Aaron Rodgers shared images with family members on Instagram as he prepares to report to Pittsburgh Steelers training camp for what the team described as his 22nd and final NFL season. The four-time MVP will reunite with former head coach Mike McCarthy when camp opens, and the social-media post suggested a separate reconciliation with his previously estranged parents and older brother.
Rodgers posted a five-image carousel that included his mother, Darla Rodgers; his father, Ed Rodgers; his brother, Luke Rodgers; and a girl who appeared to be his niece holding his hand. He captioned the photos, “Another bonding week. #fam.” Luke commented on the post with two red heart emojis.
Several of Rodgers’ former teammates reacted in the post’s comments. Allen Lazard wrote, “What it’s all about!” Randall Cobb left four red heart emojis and David Bakhtiari added a holding-back-tears emoji. The Instagram post was Rodgers’ first to include family members since he joined the platform in 2017.
The public aspect of the Rodgers family’s estrangement dates to 2016, when Rodgers’ younger brother Jordan appeared on ABC’s The Bachelorette. Jordan brought his eventual wife, Joelle Fletcher, to meet his family over dinner on the show. Aaron Rodgers was not present; two empty seats at the table signified his absence and that of his then-girlfriend, Olivia Munn. Jordan was not included in the recent Instagram photos.
Rodgers addressed the estrangement in the 2024 Netflix documentary “Aaron Rodgers: Enigma,” saying, “I was quiet about it, because I thought the best way to do it was [to] not talk about it publicly.” He criticized the television sequence in the documentary, asking, “And what do they do? They go on a bulls— show and leave two empty chairs? They all agreed this was a good thing to do?” Rodgers called the situation “heartbreaking” and said he had not closed the door on repair. When asked if he hoped for reconciliation, he replied, “Yeah, of course. Of course.”
