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One of the most talented and polarizing NFL quarterbacks of his generation, Aaron Rodgers, is the subject ofNetflix’snew three-part docuseriesAaron Rodgers: Enigma. The three-hour documentary traces Rodgers' time healing from a torn Achilles tendon in 2023, allowing him to reflect on his 20-year pro career as a Superbowl-winning and 4-time MVP Quarterback.
Now in the throes of a major fall from grace, turning in his worst NFL seasons as a new member of The New York Jets, Enigma focuses on Rodgers' life away from the gridiron. Between the therapeutic ayahuasca retreats, hiscontroversial COVID-19 vaccination stance, and the prickly relationship with his blood relatives, here are the biggest revelations inAaron Rodgers: Enigma.
Aaron Rodgers: Enigma
Rodgers Expected to Be Drafted By His Hometown Team
A highly rated NFL prospect out of the University of California Berkeley expected to be drafted high,Rodgers wanted and expected to be drafted by his hometown San Francisco 49ers, a team he grew up rooting for. When the 49ers drafted Alex Smith out of the University of Utah instead, Rodgers' dreams of playing for his favorite team were dashed.He slid to pick #24 and was selected by the Green Bay Packers. In 2005, the Packers already had future hall-of-fame quarterback Brett Favre at the helm, forcing Rodgers to sit on the benchfor three years until he was eventually named the starter in 2008.
Rodgers addressed being snubbed in the draft, admitting that he was:
“I was embarrassed, I was pissed, I was going through a kind of ego death. The draft process can make you start really feeling yourself, thinking your sh*t doesn’t stink. I really needed that reality check that happened during that process, so I’m definitely thankful for that.”
The 2024 Netflix docuseriesbriefly explores Favre and Rodgers' tumultuous relationship, with the former stating that his job did not include taking the latter under his wing and mentoring him. In 2020, the Packers drafted Cal Berkeley Quarterback Jordan Love as Rodgers' potential replacement.
Rather than learning from the Favre situation 15 years before, Rodgers showed no interest in mentoring Jordan Love and did all he could to remain the Packers starter. The Packers ultimately moved on from Rodgers and gave Love the starting position following the 2022 season, when Rodgers failed to beat the Detroit Lions at home for a playoff berth.
Rodgers Does Not Get Along With His Family
The most significant revelations inAaron Rodgers: Enigmatake place off the field. For example,Rodgers doesn’t get along with his family and remainsestranged from his parentsand two brothers. Rogers asserts that after he became the face of the NFL, his family resented his fame, and he grew more distant from them, stating:
“There were a lot of times, when I became real famous, where I heard from a lot of people, including family members, who were like, ‘Your life is too big, we need you to be smaller, be smaller, don’t talk about your life."
One fascinating tidbit concerns Rodgers' upbringing. His family attended “A white dogmatic church” and sent him to a Christian youth camp. While stopping short of citing this as the source of his family rift,Rodgers' early brushes with organized religion helped to change his mind about spirituality later in life.
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Much is made about Aaron’s brother, Jordan Rodgers, and his time on the hit dating showThe Bachelorette. According to Rodgers,the show’s depiction of his relationship with his family was overblown and exaggerated when he was visibly absent from a family dinner during one episode, stating:
“They go on a bullsh*t show, and leave two empty chairs. They all agree this is a good thing to do, to leave two empty chairs on a stupid dating show that my brother just went on to get famous, his words, not mine. A dinner that was during the season, that I was never asked to go to – not that I would have gone.”
Rodgers' COVID-19 Controversy, Health Routine, & Political Aspirations
Away from the gridiron, the most substantial news inAaron Rodgers: Enigmapertains to his polarizing views on health. During the 2021 season, Rodgers famously lied to the media. When asked if he had been vaccinated, he stated “Yeah, I’ve been immunized.“Rodgers was not vaccinated but claimed his alternative medicines were good enough. Speaking about the media fallout over the COVID-19 misstatement, Rodgers states:
“There was this whole smear campaign, that I was endangering my teammates and I was going to kill their grandmas because how could I be in a room and nobody know I wasn’t (vaccinated). “Everybody in my f**king circle knew I wasn’t vaccinated, everyone in my team knew I wasn’t vaccinated.”
While Rodgers regrets how the media treated his stance, the documentary continues to depict his unique views on recovery. A whole section is dedicated to Rodgers' ayahuasca therapy in Costa Rica, which Rodgers claims he has undergone nine times thus far.
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The spiritual, hallucinogenic plant-based therapy squares with the alternative medicines Rodgers sought to treat COVID-19, which he shares with the newly minted U.S. Department of Health and Human Services supervisor, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (who shares a hike with Rodgers inthe Netflix sports documentary). As such,during the 2024 U.S. Presidential campaign, RFK Jr. considered naming Rodgers his Vice Presidential running mate. While Rodgers did not commit and expressed minor interest in accepting the nomination, Rodgers and RFK Jr. share alternative views on medicine that go against the mainstream.
The biggest takeaway that he wants viewers to understand is that he is a free thinker and a searcher unafraid to go against conventional wisdom. Despite widespread media blowback, he continues to march to the beat of his own drum.Aaron Rodgers: Enigmais available to stream on Netflix.
