Tragic Details About Aaron Rodgers' Life

While there may be a lot of weird things about future NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers that fans can't ignore, along with a shady side, he's also faced demons in his personal life that have bled into his public persona. From complicated family dynamics to dealing with drama as a result of his spiritual beliefs, he's shifted from an all-star athlete to a polarizing public figure for many. But through it all, Rodgers has learned to embrace his fame for all of its worth, particularly the good and the bad that comes with it. When it comes to balancing it all, the pro football player turns to self-love practices to help him through the ups and downs that life has thrown him. "There's this whole other part that comes with [fame] that's a lot of great stuff and a lot of f****** weird stuff," he shared in the "Aaron Rodgers: Enigma" Netflix documentary.

Aaron Rodgers has had a strained relationship with his parents for decades. He has revealed in interviews that their familial discord started when the Super Bowl-winning quarterback was in high school, citing Ed and Darla Rodgers' stringent religious beliefs as a major catalyst for their distance. Those beliefs made their way into their parenting, according to Rodgers, and any love he received would be based on merit. "If you don't believe you deserve that love, it's hard for you to give it, and it's sure as hell hard for you to receive it," he shared in his Netflix documentary..

The estrangement began long before Rodgers' NFL days, and the quarterback claims that the issues between him and his parents ultimately caused him to have to learn how to be a parent to himself. "I think for me, I just wanted to hear, 'I'm proud of you,'" he continued in the documentary.

Aaron Rodgers' strained relationship with his family extends beyond just his parents. In fact, he reportedly does not speak to any of his immediate family members, including his two brothers Jordan and Luke. It was Jordan himself who even revealed the Rodgers' family feud to the public after he competed (and later won) "The Bachelorette" in 2016. "It's just the way he's chosen to do life," Rodgers shared of his older brother on the show (via People).

But things reportedly got worse when Aaron Rodgers' ex-girlfriend, actor Olivia Munn, got involved and caused the family to take sides. According to Bleacher Report, the Rodgers clan shared their distaste for Munn, causing Rodgers to become furious. The fallout continued from there, with the pair even going so far as to mail back Christmas presents that the family sent. While the pair couldn't make it work, Munn claimed she actually tried to encourage her then-boyfriend to mend things with his family – which ultimately didn't work. "I just think it's really important to try to mend things in a family, and I encourage that," she told Andy Cohen on SiriusXM's Radio Andy.

The timeline of Aaron and Jordan Rodgers's feud took the typical sibling rivalry to a new level. Both brothers grew up playing football, but only Aaron made a professional career out of the sport. While Aaron was drafted by (and developed a championship-winning career with) the Green Bay Packers in 2005, Jordan eventually signed as a free agent with the Jacksonville Jaguars for a short period. "I've been overlooked and slighted every step of the way," Jordan Rodgers told The Florida Times-Union. "I think that brings out the best in me."

After Jordan revealed the Rodgers' family dirty laundry while competing on "The Bachelorette" in 2016, the brothers' feud continued to go downhill. The pair had already had an alleged all-out fight in late 2014, and his open discussion about his older brother seemed to start an ongoing cycle of online and public barbs traded between the two for years. But in 2024, the older Rodgers brother not only confirmed his feud with his brother, but also revealed more backstory to their discord. When discussing the family drama revealed on "The Bachelorette," Rodgers revealed he wasn't even invited to participate in the on-air discussion, which was during the NFL season. "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," he stated in the "Aaron Rodgers: Enigma" Netflix documentary.

Rodgers revealed that as a child, his parents mandated church service for all of their children each week. That strict nature affected the future NFL quarterback, particularly as he began to question the tenets of the religion that he spent so much time involved in. "Ultimately, it was that rules and regulations and binary systems don't really resonate with me," he explained on then-partner Danica Patrick's "Pretty Intense" podcast.

Rodgers eventually moved into a more spiritual realm when it came to his beliefs, pursuing more grey areas of religion opposed to the black-and-white upbringing he was subjected to. He went on to explain how he rejected the notions he was raised with, both in terms of ideology and the parenting patterns that stemmed from it. Between his new mentality and his public comments, his family took things personally. "It's basically him turning his back on everything they have taught him," an insider explained," an insider said of the situation to People.

Despite the complicated relationship that Aaron Rodgers had with his former teammate Brett Favre, Rodgers was among many concerned when Favre revealed he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2024. Both quarterbacks became legends while playing for the Green Bay Packers, with Rodgers taking over Favre's starting spot after the Hall of Famer signed with the New York Jets in 2008. This caused many to speculate that the two were in a feud, especially when the two continued to share arguably hostile statements about each other in the press.

But those differences were put aside after Favre's devastating announcement. Rodgers took time during a press conference to speak about his former teammate's diagnosis and how he reflected on the dangers and long-term effects of the sport they both played as a result. "The older you get the mortality gets kind of thrown in our face a little bit more," he told the press after a game (via Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).

Like many other NFL players, Aaron Rodgers has faced a number of scary injuries that had major impacts on both his career and his life. From breaking his collarbone twice within four years to tearing his Achilles heel and missing an entire season, he's faced insurmountable pain that ultimately has had an impact on his ability. By the time he joined the New York Jets in 2023, he had also broken several bones in his foot and hand and even sustained an MCL tear.

Despite his pain, the pro quarterback was scared to undergo scans on his injuries for fear of losing his starting job. He's forced himself to play on those injuries and come back too soon in some games to continue moving his career forward as best he could. But he still frames his thoughts about injury around medicine and healing, as well as the knowledge that this risk is part of what he signed up for in the first place. "That's part of the risk playing [football] and we all in the back of our mind know that [injury] can be a reality at some point," he once shared in a post-game press conference (via Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).

Apart from his record-setting NFL career, Aaron Rodgers has made a name for himself – for better or worse – with his opinions on vaccines and modern medicines. Particularly during the global pandemic, the pro quarterback has numerous statements about immunization that have puzzled many fans around the country. Even though he stated in 2021 that he was "immunized" against COVID-19, he had reportedly sought to be exempt from the NFL's then-stringent protocols to help prevent the spread of the illness. To make things worse, he claimed on "The Pat McAfee Show" that he was allergic to ingredients in certain vaccines, prompting even more public backlash at a time when many were extra sensitive about immunization.

After facing the scathing public backlash, Rodgers eventually explained the context of his statements – he was trying to appeal the NFL's protocols because of his holistic medicinal practices – while also owning up to the impact his statements made on his image. "If there's one thing I wish could have gone different, it's that [statement about being immunized], because that's the only thing [critics] could hit me with," he admitted in the book "Out of the Darkness: The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers" (via ESPN).

It hasn't just been medical theories that Aaron Rodgers has faced controversy (and backlash) over. He's been equally criticized for various political and philosophical statements, particularly concerning fellow public figures. After he pontificated on "The Pat McAfee Show" that late show host Jimmy Kimmel was linked to convicted felon Jeffrey Epstein, Kimmel himself threatened legal action over the comments. While Rodgers did not apologize for his remarks, he did admit that he could understand where his original talking point was taken out of context.

This wasn't the first time that Rodgers expressed controversial theories. CNN reported that in 2013, the star publicly shared theories that the Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax. This prompted the outlet to release a bombshell exposé calling him out to millions. It even caused one of Rodgers' friends, fellow controversial figure Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to speak out against the quarterback – who he had even considered inviting as a running mate in the 2024 presidential election. Rodgers never publicly denied the claims made in the CNN article, but he did release a statement that contradicted what was reported. "I hope that we learn from this and other tragedies to identify the signs that will allow us to prevent unnecessary loss of life," he affirmed on X (via CNN).