NFL superstar Aaron Rodgers and his brother, reality TV's Jordan Rodgers, have been competitive
since, well... always. Add in the usual family drama as well as some issues with romantic
partners, and you've got the makings of a sibling rivalry. Here's a timeline of the
brotherly feud.
Aaron Rodgers' path to professional football created a path for his younger brother to
try to follow. As Jordan Rodgers told The Florida Times-Union, neither of the brothers
were offered a chance with a Division I [one] college out of high school. They both started
out at junior colleges and transferred to other schools later. Aaron was drafted by
Green Bay in 2005, although he was the 24th pick. Jordan, however, wasn't drafted at all
- instead signing with the Jacksonville Jaguars via free agency. Speaking out after
being passed over in the draft he said -
"I've been overlooked and slighted every step of the way. I think that brings out the best
in me."
Jordan acknowledged that he was frequently compared to Aaron, which was understandable
considering they both were quarterbacks. But in college, Jordan was even taunted over the
connection at times by spectators. He tried to use it to his advantage and utilize his
brother as a resource, but it wasn't always easy, with Jordan admitting -
"No matter what I did, it was never good enough for a coach or for a teammate, because I was
being compared to someone who did it best."
In 2014, Aaron started dating The Newsroom star Olivia Munn. Although Jordan and his
big brother had been competitive over the years, there were signs that Aaron's romantic
relationship might have been a catalyst for the family estrangement. Soon after the relationship
between Aaron and his new gal started, the Rodgers family reportedly tried to warn him
about his new girlfriend, with an insider telling Us Weekly at the time -
"His family told him they didn't trust her and thought she wasn't with him for the right
reasons. That made him furious, and he ended up choosing Olivia over his family."
"Not knowing that he's like you know.. Super Bowl MVP or any of those things -"
"Yes."
"All I saw was that he was like really attractive - I didn't really care what he did."
Aaron was reportedly upset that his girlfriend was blamed for the family estrangement, however,
the NFL star has repeatedly stated that he does not like airing out his personal business
in the press. On top of that, an insider told People that this really had nothing to do
with her. Rather, it was entirely an issue within the Rodgers family. Despite Aaron's
discomfort with discussing family matters in the press, both Munn and Jordan eventually
commented on the complicated dynamic.
What had apparently always been a competitive dynamic between Aaron and his younger brother
seemed to take a difficult turn in late 2014, People detailed. Jordan and his brother apparently
had a massive argument over something that got rather ugly.
According to a source for Bleacher Report, Aaron stopped speaking to the rest of his
family in December 2014. He reportedly skipped the funeral of his grandfather around that
time, and this had been a family member he'd previously called prior to every football
game. Aaron supposedly returned Christmas gifts to his parents, and he apparently even
bailed on the wedding of a close friend even though he was slated to be a groomsman and
dropped out via text the day before the nuptials.
As the family estrangement escalated, Aaron's family was left on their own to get tickets
to any Green Bay Packer games. Not only that, but apparently nobody in the Rodgers family
even had the quarterback's cell phone number.
In 2016, Jordan Rodgers joined JoJo Fletcher's season of The Bachelorette. His participation
generated a lot of headlines, thanks to the fame of his star quarterback brother. During
the course of the season, and especially heading into a hometown date with the family, Jordan
opened up on-camera about the conflict with his famous older brother.
Before the hometown date, Jordan told JoJo that Aaron wouldn't be there, but his name
was brought up multiple times, leaving fans of The Bachelorette wondering just what caused
such a blatant, significant, estrangement.
What did seem to become fairly clear, at the time, was that Aaron's fame caused challenges
in the family dynamic. The family hesitated to say much in the way of specifics on-camera,
and Jordan even went out of his way to say that he loves Aaron even though he did not
choose to stay close with the family. But it was obvious that this was a sensitive,
painful subject.
Aaron wasn't particularly pleased by the attention his brother's involvement with The Bachelorette
generated for him. When Jordan made it to the final two of JoJo Fletcher's season, Aaron
was asked about it and said he hadn't seen the season at all.
The family estrangement had already been in place for some time, but Jordan's prominent
involvement in The Bachelorette made it a hard topic to dodge, as Aaron told WISN -
"As far as those kinds of things go, I've always found that it's a little inappropriate
to talk publicly about some family matters, so I'm just — I'm not going to speak on
those things, but I wish him well in the competition."
Ultimately, Jordan received JoJo Fletcher's final rose and got engaged to The Bachelorette
star. During the flurry of updates after the finale aired, he was asked if he'd invite
his estranged brother Aaron to the nuptials, and Jordan shared -
"There's no scenario in which I wouldn't want my entire family at a wedding so absolutely,
that's something all of our family wants and hopes for at some point."
By the time The Bachelorette finale aired, JoJo and Jordan had already been secretly
engaged for a couple of months. As the couple shared updates during a live section of the
finale, JoJo was asked if she'd had a chance to meet Aaron yet. As People detailed, at
that point, she still had not met her famous future brother-in-law. She detailed that the
family situation remained unchanged, and that it wasn't a priority for them as a couple
at that point.
A few months after Jordan's engagement aired on The Bachelorette, his father shared some
thoughts publicly. Ed Rodgers acknowledged the ongoing family tensions during a chat
with The New York Times. He didn't get very specific, but he did mention that -
"Fame can change things."
That statement seemed to be a reference to Aaron Rodgers' life as a popular, professional
football player.
Ed confirmed the accuracy of some prior reports regarding the family's issues, and he admitted
that it had often been difficult to determine if there had been any softening between Aaron
and the rest of the Rodgers family, including his older brother Luke.
"It's always hard. It's hard-it's hard not having a - you know, not talking to your brother.
Yeah. It's not fun. Yeah. It sucks.”
While Ed said that publicly talking about the drama wasn't the path he would have preferred,
he admitted -
"It's good to have it all come out."
Specifically, he explained that having their family issues broadcast via The Bachelorette
left fewer people asking him about Aaron's games. He admitted that it wasn't an ideal
situation, but that the family hoped for the best.
Aaron Rodgers and Olivia Munn split in April 2017. In a chat on Radio Andy in May 2018,
Munn finally addressed Aaron's issues with his family, claiming he had been estranged
from them for months before the couple dated. The Newsroom star detailed that she had met
Jordan and the two had been, quote, "friendly." She met Aaron's parents as well, and said
she'd "encouraged" her beau to reach out to his family, which he did, resulting in his
parents attending some games in Green Bay during that thaw in the relationship. However,
it didn't take long for the issues to resurface, and Munn seemed to agree that Aaron had reason
to pull away, saying -
"At the end of the day, I do believe that family and fame and success can be really
complicated if their dreams are connected to your success. I don't think either side
of the road is clean, but I do think it's not OK when you try to stand on someone's
shoulders and then throw dirt in their face, which is what I think they did with him."
Unsurprisingly, Munn's remarks did not go over well — with Jordan, at least. Speaking
with Us Weekly, he kept his reply blunt, stating -
"I'll say I have no idea why she's still talking about an ex, I don't get that."
Aaron Rodgers' home state of California was hit with devastating wildfires in 2018, and
the situation seemed to re-ignite some of the family tensions. Aaron shared a video
via his Twitter page and encouraged his fans to help fundraising efforts to assist those
impacted. The Green Bay Packers quarterback opened up about the devastating impact the
fires had on the area where he'd grown up, and he explained he was donating $1 million
himself.
In a since-deleted tweet, Aaron's younger brother Jordan lashed out. As Fox News detailed,
Jordan encouraged people to spread love and awareness in response to the California fires.
He didn't mention or tag Aaron, but the rest of his post made it clear he was referencing
his older brother, tweeting -
"But when your Mom is home alone during the fires, car packed ready to evacuate, & you
miss the fundamental first step of compassion; calling your parents to make sure they are
safe.... Everything else just feels like an act."
On top of that, Jordan and Aaron's older brother, Luke, retweeted that post and added a dig
of his own, tweeting -
"Smells like cowardice this morning."
As E! detailed, Aaron Rodgers' romance with former race car driver Danica Patrick seemed
to help him reconnect with his family. By late 2019, Aaron was speaking to Jordan and
the rest of his family again, although the process of reconnecting was a slow one, with
an insider telling the outlet -
"It's really all happening with the help of Danica, who is bridging the gap between everyone."
The insider suggested that she was quite intent on seeing the family bond again and she was
willing to put in a lot of work to ensure that it happened. She was also said to have
a very positive influence, with the source explaining -
"He is in an entirely different place these days, and his family has been open to this
reconciliation. They were at one time [a] very close family, so it's a sore subject
for them, but they are all working on it."
The rebuilding process for the Rodgers family was slow and difficult, but it seemed clear
that significant progress was being made.
Comments that Aaron Rodgers made during an appearance on Danica Patrick's Pretty Intense
podcast in December 2019 seemed to fan the flames of the family tensions again. Aaron
talked about growing up in a home where religion was a prominent component of his upbringing.
He told Patrick that as a child, going to church was simply expected of him, but he
struggled to embrace what he saw as the tenets of Christianity.
"Ultimately, it was that rules and regulations and binary systems um… don't really resonate
with me."
Whatever progress had been made in reconciling within the Rodgers family seemed to cool again
after the podcast aired. As People detailed, the comments Aaron made regarding religion
significantly impacted his parents. They were reportedly deeply hurt despite their love
for Aaron, as an insider explained -
"To them, his comments are basically a slap in the face to the fundamentals of who they
are. It's basically him turning his back on everything they have taught him."
Aaron Rodgers embraced a new, whirlwind romance in early 2021, but his ongoing family estrangement
reportedly hovered as a black cloud over his happiness. Aaron and Shailene Woodley got
engaged in February soon after being connected to one another, and they apparently wasted
no time in working on the guest list for their wedding, with an insider telling Us Weekly
-
"Aaron is still thinking about which family members to invite. It's something that's weighing
heavily on him."
Early indications were that Aaron and Shailene planned to get married in California. Given
that Aaron's parents still lived there, it almost certainly would end up quite awkward
if they weren't invited. Ahead of the formal invitations being sent, it sounded as if Aaron
felt it would be wrong of him to exclude his immediate family.
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