Aaron Rodgers Reveals How Family Reunion Happened -- And Seemingly Shades Brother Jordan While Doing It!

Uh, well, this certainly isn’t going to quiet the family feud chatter!

Aaron Rodgers is opening up more than ever about reconnecting with his family after years of estrangement — and while he never actually said his younger brother Jordan Rodgers‘ name, plenty of fans are already wondering if he slipped a little shade into the conversation anyway when making a SUPER noticeable comment about the re-connection!

Speaking to The Athletic in an interview published Monday, the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback reflected on how he has always wanted to keep the deeply personal family drama out of the spotlight. But he also appeared to suggest not everyone else felt the same way. About that, he said:

“I’ve been really staunch, going back to when there was a schism, that I feel like that stuff should be off limits. Now, not everybody in the family adhered to the same thing, but there are different things, situations, experiences and people that actually change your life.”

Oh, ummm, “not everybody in the family adhered to the same thing”, eh?!

Of course, many longtime followers immediately connected those comments to Jordan, who famously discussed the fractured family relationship during his 2016 appearance on The Bachelorette.

At the time way back ten (!) years ago now, Jordan told this to his now-wife JoJo Fletcher:

“Me and Aaron don’t really have that much of a relationship. It’s just kind of the way he’s chosen to do life and I’ve chosen to stay close with my family and my parents and my brother. Yeah, it’s not ideal and I love him and I can’t imagine what it’s like to be in his shoes and have the pressure he has, the demands from people that he has. Don’t have hard feelings against him, it’s just how things go right now.”

And, well, very notably, Jordan wasn’t seen in the photos Aaron recently shared from his family reunion with parents Ed and Darla Rodgers and older brother Luke Rodgers, something that only fueled more speculation online.

Yeah…

As for what finally helped heal those old wounds? Aaron gave a whole lot of credit to his wife, Brittani. He said:

“She is the big impetus behind that [reconciliation]. Not that she was pushing it, but just the way that she loves me and supports me, it’s allowed me to open up to that possibility. And it’s been a couple-year process of communication and spending time together, but that is a real blessing in my life to have those relationships back and to close that circle that was cut for so many years. With her by my side, we reopened that door, and it’s been really beautiful.”

BTW, Aaron first hinted that things had improved during an NFL Network appearance over the weekend, too, when he said:

“I have been very closed off about that part of my life and I want to keep it that way, but there’s been a narrative that has gone on for too long that I wanted to kind of shut down. And it’s been really beautiful to reconnect with them — all of them.”

He expanded on that conversation during the rest of his interview on that Good Morning Football show, stressing that the years of public speculation had gotten out of hand:

“There’s been a lot of conversation about it outside of my own conversation for so many years.”

The quarterback also shared that he recently enjoyed a meaningful visit with his parents, Luke, his sister-in-law, and their children:

“I got to spend a long weekend recently with them in Nashville, with my parents, my brother and his sweet wife and their incredible two kids. So, I got to be an uncle. It’s really special. A lot of my life has been full-circle, I think the last year, and that was part of it.”

And once again, Brittani got a heartfelt shout-out for helping make it happen. Aaron said:

“I’m happy to be reunited, and that part of my life is a really beautiful addition. I’ve got to give my wife a lot of credit for — not that she was pushing me, ‘cause she never was — but just the way that she loves and supports me. Having her by my side during this process has been really special.”

Aaron also emphasized that the reasons behind the family’s split “don’t need to be talked about,” adding that he’s simply “thankful” everything has “come all the way back around.” Okay then!

The exact cause of the Rodgers family rift has never been fully explained publicly, though Aaron previously said in his Netflix docuseries Enigma that the issues stretched back decades and involved personal experiences dating to high school, college, and his upbringing in a strict religious environment.

Whatever happened behind closed doors, it certainly sounds like Aaron is ready to focus on the future instead of the past — uh, with most of his family, at least.

Whether everyone in the Rodgers family is on that same page, however, remains the million-dollar question.

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[Image via MEGA/Nicky Nelson/WENN]