Celebrity3 min(s) read
Aaron Rodgers shares photos with parents after years of estrangement - why they fell out in the first place
Aaron Rodgers has shared pictures of his long-awaited reconciliation with members of his family after years of public estrangement.
On Monday (July 20), the NFL quarterback took to Instagram to share photos with the caption: "Another bonding week."
Among the snaps were smiling snapshots with his mother, Darla, father, Ed, and older brother Luke.
One photo showed Darla wrapping her arms around her son as they both smile for the camera, while another features the Pittsburgh Steelers star standing alongside his father.
A separate image captures Rodgers helping assemble a toy, seemingly for Luke's children.
One family member was noticeably absent
Although the reunion shocked many fans, one member of the Rodgers family was missing from the photos.
Rodgers' younger brother, Jordan, did not appear in any of the images. This has led to speculation that while some relationships have healed, others may still need time.
The quarterback and Jordan have been publicly estranged since at least 2016, when the now-37-year-old appeared on The Bachelorette and met his now-wife, JoJo Fletcher.
Rodgers has spoken openly about the fallout
Rodgers reflected on his family fallout during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show.
"If you look at the saga with my family, for years it was one-sided," he said. "They were making shots in the media saying bullshit. I never said anything until it got to the point where I'm like, 'All right, enough is enough.'"
He also addressed the estrangement in his 2024 Netflix documentary, Aaron Rodgers: Enigma, where he revealed that differences over religion contributed to the divide.
"I grew up in a very white, dogmatic church and that just didn't really serve me," he said. "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."
In the same Netflix documentary, Rodgers revealed that his relationship with his family had been complicated long before it became public.
"It wasn't like I was super duper close with everybody in the family," he said, per Yahoo. "But in actuality, it goes back to stuff from high school that kind of made me feel distant. Stuff in college, stuff post-college."
He also slammed how the rift was portrayed during Jordan's reality TV appearance.
"What do they do? They go on a bulls**t show and leave two empty chairs," Rodgers said. "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," he added.
.jpg_I4Ebof?tr=cr-0.338.2730.3068,f-webp,q-70,w-100)
.jpg_I4Ebof?tr=cr-0.338.2730.3068,f-webp,q-70,w-1024)
