After years of being estranged from each other, Rodgers and his family reconciled this week after the Steelers quarterback posted pictures with both of his parents and his brother Luke.
Rodgers stopped talking to his parents around 2014 due to conflicts over his fame and lifestyle choices. His parents disapproval of his girlfriend at the time, actress Olivia Munn.
Ian O’Connor, the author of “Out of the Darkness: The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers,” revealed on X that Rodgers and his family had been working towards reconciliation for a while.
Rodgers’ parents were in attendance for his induction into Pleasant Valley High School Hall of Fame in April.
“Rodgers invited parents Ed & Darla to his Pleasant Valley High School Hall of Fame induction in April & introduced them to the crowd to applause, thanked them for their support,” O’Connor wrote. “In my book, Rodgers spoke of embracing his father at the Lake Tahoe celebrity golf tournament in 2023 and expressing their love for each other and called it “a special moment,” first time they had contact in nearly 9 years. That opened the door. At the time Rodgers called a reconciliation “definitely possible” and a matter of timing. The timing was right last night for the Steelers quarterback to make it public with his photos on Instagram.
O’Connor also revealed that Rodgers’ junior college coach at Butte, Craig Rigsbee, played a big factor in the four-time NFL MVP reuniting with his family.
“Rodgers’ juco coach, Craig Rigsbee, was among the longtime friends who encouraged him to reunite with his family. Aaron praised Rigsbee at the PV induction ceremony for the impact he’s had on his life,” O’Connor wrote.
Rodgers had remained tight-lipped about the situation for years before addressing it in his 2024 Netflix documentary “Aaron Rodgers: Enigma.”
“I was quiet about it, because I thought the best way to do it was [to] not talk about it publicly,” Rodgers said of the estrangement. “And what do they do? They go on a bulls— show and leave two empty chairs? They all agreed this was a good thing to do?”
But Rodgers, who described the situation as “heartbreaking” never closed the door on repairing the relationship. When asked directly in the documentary if he hoped for a reconciliation, the quarterback replied, “Yeah, of course. Of course.”
As it pertains to his playing career, Rodgers returned to the Steelers on a one-year deal, reuniting with another person – his former coach in Green Bay – Mike McCarthy, who was hired as the Steelers coach after Mike Tomlin stepped down.
