Aaron Rodgers’ Netflix Show: What Family Drama Revealed

Between ayahuasca and rehab for his Achilles injury, Aaron Rodgers spilled some major insight into his family drama in his new Netflix docuseries, Aaron Rodgers: Enigma.

All three episodes of the show, which was released on the streaming service on Tuesday, December 17, explore Rodgers’ attempts to return in the 2023 NFL season after he suffered a torn Achilles during his first game as quarterback of the New York Jets . Meanwhile, it also gives background on Rodgers’ childhood, college days and time spent with the Green Bay Packers.

One of the themes throughout the series is Rogers’ rebellion against his Christian upbringing – and how it upsets his parents, Ed and Darlaand put distance between himself and the brothers Luke Rogers and Jordan Rogers.

“I grew up in a very white, dogmatic church and it just didn’t work for me,” Aaron told the Netflix cameras. “It was a very rigid 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. For example, someone must be wrong (and) someone must be right. I just slowly grew out of it in high school.

According to Aaron, his rise to fame also played a big part in the family drama — and Jordan’s stay on The Bachelor it sure didn’t help.

Continue reading for the biggest takeaways about the Rogers family in Enigma:

Aaron’s parents thought he was too ‘soft’

“I was very lucky when I was a kid, my parents believed I had a very low pain tolerance,” Aaron explained. “I felt like there were a lot of times where my parents felt like they were a little soft and because of that I made sure I was the toughest mom I knew. Whenever I had any kind of injury, I would make sure that I could do as well as I could. I could bounce back faster than anyone said I would. So dealing with pain has always been a way of life.

During his physical therapy for his Achilles injury in 2023. Rogers noted that he was starting to feel “good,” but not good enough. “My own childhood conditioning is showing,” he told his therapist with a laugh.

He later added that he was “grateful” that his parents thought he was “soft growing up.”

Ed Rogers didn’t cry

During one of his ayahuasca trips documented on the show, Rogers said he only saw his father is crying once when he was growing up.

“I think I saw my father cry when my grandfather died. And maybe that was it. There was no room for emotion. So I certainly had a bit of an emotional intelligence lag to convey those emotions,” he said. “People who haven’t been around me a lot have this idea of ​​who I am or whatnot, and in those situations you start to peel back some of those layers of who they think you are and you start to dig deeper and to get emotional. And I think that’s what it means to be a well-balanced man, is to be able to tap into that divine feminine and be vulnerable.”

The fame effect

“There were a lot of times when I was getting really famous where I heard from a lot of people — including family members — that it was like, ‘Your life is too big. You must be smaller. Be smaller. Don’t talk about your life,” Rodgers said. “It’s always hurt me because I just feel like you don’t see me. It’s not something I’ve ever wanted or wanted other than playing on Sunday. It can definitely make a difference the people around you because it can be intoxicating, the fame and the notoriety. So definitely relationships change after that – friendships, family.

Dig The Mermaid.

Jordan was a contestant on Jojo Fletcherthe season of The Bachelor in 2016 When it came time for the hometown visits, Aaron was noticeably absent, with producers leaving empty chairs for Aaron and his then-girlfriend Olivia Munn at the dinner table.

“It wasn’t like I was super close with everyone in the family. I was close with my little brother (Jordan),” Aaron said as childhood photos of him and Jordan flashed on the screen. “But really, it goes back to things from high school that kind of made me drift away. College stuff, post-college stuff. I kept quiet about it. I thought the best way to do it was to just not talk about it publicly. And what do they do? They go to the bull show and leave two empty chairs. Everyone agreed it was a good thing to do, to leave two empty chairs on a stupid dating show my brother had just become famous for—his words, not mine. That in the end he won. But to a dinner that was in season I was never invited to go. Not that I would go.

The role of religion

In college at the University of California, Berkeley, Rogers stopped going to church and loved being in a city that “challenged” his beliefs and what he learned growing up. Shortly after reaching Green Bay, he began to follow the author’s teachings Rob Bell in 2011

“He was a great help to me in fully unraveling the religion of my youth. I started looking into other religions and spirituality. I started reading many different kinds of books, philosophy books, self-help books. And then I found the courage to express my feelings better. And so I started challenging the institutions of my youth — and it was everything — from organized religion, my parents, dogma, ideology — that definitely changed the dynamic of my family. Because I was just questioning all of this.

Aaron said he “found a lot of resistance” from family when he began “looking into other religions and plant medicine” and his “alternative lifestyle.”

“They live as best they can, it’s still absorbed by organized religion that works for them. This is great,” he said. “So as much as they don’t like what they see, love and respect and gratitude for the way I was raised because it wouldn’t have made me who I am today.”

The vaccine

Aaron revealed that he “never got the flu shots growing up” because his dad “just didn’t believe in it.” This played a role in Aaron’s vaccine skepticism and his infamous 500-page document sent to the NFL during the COVID-19 crisis when he didn’t want to to be vaccinated.

Chances of reconciliation

Aaron left the door open for his family to gather. “People ask me, ‘Is there hope for reconciliation?’ I say, ‘Yes, of course. Of course. I don’t want them to fail, to struggle, to have any strife or problems,” he said. “I don’t wish them any harm at all. Rather, we are simply different steps in the timeline of our own journeys.”