Originally appeared on E! Online
Aaron Rodgers is getting honest about his family life.
The New York Jets quarterback has allegedly been estranged from his parents and siblings since 2014, but in his new book “Out of the Darkness: The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers,” the player detailed how a meeting with his father Ed Rodgers could be the family’s first step towards reconciliation.
The moment occurred before Rodgers was due to report to Jets training camp last year, as he competed in the American Century Championship golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, Calif. According to an excerpt from the book shared by the New York Post, Ed secured a ticket to the tournament in hopes of seeing his son.
Rodgers spotted his father on his way to the bathroom, and while he considered avoiding him, he ultimately decided facing his dad would be the best decision for both of them.
“I could do a lot of things,” Rodgers said in the book. “But I just thought, ‘What’s best in this moment, and what kind of gift could I give him?’ Because I do love him. I don’t have animosity toward him, even with all the stuff that’s been said and done.”
And Ed Rodgers was taken aback by his son, explaining, “It had been so long since we even looked at each other. I just kind of froze.”
According to the account in the book — which is written by Ian O’Connor — Rodgers approached his father, saying, “Hi Pops,” as the two embraced.
Father and son exchanged “I love yous,” which Ed Rodgers noted “was amazing.”
And Rodgers was thankful for the moment, telling his friend and caddie Jordan Russell after the encounter, “I think that was what needed to happen.”
He later told Ian, “That was a special moment,” adding that he believes a road to reconciliation with his family would be through his father.
“It’s just timing, just timing,” Rodgers explained. “Every time I think it’s getting closer some weird things happen. But I would like a relationship with my dad for sure.”
While Rodgers hasn’t confirmed publicly exactly what lead to their estrangement, his brother Luke Rodgers shared in 2016 that the family did not have a relationship with the athlete.
“It pains both of us not to have that relationship,” he said on a season 12 episode of “The Bachelorette,” which his sibling Jordan Rodgers was a contestant. “We miss our brother. We just are trusting that God brings things full circle. And just wish that everything would just get back to us being a family.”
Ed Rodgers also confirmed in a 2017 New York Times interview that he and his wife Darla Rodgers had not spoken to Rodgers since 2014.
For his part, Rodgers has previously expressed that he hopes for a reconciliation, most recently talking about the family dynamics in 2022.
“Many people have issues with family and deal with them in their own ways,” he said on an August 2022 episode of the “Aubrey Marcus Podcast.” “For me, I’ve always tried to deal with it quietly behind closed doors. That hasn’t always been the case or hasn’t been good enough for a lot of people who want to write about it, or pick it apart, or talk about it, or even some things that my family has said or done over the years that’s been public.”
And ultimately, he remains hopeful about a future with his family.
“I do believe in healing and I believe in the possibility of reconciliation at some point, but it’s a different journey for all of us,” he continued. “And to judge on the outside about what should be, or what it should look like, or who’s wrong and who’s right, it’s just a game I’ve never wanted to play and still don’t want to play.”
