Aaron Rodgers Talks Family Estrangement, 'Bachelorette'

NFL star Aaron Rodgers is ready to spill the beans.

In the three-part Netflix documentary “Aaron Rodgers: Enigma,” released Tuesday, the New York Jets quarterback lets cameras look into his life off the field and his return to the NFL after retiring at the end of last year season due to a torn Achilles tendon.

As he laments his loss of privacy, the 41-year-old Super Bowl champion tells viewers about being offered a spot on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential ticket and how he reflects on the damage his refusal would do to his reputation has received the COVID-19 vaccine. Rodgers described himself as “playing the villain role, especially in recent years.”

In the second part of the series, entitled “Awakening,” he addresses the rift with his family and how it came to a head with his younger brother Jordan Rodgers’ successful appearance on “The Bachelorette” in 2016.

Aaron Rodgers talks about estrangement from family

According to Aaron, different views on religion and spirituality, as well as lifestyle, contributed to his alienation from his family, which includes parents Ed and Darla and brothers Jordan, 36, and Luke, 42. But the distance between him and his family began to make a name for itself in high school.

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“I grew up in a really conservative, small-town environment,” where he “attended a very white, dogmatic church, and that just didn’t really help me,” Aaron says. He also says that he felt that the image of masculinity that was presented to him as a child caused his “stunted emotional intelligence,” which he developed through, among other things, consuming ayahuasca and participating in temazcal, a sweat lodge ceremony launched by indigenous peoples in central and northern regions, fights America.

After an ayahuasca retreat in Costa Rica, the NFL star says, “I think taking ayahuasca supports the entire healing process of the mind, body and spirit.”

Regarding the rift with his family, Rodgers claims, “As I began to explore other religions and herbal medicine, I also encountered a lot of resistance to doing things that seemed more alternative to what I was raised in.” lifestyle.” “

Aaron Rodgers says his family didn’t support his celebrity status

Rodgers says when he joined the NFL he was pursuing his football dreams – not fame. “I never signed up for the attention off the field,” he tells the camera.

Recalling the discomfort of being the subject of paparazzi photos for the first time in 2011, he admits: “I didn’t do myself any favors with some of the girls I dated after they were in the public eye. He was previously engaged to Big Little Lies star Shailene Woodley and also dated professional race car driver Danica Patrick and actresses Olivia Munn and Jessica Szohr.

Rodgers also claims that his family did not support his visibility as a celebrity whose influence transcended the field.

“When I became really famous, I often heard from a lot of people – including family members – saying, ‘Your life is too big; we need you to be smaller. Don’t talk.’ about your life,’” he says.

“It always hurt me because I just feel like I’m not seen. That’s something I’ve never wanted or desired, other than playing on Sundays,” he continues. “It can definitely change the people around you because it can be intoxicating, the fame and the notoriety. In any case, relationships changed after that. Friendships, family.”

Aaron Rodgers “never asked” to be on Jordan Rodgers’ “Bachelorette” hometown date

Rodgers admits there wasn’t too much love lost between him and the rest of his family: “It wasn’t that I was super close to everyone in the family; I was very close to my little brother. But in reality it is.” Going back to the things from high school that kind of made me feel distant. Things from college, things from after college.

He continues: “I kept quiet about it because I thought the best way was not to talk about it publicly. And what are they doing?”

The screen switches to 2016 coverage of Jordan Rodgers’ appearance on JoJo Fletcher’s (now wife’s) season of The Bachelorette, in which Aaron and his then-girlfriend Olivia Munn were noticeably absent from Jordan’s hometown date.

“They put on a (swear) show and leave two chairs empty,” Aaron says. “They all agreed that was a good thing, leaving two empty chairs on a stupid dating show that my brother was just getting famous on – his words, not mine – which he won in the end.”

He continues: “But I was never asked to go to a dinner that was held during the season, not that I went there.”

USA TODAY has reached out to representatives for Jordan Rodgers and “The Bachelorette” for comment.

Until now, Aaron has been a mom on the reality TV show. When asked at the time about his brother’s participation in the show, Aaron said: “I always found it a bit inappropriate to talk publicly about some family matters.”

Jordan’s connection to NFL superstars was no small part of Fletcher’s Bachelorette season. Aaron was mentioned several times throughout, and Jordan told Fletcher about his lack of relationship with his brother more than halfway through the season.

“It’s something we don’t like to talk about much. “It hurts both of us not to have this relationship because we miss our brother,” Luke Rodgers said on “The Bachelorette.” “I trust God to come full circle.”

Aaron Rodgers is open to a reconciliation with his family

Eight years later, Aaron harbors no “ill will” toward his family.

“They live as best they can…still anchored in organized religion, which works for them. That’s great,” he says. “As much as they don’t like what they see, love, respect and gratitude for the way I was raised because it wouldn’t have made me who I am today.”

He continues: “People ask me if there is hope for reconciliation. I say, ‘Yes, of course.’ I don’t want them to fail, struggle, have arguments or problems. I wish them no ill will at all.

“It’s more like we’re just different steps in the timeline of our own journeys.”

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Aaron Rodgers Talks Family Estrangement, ‘Bachelorette’

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