As storied as Green Bay Packers’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ career in the NFL has been, much hubbub has been following him throughout his NFL career about his off-field activities, specifically those involving his family. While the relationship that Aaron has with his brothers Luke and Jordan Rodgers is seemingly brought up every time there is a major holiday, not much is mentioned about the two people that raised the three boys.
Darla and Edward Rodgers have a bit of an athletic background to themselves also, which lends itself to the fact that all three Rodgers offspring have some sort of a job in the world of sports — although both Aaron and Jordan are the two who played some sort of organized football up at least through the college ranks.
The story about Aaron and his family life never truly came to light until he was firmly in the spotlight of the NFL as a superstar. Which seems only right based on the importance that the media and people behind the scenes decide to place on certain elements of the lives of celebrities.
Nonetheless, both of Rodgers’ parents have a bit of a strained relationship with their most successful son, which is a perfect possibility as to why the whole debacle started. Rumors have circulated over the years that have placed former girlfriend Olivia Munn as a culprit of pushing the two sides apart. But even after the two had split up, there was no amicable saving of the relationship between Aaron and his family.
To understand a little bit about the backgrounds of both of Aaron’s parents, let’s take a bit of a deeper dive into their lives and see what elements fill up their backstories.
Darla Rodgers
California State University (Chico) is the home of where both Darla and Ed attended college, and where they both ended up meeting each other, which is a bit of a fairy tale-esque story.
At Chico, Darla was a member of the university’s dance team, something that she told Milwaukee’s Fox station, Fox 6, contributed to the sweet footwork that Aaron displays on any given Thursday, Sunday, or Monday.
“I think that my guys [Aaron, Jordan, and Luke] did get some of my dancer qualities,” Darla said. “You have to know where you are in time and space when you’re dancing, and they definitely are running for their lives. They know where they are in time and space to be elusive, and I think that I kinda gave them some of that.”
Now, whether that is a trait that can be determined or not to have been passed down is another story, but the fact remains that the athletic background of his mother is an element that probably led to Aaron seeing what it might take to make it big time.
Having made the transition from Butte College to the University of California Berkeley, Aaron made a name for himself both at small and large levels in the world of college football with both of his parents by his side. Even when he was finally drafted by the Packers after sliding almost all of the way through the first round, Darla was there by Aaron’s side, sitting with him throughout the entire grueling process and finally being able to congratulate him once the selection was read aloud on the mic.
Ed Rodgers
Aaron’s father, Ed, helped foster that desire and that fire that you see in Rodgers on the field every week. From sitting through San Francisco 49er games and watching them on tv, to showing his prowess throwing the football at an early age with an accuracy not commonly seen by a five-year-old.
Having played football at Chico, Ed made his way into the Canadian Football League, although a few tryouts ended up being the farthest he got in achieving a dream. He did end up suiting up for a California semi-pro team (which won back-to-back championships), but that was it for the former offensive lineman.
Ed ended up taking on the role of mentor and ball boy for Aaron early on, as he showed an early interest in the game of football. Through youth football, Aaron was able to showcase his skills, which were much more developed at an early age than most kids too, leading Ed to think that Aaron had what it took to be something special in the long run.
Ed helped keep the family planted in the state of California (except for a period of time while he attended chiropractic school in Oregon, which coincided with Aaron passing through middle school), giving Aaron and his two brothers a sense of normalcy and familiarity as they went through school.
In general, the details about the parental units for Aaron are not super developed, and unfortunately, there are more details about how the family is at odds with one other instead of focusing on the positive elements that are showcased so well on draft day and training camp photography.
While the amount of support — at least early on — was very evident between both sides of the Rodgers family, it seems as though the current family structure holds an ‘Aaron versus everyone else’ look to it. With dirty laundry having been aired out during Jordan’s Bachelorette run a few years back, the family was fully thrown into the limelight — albeit for reasons that would have been best kept secret.
Regardless of how the situation is looked at, the relationship that Aaron has with his parents Darla and Ed is strained, and that is the best way to put it. With the fact that his parents must purchase tickets themselves if they ever want to attend a game either at Lambeau Field or with the Packers on the road, that is a perfect way to capture how not close these two sides of the family are. Potentially being stuck in the middle of siblings feuding with each other, both Darla and Ed have the kind of relationship with Aaron that a parent never wants – a strained one.
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