Aaron Rodgers was spotted with his parents long before their public reunion, new footage has revealed.
The Pittsburgh Steelers star celebrated what he called ‘another bonding week’ by uploading pictures of himself alongside his mother, Darla, his father, Ed, and his brother, Luke, to Instagram earlier this week.
Rodgers had reportedly been estranged from his close family for more than a decade and the photos of him reunited with them left fans shocked.
However, it has now emerged that the quarterback had reconciled with his parents long before the bombshell photos dropped.
Footage has emerged of Rodgers’ beaming parents joining him as he was inducted into his high school hall of fame in Chico, California, months before his surprise reveal on Instagram.
In the video, the signal caller could be seen chatting with his mom, Darla, and dad, Ed, at the inaugural Pleasant Valley High School Athletics Hall of Fame dinner in April.
Aaron Rodgers was spotted with his parents long before publicly revealing their reunion
The Steelers quarterback reunited with members of his family after a period of estrangement
He also gave a speech during the ceremony, taking the time to thank his parents for helping him rise to the top of the footballing world.
However, Rodgers’ mystery wife, Brittani, whom he discreetly married during last year’s offseason, did not appear to have joined the family at the ceremony.
Rodgers’ wife Brittani has remained one of the NFL’s greatest mysteries with her identity still unknown over 12 months on from their secret wedding.
He first revealed in June last year that he had been married for ‘a couple of months,’ placing the wedding in around March or April 2025, but he was scant on details.
Rodgers declined to name who he married, although he said in a December 2024 episode of the Pat McAfee Show that he was dating someone named Brittani, who was a ‘private person,’ at the time.
Meanwhile, the quarterback’s biographer, Ian O’Connor, also confirmed on Tuesday, how the Rodgers family reunion did not come out of the blue.
In O’Connor’s book, Out of the Darkness: The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers, the quarterback discussed a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe in 2023, when he ’embraced’ his father.
It was the first time they had spoken in nearly nine years. Rodgers called it a ‘special moment’ and O’Connor claimed on Tuesday that their embrace ‘opened the door’ to a reunion.
Rodgers’ parents joined him as he was inducted into his high school hall of fame in April
In a series of photos posted to social media, Rodgers was also seen with his older brother, Luke
The quarterback said at the time that a reconciliation was ‘definitely possible’ and suggested it was a matter of when, rather than if.
According to O’Connor, Rodgers’ former college coach Craig Rigsbee was among those who encouraged the quarterback to reconnect with his family. Rigsbee coached Rodgers at Butte College, where he played before joining Cal.
Rodgers’ ex-girlfriend, Olivia Munn, was reported to be a factor in the 42-year-old’s estrangement from his family .
The Daily Mail exclusively reported that Darla, a devout Christian, was mortified that Munn openly admitted to having premarital sex with her son.
At the same time, Munn claimed to have tried encouraging Aaron to patch things up with his parents, which Ed branded as ‘a lie.’ She also went on an ‘angry rant’ with his parents about how they couldn’t see him after a game in Tampa.
At the time, Ed told Munn: ‘You haven’t been on the scene very long. You’re just his girlfriend. We’re his parents.’ His parents hoped to get a phone call from Rodgers apologizing for Munn’s comments but they never did.
They went to Tampa anyway and were met with an email he sent to family members that effectively said: ‘Don’t attack the woman I love.’
The 42-year-old NFL star was seen tinkering with children’s toys for Luke’s two children
His younger brother Jordan and his wife – JoJo Fletcher – did not feature in any of the pictures
Meanwhile, Rodgers’ younger brother, Jordan, was not spotted in any of the photographs posted on social media this week.
As revealed by the Daily Mail last year, Jordan and his wife, reality TV star JoJo Fletcher, whom Jordan met and married after Season 12 of The Bachelorette, did not attend Aaron’s wedding to his wife Brittani.
‘Jordan and JoJo didn’t go to the wedding and don’t even know anything really about Brittani,’ a source said. ‘What they’ve heard is secondhand from his parents.
‘They are still angry that Aaron didn’t go to their wedding. He didn’t want to be with his brother on the biggest day of his life, so why should they twist themselves up over this wedding?’
