For more than a decade, Aaron Rodgers has been estranged from his family. He seemingly went no-contact with his parents and his brothers around 2014. At first, people (including his family) blamed Aaron’s girlfriends for driving a wedge between Aaron and his family. But over time, it became abundantly clear that this was bigger than “the Rodgers family doesn’t like Aaron’s girlfriend.” Well, now that Aaron is married to Brittani, a woman no one has ever seen and who might not actually exist, it looks like Aaron has finally decided to reconcile with his family. Or his parents and one brother, at the very least.
After bonding with teammates earlier this month, Aaron Rodgers has bonded with his family. The Steelers quarterback was famously estranged from his parents, Ed and Darla, and his brothers, Luke and Jordan, for at least a decade. But on Monday night, Rodgers shared three photos — one with his mom, one with his dad and one with Luke — on Instagram.
He wrote: “Another bonding week #fam.”
Jordan was notably absent from the photos.
In March, Aaron Rodgers talked about his rift with his family on The Pat McAfee Show.
“If you look at the saga with my family, for years it was one-sided,” Rodgers said. “They were making shots in the media saying bulls–t. I never said anything until it got to the point where I’m like, ‘All right, enough is enough.’”
His estrangement from his family became public during Jordan Rodgers’ appearance on The Bachelorette in 2016, and Aaron Rodgers discussed it during the 2024 Netflix docuseries, Aaron Rodgers: Enigma. He pointed to his parents’ strict religious beliefs as a reason for the falling-out.
“I grew up in a very white, dogmatic church and that just didn’t really serve me,” Aaron 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.”
If I’m being honest, Aaron’s family estrangement made the most sense out of all of the weirdness around him. Once the estrangement became public, his parents and brothers gave interviews and made gross public comments about Aaron and his life. You could see why he wanted distance. Why now, though? What changed? And why are there zero photos of Aaron’s mystery wife Brittani with his parents? Did he not include Brittani and Brittani’s sister Mia at the family reunion? Wouldn’t this be the first time Brittani met his parents? Considering how often Aaron talks about this never-seen wife, you would think that his parents would be curious about her. (I actually wonder if he’s soft-launching the disappearance of Brittani, like he’s six months away from telling people that they quietly split and there’s no drama about it.)
Photos courtesy of Aaron Rodgers’ Instagram and Avalon Red.
