Photo: Getty Images
New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers addressed his fallout with his family and a specific incident that was played out when his estranged brother, Jordan, appeared as a contestant on Season 12 of The Bachelorette on his Netflix docuseries Aaron Rodgers: Enigma.
“It wasn’t like I was super duper close with everybody in the family. I was close with my little brother,” Aaron said. “But in actuality, it goes back to stuff from high school that kind of made me feel distant. Stuff in college, stuff post-college.”
Rodgers said he "was quiet about" his family because "I thought the best way to do it was just don't talk about it publicly," however the fallout was depicted when Jordan, a former Vanderbilt Commodores quarterback and current SEC Network broadcaster, brought his future wife, JoJo Fletcher, to meet his family. Fletcher was introduced to Rodgers' parents, Ed and Darla, as well as oldest brother, Luke, and his girlfriend, while the show focused on two empty seats left for Aaron and his then-girlfriend, actress Olivia Munn.
“And what do they do? They go on a bulls**t show and leave two empty chairs,” Aaron said.
Earlier this year, author Ian O'Connor addressed the incident in his unauthorized biography Out of the Darkness: The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers. Aaron reportedly stopped speaking to his parents after they visited the then-Green Bay Packers quarterback when he was living with Munn before a December 2014 home game against the Buffalo Bills. The four-time NFL MVP posted a career-worst 34.3 quarterback rating during the weekend of his final meeting with his parents.
Munn reportedly blindsided Ed and Darla with an angry phone call rant about their plans to see their son when the Packers faced the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a road game just before Christmas, having already planned a family trip to Disney World. The actress reportedly told the couple that she didn't want them meeting with their son or attending the game, with Ed and Darla responding that they didn't need her permission to do so.
“The only thing I said was, ‘You haven’t been on the scene very long. You’re just his girlfriend. We’re his parents,’” Ed said via the New York Post.
Ed and Darla reportedly attended the Buccaneers game but didn't see there son, with Aaron reportedly sending an email to family members that said, "Don't attack the woman I love." The book does, however, acknowledge that Munn may not be solely to blame as Rodgers had alienated others close to him in the past, having temporarily removed best friend Jordan Russell from his life prior to dating the actress.
“You get on his bad side, you cross him once, you are dead to him,” a source who knew Rodgers for many years during his time in Green Bay said via the New York Post.
The book also acknowledged Rodgers' fallout with his brother, Luke, which took place eight months before he began dating Munn, as well as Jordan stemming from the hometown date episode.
Rodgers is in his second season with the Jets after being acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Packers in 2023. The 41-year-old suffered a season-ending Achilles injury during his first drive with New York last season and is currently having one of the worst years of his career, going 4-19 as a starter.