“They go on a bull—- show and leave two empty chairs.” That’s what Aaron Rodgers said about his family’s infamous appearance on The Bachelorette. Where his mom and brothers sat around a dining table, leaving two obvious reminders of who wasn’t invited. Rodgers addressed the incident that turned a personal conflict into a public drama in his documentary Enigma. The empty chairs? Not symbolic, not accidental. Just a reminder that he was on the outside—and still is.

Generally, A-Rod, the self-declared husband in a secretive marriage, has always maintained a close-knit inner circle. But when it comes to his family? It’s not only an emotional separation. It’s public, complicated, and layered with more subplots than a Netflix docuseries. So, one can understand his silence on his niece’s birthday while the Rodgers celebrate.

Usually, it triggers a flood of ‘we love yous’, group hugs, and clapping emojis from most families. And it did here as well. But excluding Aaron. Aimee and Luke Rodgers recently shared a heartfelt birthday message for their daughter Evie Jane on social media, writing, “Happy 1st Birthday to the sweetest girl we’ve ever known. You are laid-back, funnier every day, and so incredibly easy to love. I always say, ‘Evie is just happy to be here,’ and it’s so true. We love that about you. In just one year, you’ve brought more joy to our family than we ever thought possible. We love you so much, Evie Jane.”

Luke dropped in with a proud-dad comment: “My baby girl 💗” Uncle Aaron could have at least nod in some way. An emoji of a balloon? A generic ‘❤️’? But nothing, as usual. Not a peep. As expected. After all, the brothers don’t even follow each other on the socials.

Documentaries, dating programs, podcasts, and tabloids have all examined Aaron’s conflict with his family. The quarterback in Enigma reveals a number of old wounds, some of which date back to his time in Chico, California, high school. Rodgers says religion was the first step on his path to separation. “I grew up in a very white, dogmatic church and that just really didn’t serve me. It was very rigid in structure; I’m not a rigid person.”

He even mentioned how he had to nurture and heal himself to grow past that separation feeling. “At times when you have some dysfunction or some separation in your family life, you have to kind of reparent yourself and give yourself what you didn’t get or wanted to hear more of when you were a kid, and I think for me, I just wanted to hear, ‘I’m proud of you.'”

The divide had already become ideological and emotional by the time he was winning MVPs. Not only did fame distance him from long-time acquaintances, but it also cracked open preexisting tensions within the Rodgers family. And it resulted in complete silence.

How far Aaron Rodgers’ relationship with his family has drifted

The Rodgers family rift reportedly began in 2014—a timeline Ed Rodgers confirmed in a 2017 New York Times interview, calling a Bleacher Report story on the estrangement “accurate.” According to that report, Aaron hadn’t spoken to his parents or brothers since that year. Public speculation often pointed to his then-girlfriend Olivia Munn as the wedge, but Aaron later refuted that in Ian Connor’s 2024 book Out of the Darkness: The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers, saying Munn “has nothing to do with all the years before.”

Still, family members quoted in the book, including his parents, saw her as a source of tension. Rodgers described the fallout as “deep-rooted” but declined to elaborate. “Fame can change things,” Ed Rodgers had said, adding that it was “hard to tell” if the relationship had thawed.

But Rodgers had no plans to shrink himself. By 2021, he was on national TV discussing vaccines. In 2023, it was darkness retreats and Achilles rehab. And by 2024, he was done being quiet. “I have questions about why they feel the need to talk about it,” he told Connor. “It’s like a game of poker. When you are holding all the cards, you don’t have to bluff… Look at the facts.”

So where do things stand now? In 2024, Rodgers said, “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. We’re just different steps on the timeline of our own journeys.” But in 2025, that timeline remains fractured. Reports say Rodgers married a woman named Brittani. But when public records in Pennsylvania and Vegas were checked? No license, no paperwork. Just a ring, some incense, and a Daily Mail story.

More telling? Jordan Rodgers and JoJo Fletcher reportedly don’t even know who Brittani is. In most families, a baby’s birthday brings everyone together. In Aaron Rodgers’ world, it’s just another reminder: the silence isn’t awkward. It’s intentional.