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Eight years after JoJo Fletcher’s season of The Bachelorette, Aaron Rodgers is finally addressing how brother Jordan Rodgers portrayed their falling-out on the show — and the NFL quarterback isn’t happy.
“It wasn’t like I was super duper close with everybody in the family. I was close with my little brother,” Aaron, 41, began of Jordan, 36, on episode two of Aaron Rodgers: Enigma, which started streaming on Tuesday, December 17. “But in actuality, it goes back to stuff from high school that kind of made me feel distant. Stuff in college, stuff post-college.”
Both Aaron and Jordan played football growing up and in college, with Aaron getting drafted in the first round by the Green Bay Packers in 2005. While Jordan had a successful career as quarterback at Vanderbilt, he was released by three NFL teams before pursuing other opportunities.
Aaron told Netflix cameras that he “was quiet about” their family issues, explaining, “I thought the best way to do it was just don’t talk about it publicly.”
His plan worked until 2016 when Jordan signed up for ABC dating series and made it to hometowns. Aaron was noticeably missing from the family dinner, which included their parents, Ed and Darla, and oldest sibling Luke Rodgers.
“And what do they do? They go on a bulls— show and leave two empty chairs,” Aaron continued.
Fans may recall a slight emphasis from Bachelorette editors that two seats from the table implied to represent Aaron and then-girlfriend Olivia Munn.
“They all agreed this was a good thing to do, to leave two empty chairs at a stupid dating show that my brother just went on to get famous — his words, not mine. That he ended up winning,” Aaron said with a smirk. “But a dinner that was during the season, I was never asked to go to. Not that I would’ve gone.”
On the show, Jordan addressed Aaron’s absence by telling JoJo: “At every step of my life, I was kind of disappointed. No matter what I did, it was never good enough because I was being compared to someone who did it the best. Football didn’t define me and not having a great relationship with my brother Aaron didn’t define me.” He noted at the time that the siblings hadn’t spoken in two years because of “the way he’s chosen to do life.”
Aaron was asked about Jordan’s gig by the media when the series was airing. “I haven’t seen the show, to be honest with you, so it hasn’t really affected me a whole lot,” he said in summer 2016. “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.”
The four-time NFL MVP ended with a dig that went viral in Bachelor Nation, saying, “But I wish him well in the competition.”
While Aaron and Jordan’s relationship continues to be strained, Jordan went on to marry JoJo in 2022.
“People ask me, ‘Is there hope for reconciliation?’ I say, ‘Yeah of course. Of course,’” Aaron said on the Netflix show. “I don’t want them to fail, to struggle, to have any strife or issues. I don’t wish any ill will on them at all. It’s more like this — we’re just different steps on a timeline of our own journeys.”
All three episodes of Aaron Rodgers: Enigma are currently streaming on Netflix.
