Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers made waves online when he shared Instagram photos with his family Monday, but their reunion didn’t come out of the blue.
Rodgers, who was private about his near-decade estrangement with his family, said he had a “bonding week” with his mother Darla, father Ed, brother Luke, niece Evie and nephew Jack, ahead of his 22nd and final NFL season.
The four-time NFL MVP and his family worked towards a reconciliation for a while, according to The Athletic’s Ian O’Connor, who wrote the book, “Out of the Darkness: The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers,” that was released in August 2024.
Aaron invited his parents to his Pleasant Valley High School Hall of Fame induction in April, where he introduced them to the crowd’s applause and thanked them for their support.
Before that, Aaron had contact with Ed for the first time in nearly nine years while at the Lake Tahoe celebrity golf tournament in 2023.
Rodgers explained in O’Connor’s book that the pair expressed their love for each other at the event and called it “a special moment.”
At the time, Aaron said that a reconciliation was “definitely possible” and a matter of timing.
Aaron’s junior college coach, Craig Rigsbee, was among the longtime friends who encouraged him to reconcile with his family, O’Connor said Tuesday.
Rodgers’ younger brother, Jordan, who is a college football analyst for ESPN, and his wife, influencer and former “Bachelorette” star, JoJo Fletcher, were not pictured during the family’s “bonding week.”
Jordan and JoJo welcomed their daughter, Romy Blair Rodgers, in December.
Aaron tagged Luke’s wife, Aimee, in his post.
Aaron’s wife, Brittani, whom he married in the spring of 2025, was not pictured.
In his 2024 Netflix docuseries, “Aaron Rodgers: Enigma,” Aaron explained that he was open to a reconciliation with his family.
“People ask me, ‘Is there hope for reconciliation?’ I say, ‘Yeah of course. Of course,’” he said during the three-part series. “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.”
Aaron, who played for the Jets at the time, opened up about his strained relationship with his family.
“It wasn’t like I was super duper close with everybody in the family. I was close with my little brother,” he said of Jordan on episode two of the series.
“But in actuality, it goes back to stuff from high school that kind of made me feel distant. Stuff in college, stuff post-college.”
Jordan — a former quarterback at Vanderbilt, who had a short stint in the NFL before moving on to sports broadcasting — was not invited to Aaron and Brittani’s wedding, The Daily Mail reported last summer.
Aaron did not attend Jordan and JoJo’s 2022 wedding, despite being invited.
Jordan won JoJo’s season of “The Bachelorette” in 2016, and his family was featured on the ABC reality show during Fletcher’s hometown dates.
At the time, Aaron made headlines because he was noticeably absent from a family gathering that included Ed, Darla and Luke.
Aaron later addressed the moment — where ABC showed two empty chairs for Aaron and his then-girlfriend, actress Olivia Munn — and called “The Bachelorette” a “bulls–t show.”
