Aaron Rodgers says his wife, Brittani, played a pivotal role in helping him reconnect with his estranged family after nearly a decade apart.
During a recent appearance on NFL Network's Good Morning Football, the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback reflected on repairing his relationship with his parents, Ed and Darla Rodgers, and his older brother, Luke, calling the reunion one of the most meaningful developments in his life.
"There's been a lot of conversation about it outside of my own conversation for so many years," Rodgers told host Kyle Brandt.
The four-time NFL MVP said his marriage marked a turning point in how he viewed the fractured relationship.
"A big part of it was getting married and having those conversations with my wife that allowed me to kind of open up to the possibility of coming together," he said, referring to Brittani.
Rodgers explained that rebuilding those relationships didn't happen overnight.
"It's been a couple-year process now, the conversations with them," he added.
The family rift first became public in 2016 after Rodgers' younger brother, Jordan Rodgers, discussed their estrangement during JoJo Fletcher's season of The Bachelorette, saying the quarterback had distanced himself from the family.
While Rodgers acknowledged the public scrutiny surrounding the situation, he made it clear he has no interest in revisiting the reasons behind the split.
"I've been very closed off about that part of my life, and I want to keep it that way," he said. "But there's been a narrative that's gone on for too long that I kind of wanted to shut down, and it's been really beautiful to reconnect with them, all of them."
The reunion became public last month when Rodgers shared photos from a family trip to Nashville. The images showed him spending time with his parents, Luke, Luke's wife, and their two children. Rodgers also celebrated becoming an uncle.
"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," he said. "So I got to be an uncle."
"It's really special," Rodgers continued. "A lot of my life has been full-circle, I think the last year, and that was part of it."
The Nashville gathering wasn't the first sign the family had reconciled. Earlier this year, Rodgers reunited with his loved ones while celebrating his induction into Pleasant Valley High School's athletics hall of fame in Chico, California.
Photos from the event showed the quarterback smiling alongside his parents during the celebration.
