In between ayahuasca and rehab for his Achilles’ injury, Aaron Rodgers spilled some major insight into his family drama in his new Netflix docuseries, Aaron Rodgers: Enigma.
All three episodes of the show, which dropped on the streaming service on Tuesday, December 17, explores Rodgers’ attempts to return during the 2023 NFL season after he suffered a torn Achilles during his first game as quarterback of the New York Jets. Meanwhile, it also gives background on Rodgers’ childhood, college days and time on the Green Bay Packers.
One theme throughout the series is Rodgers rebelling against his Christian upbringing — and how that upset his parents, Ed and Darla, and put distance between himself and brothers Luke Rodgers and Jordan Rodgers.
“I grew up in a very white, dogmatic church and that just didn’t really serve me,” Aaron told Netflix cameras. “It was very rigid in structure, I’m not a rigid person. Shame, guilt, judgment. It was like, ‘We have the truth, our way or the highway. Our way is heaven, your way is hell.’ Even talking to my parents, it was very black and white. Like, somebody has to be wrong [and] somebody has to be right. I just slowly uncoupled from that in high school.”
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According to Aaron, his rise to fame also played a large part in the family drama — and Jordan’s stint on The Bachelorette certainly didn’t help.
Keep reading for the biggest takeaways about the Rodgers family in Enigma:
Aaron’s Parents Thought He Was Too ‘Soft’
“I was very fortunate when I was a kid to have parents who believed I had a very low pain tolerance,” Aaron explained. “I felt like there was many times where my parents felt like I was a little soft, and because of that, I made sure I was the toughest motherf—-er that I knew. Anytime I had some sort of injury, I was going to make sure I could hold it together as well as I could. I could come back quicker than anybody said I would. So, dealing with pain has always been kind of a way of life.”
During his physical therapy for his Achilles injury in 2023, Rodgers noted he started to feel “good” but not good enough. “My own childhood conditioning coming through,” he told his therapist with a laugh.
He later added that he’s “thankful” for his parents thinking he was “soft growing up.”
Ed Rodgers Didn’t Cry
During one of his ayahuasca trips documented on the show, Rodgers said he only saw his dad cry once when he was growing up.
“I think I saw my dad cry when my grandfather passed. And that might have been it. There wasn’t space for emotion. So, I definitely had some stunted emotional intelligence to communicate those emotions, for sure,” he said. “People who haven’t been around me a lot have this idea of who I am or whatnot, and in these situations, you start to peel back some of those layers of who they think you are, and start getting deep, and getting emotional. And I think that’s what it means to be a well-balanced man is to be able to tap into that divine feminine and be vulnerable.”
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The Fame Effect
“There was a lot of times when I became real famous that 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. Be smaller. Don’t talk about your life,’” Rodgers claimed. “That always hurt me because I just feel like you don’t see me. This is not something I ever desired or wanted other than playing on Sundays. It can definitely change the people around your circle because it can be intoxicating, the fame and notoriety. So definitely relationships change after that — friendships, family.”
‘The Bachelorette’ Dig
Jordan was a contestant on JoJo Fletcher’s season of The Bachelorette in 2016. When it was time for the hometown visits, Aaron was noticeably missing, with producers leaving empty chairs for Aaron and then-girlfriend Olivia Munn at the dinner table.
“It wasn’t like I was super duper close with everybody in the family. I was close with my little brother [Jordan],” Aaron said as childhood photos of him and Jordan flashed on the screen. “But in actuality, it goes back to stuff from high school that kind of made me feel distant. Stuff in college, stuff post-college. I was quiet about it. I thought the best way to do it was just don’t talk about it publicly. And what do they do? They go on a bulls— show and leave two empty chairs. They all agreed this was a good thing to do, to leave two empty chairs at a stupid dating show that my brother just went on to get famous — his words, not mine. That he ended up winning. But a dinner that was during the season, I was never asked to go to. Not that I would’ve gone.”
Religion’s Role
In college at the University of California, Berkeley, Rodgers stopped going to church and loved being in a city that “challenged” his beliefs and what he learned growing up. Shortly after he got to Green Bay, he started following the teachings of author Rob Bell in 2011.
“He was a big help for me to totally unravel the religion of my youth. I started looking into other religions and spirituality. I started reading a lot of different types of books, philosophy books, self-help books. And then I found the courage to speak my feelings better. And so I started to stand up to institutions of my youth — and that was everything from organized religion, my parents, dogma, ideology — that definitely changed the dynamics of my family. Because I was just questioning all of it.”
Aaron Rodgers Thinks Reconciliation With Parents Is ‘Definitely Possible’
Aaron said he “found a lot of resistance” from family when he started “looking into other religions and plant medicine” and his “alternative lifestyle.”
“They are living the best they can, that is still engulfed in organized religion, which works for them. That’s great,” he said. “So as much as they might not like what they see, love and respect and gratitude for how I was raised because it wouldn’t have turned me into who I am today.”
The Vaccine
Aaron revealed that he “never did the flu shots growing up” because his dad “just didn’t believe in it.” This played a part in Aaron’s skepticism of vaccines and his infamous 500-page document sent to the NFL during the COVID-19 crisis when he didn’t want to get vaccinated.
Chances of Reconciliation
Aaron kind of left the door open for his family to reunite. “People ask me, ‘Is there hope for reconciliation?’ I say, ‘Yeah of course. Of course.’ I don’t want them to fail, to struggle, to have any strife or issues,” he said. ”I don’t wish any ill will on them at all. It’s more like this — we’re just different steps on a timeline of our own journeys.”
