Aaron Rodgers Opens Up About Family Estrangement, ‘Bachelorette’

On By Littum

game

NFL star Aaron Rodgers is ready to tell everything.

In Netflix’s three-part docu-series “Aaron Rodgers: Enigma,” released Tuesday, the New York Jets quarterback lets cameras into his life off the field and journey back to play for the NFL following his season-ending injury last year from a torn Achilles.

In between lamenting his loss of privacy, the 41-year-old Super Bowl champion lets viewers in on being offered a spot on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential ticket and his thoughts on the hit his reputation took because of his refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Rodgers described himself as “being cast as the villain, especially the last few years.”

In the series’ second episode, titled “Awakening,” he delves into his rift with his family and how it came to a head with younger brother Jordan Rodgers’ successful run on “The Bachelorette” in 2016.

Aaron Rodgers opens up about estrangement from family

According to Aaron, different views on religion and spirituality as well as lifestyle contributed to his estrangement from his family, which includes parents Ed and Darla and brothers Jordan, 36, and Luke, 42. But the distance between himself and his family started. makes itself known as far back as high school.

“I grew up in a really conservative, small-town environment,” where he attended “a very white, dogmatic church, and it just didn’t really serve me,” Aaron says. He also says he felt that the image of masculinity that was modeled for him growing up caused his “inhibited emotional intelligence,” which he addresses in part by using ayahuasca and participating in temazcal, or a sweat lodge ceremony created by indigenous peoples living in the central and northern areas. America.

After going on an ayahuasca retreat in Costa Rica, the NFL star says, “I think doing ayahuasca helps your total healing process, mind, body, spirit.”

Regarding the break with his family, Rodgers claims, “When I started looking into other religions and herbal medicine, I also found a lot of resistance to doing things that, compared to what I grew up in, would be considered an alternative lifestyle . “

Aaron Rodgers says family didn’t support his celebrity status

Rodgers says when he came to the NFL, he was chasing his football dreams — not stardom. “I never signed up for off-field attention,” he says to 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 who were in the public eye.” He was previously engaged to “Big Little Lies” star Shailene Woodley and also dated professional racer Danica Patrick as well as actresses Olivia Munn and Jessica Szohr.

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

“There were a lot of times when I got really famous where I heard from a lot of people — including family members — where it was like, “Your life is too big; we need you to be smaller. Stop talking about your life,” he says.

“It always hurt me because I just feel like you don’t see me. It’s not something I ever wanted or wanted, other than playing on Sundays,” he continues. “It can definitely change the people around you because it can be intoxicating, the fame and notoriety. For sure, relationships changed after that. Friendships, family.”

Aaron Rodgers ‘never asked’ to be part of 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 like I was super close to everyone in the family; I was close to my little brother. But really, it goes back to things from high school that kind of made me feel distant.

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

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

“They go to a (expletive) show and leave two empty chairs,” Aaron says. “They all agreed that it was a good thing to do, leaving two empty chairs at a stupid dating show that my brother just became famous for — his words, not mine — that he ended up winning.”

He continues: “But one dinner that was during the season I was never asked to go to, not that I would have gone.”

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

Until now, Aaron has been mum about the reality TV show. Asked then of his brother’s participation in the show, Aaron said, “I’ve always found it a little inappropriate to talk publicly about some family relationships.”

Jordan’s NFL superstar connection was no small part of Fletcher’s “Bachelorette” season. Aaron was mentioned numerous times throughout, and Jordan opened up to Fletcher about his lack of relationship with his brother more than halfway through the season.

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

Aaron Rodgers is open to reconciling with his family

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

“They’re living as best they can … still consumed by organized religion that works for them. It’s amazing,” he says. “As much as they might not like what they see, love and respect and gratitude for how I was raised because that 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.’

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