"I just kind of froze": Aaron Rodgers recalls unexpected meeting with estranged father after 9 years
Aaron Rodgers isn’t on good terms with his parents and siblings. In fact, the Jets quarterback hasn’t seen or met them in over nine years. While nine years of distance is what most fans think there’s between Rodgers and his family, that isn’t indeed the case.
Rodgers broke the nine-year-long period of distance with family, as he met his father during the American Century Championship golf tournament in 2023 at Lake Tahoe. The information came to light via the quarterback’s latest biography called Out of the Darkness: The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers, by Ian O’Connor.
In the book, which is expected to come out on August 20, O’Connor discusses with Aaron Rodgers’ father, Ed, how he met his son after nearly a decade. Ed, who’s a former college football athlete and Aaron’s coach, secured tickets to the Lake Tahoe event through a patient.
Ed went to the event expecting to meet his son, whom he hadn’t spoken to or seen since the Packers’ 2014 season. Interestingly, Ed’s expectation came true when the Jets star spotted him in the crowd while making his way to the bathroom.
The four-time MVP told O’Connor that after spotting his father in the crowd, he was confused over what to do next. He thought of acting as if he was talking on his phone to avoid his father. But the MVP did otherwise. Sharing the moment with O’Connor, Rodgers said:
“I could do a lot of things. But I just thought, ‘What’s best in this moment, and what kind of gift could I give him?’ Because I do love him. I don’t have animosity toward him, even with all the stuff that’s been said and done.”
After temporarily losing sight of the quarterback, Ed told O’Connor in the book that he found Rodgers looking at him from a distance of less than 20 feet. Recalling that moment, Ed Rodgers said:
“It had been so long since we even looked at each other. I just kind of froze.”
According to O’Connor, the Jets quarterback broke the silence between him and his father with a “Hi Pops.”
The two had an emotional moment and exchanged words of affirmation. When Aaron said, “I love you,” Ed replied, “I love you too.”
“It was amazing,” Ed summed up his experience in the book.
Aaron Rodgers' parents blame ex-girlfriend Olivia Munn for 9-year-long separation
In Aaron Rodgers’ biography, author Ian O’Connor reveals that the quarterback’s parents, Ed and Darla, blame his ex-girlfriend Olivia Munn for their family feud.
Ed and Darla expressed that their family discord started in 2014 when Rodgers began dating the actress.
“Given her devout religious views, Aaron’s mother disapproved of premarital sex and was opposed to her middle child sharing a hotel room with his girlfriend, even as an NFL player. Darla did not appreciate how Munn joked about oral sex in an interview or how she publicly talked about her sex life with Aaron just before that loss at Buffalo,” O’Connor wrote in the book.
Even though the family has maintained a substantial distance for quite a long time, Ed and Darla did attend the quarterback’s games every now and then. As for the allegations against Munn, Rodgers denied them. Aaron Rodgers and Olivia Munn started dating in 2014 before parting ways in 2017.