ode
It's been fairly documented that there's a rift of some sort between Aaron and his family. His father allegedly made the comment that "Fame changes some people" when asked about Aaron's relationship with him and his mother during an interview. I think there might be a sibling squabble as well, but that's not been confirmed by Aaron.
I suppose if you want to take things at face value and believe the rumors - perhaps Aaron is the Patrick Reed of sorts in the NFL.
Aaron might be a loner-type. Maybe he has reason to be estranged from his family, if that is indeed the case. But we know that the media wants the dirt... they will dig... they will create the narrative they want in lieu of clicks and sensationalism, especially if it's a high-profile sports celebrity.
But Aaron's arrogance on occasion cannot be dismissed.
"Sean McHugh, a Packers tight end, said Rodgers was a nice kid with, “California swag.” Which wasn’t the same as Mississippi or Green Bay swag. During that opening camp, then training camp two months later, Rodgers liked to brag about the 35 he scored on the Wonderlic, a test used by NFL teams to assess the aptitude of prospective employees. One day in a quarterbacks meeting he said, “Brett, what did you get on it?”
“I have no idea,” he replied.
“I do,” Rodgers said. “I looked it up. You got a 22.”
When the meeting concluded, Rodgers exited the room first, followed by Darrell Bevell, the quarterbacks coach, then Favre and Nall. “Fucking Wonderlic score,” Favre mumbled. “Do you believe that shit? I run circles around his ass.”
Great article here. I'm currently reading the book "Gunslinger" about Brett Favre, and it's fairly detailed in the book that there was 'no love lost' between Favre and Rodgers. Very enlightening read.
https://thelab.bleacherreport.com/gunslinger-brett-favre-aaron-rodgers-feud-jeff-pearlman-excerpt/
Rodgers has a huge ego, just like his predecessor. The difference - Favre never would've called his young receiving corps out for being piss-poor receivers in a meaningless preseason game, like Rodgers did a few weeks back. He might've been accurate in his opinion, but it's painfully clear that Aaron expects a level of greatness that perhaps seems unachievable to those serving under him. It makes him look like a hard ass, someone that can only be pleased if he's getting all the credit.
Given his one and only SB win - maybe at 35 years of age he's feeling the pressure to live up to his billing as the best QB in the league not named Brady or Rothlisberger. Of course - he has little control of personnel, who is drafted, who is traded. Maybe to that end he feels like he's been short-sided since he's not had a lot of talent on offense over the years. He would have a valid argument there.
But he's got a complexity to him that everyone outside of Green Bay just can't figure out.... a loner... a guy who doesn't get along with his family... a guy who called Brett Favre "grandpa" and made light of his wonderlic test score as a rookie. Who despite his greatness has only one SB title he can lay claim to. Who just a few weeks ago called out his new receiving corps as piss-poor performers.
There's a lot to digest there, despite how great we (or he himself) thinks he is.