Aaron Rodgers was as surprised as anyone when he heard the news that the Green Bay Packers have parted ways with longtime head coach Mike McCarthy. The Packers quarterback, who worked under McCarthy since 2005, talked about the coaching change in an interview posted by Packers.com.
But it’s what he said about what he was doing when he learned about the coaching news that really has fans buzzing.
“I was at home with my folks in town for my birthday, and I found out…I was as shocked as many of were.”
Aaron Rodgers celebrated his 35th birthday on December 2, and it sounds like his parents, Ed and Darla Rodgers, were with him to mark the occasion. Rodgers’ comment that he spent his birthday with his parents comes amid years of rumors of estrangement between the NFL superstar and his family.
In fact, just two weeks ago, Aaron Rodgers’ brother, Bachelorette alum Jordan Rodgers, called out the Packers quarterback for not contacting their parents as wildfires approached their California home.
After Aaron Rodgers pledged to donate $1 million to assist victims impacted by the wildfires that raged near his hometown in Northern California, Jordan Rodgers took to Twitter to allege that his wealthy brother did not check in on their mother Darla, who was home alone during the fires as she prepared to evacuate the family home in Chico, California. Jordan also accused his famous brother of not calling their parents to make sure they were safe, blasting him for missing “the fundamental first step of compassion” by not checking in on the family. Jordan added that Aaron’s philanthropic actions felt like “an act.”
Jordan Rodgers vs. Aaron Rodgers: everything we know about their feud https://t.co/vOrjCtbGS0
— Us Weekly (@usweekly) November 28, 2018
Rumors of a Rodgers family feud first surfaced when Jordan was a contestant on JoJo Fletcher’s season of The Bachelorette in 2016. When speaking about his family, Jordan told his future fiancee, “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.”
In a 2017 interview with the New York Times, patriarch Ed Rodgers commented on how the family’s personal business became tabloid fodder after Jordan’s appearance on the ABC reality show.
“One in the news is enough for us,” Rodgers told the Times. “Fame can change things.”
Ed Rodgers also told the Times that it was “hard to tell” if there had been a thaw in the family’s relationship with Aaron.
Earlier this year, Aaron Rodgers’ ex-girlfriend, actress Olivia Munn, shot down speculation that she was responsible for the Rodgers family rift.
“He hadn’t spoken to the parents and one brother for like eight months before we started dating,” Munn told Bravo host Andy Cohen, per E! News.
Munn revealed that she encouraged Aaron to have an “honest conversation” with his parents and that she met them “a couple of times” when she was in a relationship with the NFL star.
“I do believe that family and fame and success can be really complicated if their dreams are connected to your success,” Aaron Rodgers’ longtime girlfriend said of the Rodgers family dynamic. “At the end of the day, there’s a lot of complications. I don’t think either side of the road is clean, but I do think it’s not OK when you try to stand on someone’s shoulders and then throw dirt in their face, which is what they did for him.”