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Valley State Farm agent stars in national commercial with Aaron Rodgers

Posted at 4:03 PM, Oct 18, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-19 10:38:49-04

Patrick Minnis is a local State Farm agent in The Valley, but his clients now refer to him a little differently. 

"They come in and say 'Is Mr. Big Time here?'" said account representative Tehera Gant.

Minnis, whose office is in Tempe, recently burst onto the national stage in a series of hilarious commercials, and it all started with a casting call from his company. 

"My phone rang, and it was from our corporate office, and they were asking for me," said Minnis. "They asked if I would like to audition for a commercial but didn't give much detail."

He says he rattled off the lines he was given over FaceTime and hung up with little expectation.   

"The next day they call, and the lady goes 'Congratulations, you got the role,' and I'm like, 'The role for what?' and she's like, 'You're gonna be Aaron Rodgers' agent in the next commercials,' and I was like, 'Really?'" said Minnis. 

It turns out he had edged out 19,000 other agents across the country for the part, and before he knew it, he was on a football field in Los Angeles standing next to one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.

Minnis spent five days in Hollywood filming the ad.  

"We were joking around, he was a really funny guy, sarcastic, which I'm good with," said Minnis of Rodgers. "The actor who played Gabe, Aaron's agent was hilarious, he killed every take, he had Aaron and I rolling."

He says nerves weren't an issue. Then again, before joining State Farm, Minnis spent a decade as a local television sportscaster. 

"I only had to say two lines it was like I had to do a soliloquy for five minutes, it was a few lines," said Minnis smiling. 

The father of three says once it hit the airwaves, his phone starting blowing up from people he hadn't spoken to in decades. 

"This is from a friend of mine Raphael, he says, 'Hey were you in a State Farm commercial with Aaron Rodgers, I swear it was you,'" said Minnis reading one of the many text messages. 

And of course, you can't meet a great athlete without asking for a quick autograph.

"I said 'Will you sign some stuff?' I'm not an autograph guy. I said, 'My son wants some autographs, and he said sure whatever you want, have your people get in touch with my people, and I was like I don't have people," said Minnis, bursting with laughter. 

For the former sportscaster, who used to dream of making it to Sports Center, the irony of his latest television moment doesn't escape him. 

"It's funny because my goal, and I'm sure everybody's goal in TV, is to make it to network, never did, I became an insurance agent, and I made it to network, which makes no sense what so ever," said Minnis.