Aaron Rodgers saw much of his private life become public when his younger brother Jordan appeared on the latest season of “The Bachelorette” earlier this year. During the time the show aired, we learned that Aaron has a strained relationship with his brother and immediate family.
Apparently that is putting it lightly.
In his feature about Rodgers and his unique style of leadership, Tyler Dunne of Bleacher Report interviewed a source who was once close to Rodgers that claims the Green Bay Packers quarterback has not spoken to his family in two years. Things have supposedly gotten so bad that Rodgers’ father buys tickets on StubHub if he wants to attend a Packers game.
Here’s more:
One source, who was close to Rodgers for years but is among the many who have since been cut off by Rodgers entirely, said the quarterback has not spoken to his family since December 2014. Don’t feel too bad, J-Mike. Immediate family members don’t even have his cellphone number. When Mom and Dad sent Christmas presents to the quarterback and his girlfriend that year, the source said, those gifts were mailed back in February. He was set to be the groomsman in the wedding of one of his closest friends, the source said, and texted the day before he couldn’t attend.
He didn’t attend his grandfather’s funeral—the same grandfather he once called before every game.
He fired a business manager he’s known since high school.
The family was told they were no longer welcome in Green Bay. If Dad wants to attend a game now, he buys tickets on StubHub or goes through another player’s family.
For all we know that source has a serious axe to grind, but the person also claims — for what it’s worth — that he or she believes Rodgers’ family issues have directly resulted in his game slipping.
“There’s no explanation for him playing any worse,” Dunne’s source said. “People are trying to figure it out. He’s a f—ing head case. He knows he’s doing the wrong thing, and he’s so arrogant and prideful that he thinks he can separate his personal life from his professional life, even though all of us know that’s impossible. You can’t do that. You can do that in little spurts, like when Brett Favre went out and played amazingly when he loses his Dad. But when you’re talking about real situations that aren’t all of a sudden circumstantial and you f— over good people, people you’re supposed to love, it’s a s–tty thing to do and you’re going to get humbled.”
It sounds like the person who was interviewed has some serious issues with Rodgers, and there is likely another side to the story. Still, Dunne also spoke with former Packers tight end Jermichael Finley, and he was highly critical of Rodgers’ leadership style and arrogance.
“I didn’t really know how he showed his leadership. He wasn’t a vocal guy. He really wasn’t a hands-on guy,” Finley said. “To tell you the truth, it was all about his game and his stats in my opinion. … He was a guy that kept it all in. He kept grudges close to his chest. If you did something, he never really let it go. He always kept it close to his heart.
“If he’s joking with a guy and the guy comes back at him, he doesn’t take it too well. Because of what position he’s in, he thinks guys are supposed to bow down to him I guess.”
Other teammates, both current and former, said they have a tremendous relationship with Rodgers and find him to be a great leader.
One theory has been that Rodgers’ relationship with his family went south when he started dating a Hollywood actress, but, again, you never know who is planting this information and for what reason.
What we do know is that the Packers are in serious danger of missing the postseason, which is the main reason Rodgers is being questioned both as a player and person. The NFL is very much a “what have you done for me lately?” industry. In Rodgers’ case, the answer to that is “not a whole lot.”
