Incase you haven’t heard, Aaron Rodgers is officially back from his “four day isolation retreat,” where he spent some time alone in a completely dark room in southern Oregon.
I mean sheesh, strange times we’re living in, eh? NFL players are having to hide out in caves to figure out their future in sports…
Or not.
We were all wondering if he would be able to “foresee” his future in the NFL, like if he’s gonna stay with the Green Bay Packers, move on to a different team, or just retire.
So far, we haven’t gotten those answers that we’ve been looking for, but Rodgers recently went on the Aubrey Marcus Podcast to discuss everything he learned during his darkness retreat.
One thing he learned: Wiping your ass in the dark is pretty difficult… so is brushing your teeth.
However, of the more important and introspective stuff, he said he had “a lot of contemplation” throughout the first day of the retreat, regarding how he “show(s) up in the world.”
Rodgers said:
“I really wanted to contemplate some things with some relationships in my life, some family stuff, and then, obviously, career stuff, and just kind of let whatever was going to come in, come in. And it did, it definitely did.
There was a lot of great contemplation the first day and a lot of lessons around how I show up in the world and how I show up to, in my relationships, friendships, and there was definitely some interesting insights around my childhood, and things that happened in my childhood that I was able to sit with and heal.”
Rodgers has distanced himself from his family, and it all began to come out back in 2016 while his younger brother Jordan was competing on The Bachelorette, and last year, Rodgers’ father Ed told the New York Times:
“Fame can change things.”
Now it’s uncertain what exactly all went down between Rodgers and his family, but they haven’t been talking.
Rodgers continued:
“I have been an enigma at times trying to keep my private life private and I didn’t want to work through problems with my family in the public sphere, as unfortunately they did at times. There was this mystery around me.
But, it’s a different journey for all of us, and to judge on the outside about what should be or what it should look like, or who’s wrong or who’s right, is just a game I’ve never wanted to play and still don’t want to play.
The most important thing for me is deep love and gratitude for them, and for the lessons I learned, and for the way I was raised, and hope for the future.
But, who knows what that future is gonna look like, when it’s gonna look like, when time is gonna come.”
And as far as the career goes, Rodgers confesses that he’s not trying to be a diva about it, it’s a heavy and final decision for him:
“There’s a finality to the decision. I don’t make it lightly. I don’t want to drag anybody around. I’m answering questions about it because I got asked about it. I’m talking about it because it’s important to me.
If you don’t like it and you think it’s drama, and you think I’m being a diva or whatever, then just tune it out. That’s fine. But this is my life. It’s important to me. I’ll make a decision soon enough and we’ll go down that road. I’ll be really excited about it.
For everybody involved directly and indirectly, it’s best for a decision earlier. I feel really good about the conversations that are going to be had that have happened with important people in my life, yourself included, but I’m not looking for somebody to tempt me with the answers. The answers are right inside. We’ve touched on many of them.
I’ve definitely touched the feelings on both sides in the darkness and I’m thankful for that time, but there’s a finality to the decision. I don’t take it lightly.”
Here’s the full episode:
