When Aaron Rodgers debuted his dragon tattoo on Instagram in December 2023, it sparked curiosity about the artist behind the ink—who helped the Jets QB create such a striking design. The artist was Balazs Bercsenyi, a Brooklyn-based tattooist.
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What stayed under the radar, however, was that Bercsenyi didn’t initially recognize who Aaron Rodgers was. In fact, he had to Google the NFL star to learn that Rodgers is considered one of the legends of the game. In a candid moment during Netflix’s Aaron Rodgers’ Enigma series, Bercsenyi admitted:
“I definitely connected with Aaron. I mean, I also didn’t know who he was. No idea who he was. I think the day before, I think, I searched, I was like ‘Aaron Rodgers.’ I Googled, and I was like, ‘Okay, NFL.’ And then people told me, ‘Yeah, he’s the most famous quarterback.’”
Rodgers, known for his sharp sense of humor, sarcastically responded, “He’s (Bercsenyi) a big football fan.”And, if that wasn’t enough, Bercsenyi’s next remark made it clear just how little he knew about the NFL.
“Quarterback, right? Yeah? In the whole league. And, like, yeah, one of the best. And I was like, ‘Sh*t, okay, okay. Whatever that means.’”
As for the tattoo itself, Rodgers had a clear vision from the start—it had to be symbolic. After switching from No. 12 with the Green Bay Packers to No. 8 with the New York Jets, he wanted something that reflected this new chapter in his career.
“Me making a number change this year from 12 to 8, I wanted to get some sort of symbol. And 8 sideways is infinity. So definitely wanted the infinity symbol. Then I woke up this morning, and I had this intuition about a dragon. And then it just all came together from there,” Rodgers explained.
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The tattoo design features a Chinese dragon that loops over itself to subtly convey the number 8, reflecting Rodgers’ new jersey number with the Jets. Intriguingly, the words “two” and “twelve” are included on either side of the dragon, nodding to his time with the Packers.
Bercsenyi is also the artist behind Rodgers’ first tattoo, which features two lions and constellations.
