “I’m so thankful that I’ve had 17 great years in this state and enjoyed every one of them.”

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Contact Kendra Meinert at 920-431-8347 or kmeinert@greenbay.gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KendraMeinert.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Aaron Rodgers' bingo card of Green Bay must-dos: Frosty Tip, fish fry