Aaron Rodgers Seemingly Throws Shade at Kash Patel over Team USA Hockey Locker Room Celebration After Olympic Win

Kash Patel found himself under the heat after celebrating with the men's U.S. ice hockey team following the win over Canada in the Olympics gold medal game.


Aaron Rodgers Seemingly Throws Shade at Kash Patel over Team USA Hockey Locker Room Celebration After Olympic Win

Kash Patel and Aaron Rodgers (Image via The Guardian/X/@AroundTheNFL)

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director, Kash Patel, found himself in controversy after celebrating with the men’s U.S. ice hockey team following their Olympic victory. NFL star Aaron Rodgers seemingly threw a shade at him recently.

On February 22, 2026, Team USA took on their arch rivals, Team Canada, in the gold medal match. The USA were aiming for their first Olympic gold medal in men’s ice hockey since 1980.

In the first matchup between the two teams since the 4 Nations Face-Off Championship game last year, the U.S. struck first through Matt Boldy. Canada would level things up in the second period through Cale Makar.

With the game level at 1-1 after the end of the third period, the game went into overtime. In this 3-on-3 period, New Jersey Devils star Jack Hughes became the national hero as he scored the golden goal to win the game 2-1.

As the country celebrated this famous win, Kash Patel found himself in hot water. Following their win, he would join the American team in their dressing room during their celebrations.

In this, the 45-year-old would celebrate the win wildly. In a video that went viral on social media, Patel was seen wearing a Team USA jersey and chugging some beer. He would even dance around.

A few moments later, forward Matthew Tkachuk would take off his gold medal and place it around the neck of the FBI director. Patel would jump and dance along to “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” by the late Toby Keith.

The actions of Patel did not sit well with several people. Many social media users would slam him and question how he travelled to Milan and joined the team backstage.

In a recent episode of The Pat McAfee Show, Aaron Rodgers appeared to throw a shade at Patel. While the Super Bowl XLV champion did not name him directly, his words made it clear to whom he was referring.

Can we get that one guy out of the locker room, though, and get him working on something else? That’s a bad look. Have some awareness.

Aaron Rodgers said

Speaking of the Olympics, the USA completed a double over Canada in ice hockey. A couple of days before the men’s team took down Canada, the women’s team did the same.

Led by Captain Hilary Knight, the women’s U.S. hockey team defeated Canada 2-1 after overtime as well. After Knight scored a late equalizer, Megan Keller won the gold for her country with an overtime goal.

Even Donald Trump was reportedly unhappy with Kash Patel celebrating with men’s USA Hockey Team

While Kash Patel had a memorable time with Team USA members after their win, many did not like this. As per reports, even President Donald Trump was not pleased with these actions of the FBI director in Milan.

Donald Trump and Kash Patel
Donald Trump and Kash Patel (Image via Bloomberg/People)

According to reports from AF Post, the 79-year-old was disappointed with the viral locker room celebration of Patel. Trump was also unhappy to see him use a government aircraft to travel to Italy for this event.

These reports came at a time when Trump found himself under backlash as well. After the victory of the men’s team, he would call them and extend an official invitation to the White House.

In doing so, he ended up making an impeachment joke. The U.S. President claimed that the women’s team will impeach him if he did not invite them.

Hilary Knight would later blast him and call his joke “distasteful.” The women’s team also turned down the invitation while expressing logistics and scheduling concerns.

Kash Patel took a shot at the media following his viral incident

After his celebrations with Team USA went viral, Kash Patel broke his silence. While defending himself, he took a shot at the media.

Team USA and Kash Patel
Team USA and Kash Patel (Image via X/@Team USA and Kash_Patel)

In a post on X, the American international expressed that Team USA had “invited” him to the locker room. He also lauded the team and threw shade at the critics.

For the very concerned media – yes, I love America and was extremely humbled when my friends, the newly minted Gold Medal winners on Team USA, invited me into the locker room to celebrate this historic moment with the boys- Greatest country on earth and greatest sport on earth.

Kash Patel on X

As per reports, Patel is a huge hockey fan. So it is likely that he would not be too concerned about the backlash regarding his viral moment.

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