The New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers has famously long been estranged from his family. This includes his younger brother Jordan, who won season 12 of the dating reality show The Bachelorette back in 2012 – and of all things, it was that show that really brought the issue to the forefront.
Now, the NFL great is opening up more about what’s really behind the familial fracture.
Aaron Discusses Family Estrangement
Though Jordan met his now-wife JoJo Fletcher on The Bachelorette, Aaron branded it as a “stupid” show as he opens up about the falling out with his family. The NFL star did this in episode two of Aaron Rodgers: Enigma, which dropped on Netflix on Tuesday.
“It wasn’t like I was super duper close with everybody in the family. I was close with my little brother,” Aaron, 41, said of Jordan, 36. “But in actuality, it goes back to stuff from high school that kind of made me feel distant. Stuff in college, stuff post-college.”
Both Aaron and Jordan had successful college football careers. Aaron was quarterback for University of California, Berkeley before being drafted in the first round by the Green Bay Packers in 2005.
As for Jordan, he was a successful quarterback at Vanderbilt University. The transition to the NFL, however, was more difficult for him than it was for his older brother. Indeed, Jordan was released by three NFL teams before he gave up his professional football dreams to pursue other opportunities.
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Aaron Fuming Over Family’s Bachelorette Dig At Him
In his Netflix series, Aaron said that he initially “was quiet about” his issues with his family.
“I thought the best way to do it was just don’t talk about it publicly,” he added, a nod to the “If you don’t have anything nice to say” rule.
That all changed, however, when Jordan did The Bachelorette and made it to the hometown dates episode. It was then that he brought JoJo home to meet his and Aaron’s parents Ed and Darla, as well as their oldest sibling Luke Rodgers.
“And what do they do? They go on a bull[…] show and leave two empty chairs,” Aaron lamented.
The chairs were heavily implied to represent Aaron and his then-girlfriend Olivia Munn.
“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,” Aaron continued with a smirk. “But a dinner that was during the season, I was never asked to go to. Not that I would’ve gone.”
Check out the relevant portion of the infamous Rodgers family hometown date in the video below.
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Rodgers clearly felt slighted that his own family would go along with an insult like that on national television. Though, truly, it seems like there still must be more to the story.
Jordan’s Comments – Aaron Talks Potential Reconciliation
Jordan discussed Aaron’s absence with JoJo on The Bachelorette. At the time, he said that he hasn’t spoken to Aaron in two years because of “the way he’s chosen to do life.”
“At every step of my life, I was kind of disappointed,” he said. “No matter what I did, it was never good enough because I was being compared to someone who did it the best. Football didn’t define me and not having a great relationship with my brother Aaron didn’t define me.”
Indeed, it is the tale of many-a little brother.
Meanwhile, on his Netflix show, Aaron addressed the possibility of a reconciliation with Jordan and the rest of his family.
“People ask me, ‘Is there hope for reconciliation?’ I say, ‘Yeah of course. Of course,’” Aaron stated. “I don’t want them to fail, to struggle, to have any strife or issues. 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.”
It’s no secret that family dynamics can oftentimes be extremely complicated. We can only hope that someday, the Rodgers family is able to get past this and reconcile. In the end, life is too short for longterm conflicts, especially when it comes to family!
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