A few weeks again, Aaron Rodgers was making his weekly look on “The Pat McAfee Present” on ESPN when he opined, “There are lots of people speaking concerning the recreation now. Each non-former gamers and former gamers who’re making an attempt to remain related fame-wise. … I’m speaking about these specialists who no one remembers what they did of their profession. So, to ensure that them to remain related, they should make feedback that preserve them within the dialog. … They consider they’re the celebrities now, they’re the celebrities …”
Rodgers made a degree to inform McAfee he wasn’t speaking about him, however the irony was wealthy. Right here was Rodgers criticizing the cult of sports activities persona on a present hosted by a man who was a probably the greatest punters of his technology within the NFL however is exponentially extra well-known as a breakthrough persona with a five-year, $85 million cope with ESPN. It was like strolling right into a McDonald’s, ordering and downing a McRib after which criticizing them for having meat on the menu.
Now comes the three-part Netflix documentary sequence “Aaron Rodgers: Enigma,” with a complete working time that’s 39 minutes longer than “Depraved” Half 1. Though Rodgers didn’t have editorial management over this well-filmed mission and it’s fascinating to have a front-row seat as he goes by way of the grueling rehab course of after tearing his Achilles or he goes on a three-day ayahuasca binge in Costa Rica, the sequence suffers from a scarcity of steadiness. There’s nearly no pushback, no criticism of Rodgers, save for a couple of audio snippets of detrimental remarks from these darn personality-driven media varieties on radio or TV. At the same time as Rodgers talks about his quest for self-discovery and shedding ego and blah blah blah, he typically comes throughout as an off-the-charts narcissist who at all times thinks he’s the neatest individual within the room.
From the opening moments of “Half One: Turning into,” with Rodgers getting a tattoo and explaining, “Eight sideways is infinity … then I awoke this morning and I had an instinct a couple of dragon, after which it simply got here collectively from there,” there’s no denying that Rodgers is a distinct type of cat. Even while you’re rolling your eyes at a few of his half-baked pearls of knowledge, no less than he’s by no means a soundbite robotic athlete.
“Enigma” hops forwards and backwards from current occasions of 2023-24 to Rodgers’ upbringing and his highschool and faculty profession, to his glory days with the Packers after which again to the current after which again once more. Within the 2023 season opener, with discuss of the Jets as a Tremendous Bowl contender, Rodgers takes the sector hoisting an American flag, trying like a superhero as the group goes right into a frenzy. 4 offensive performs later, Rodgers is sacked by Leonard Floyd and tears his Achilles. The rehab course of begins, with Rodgers decided to heal at a report tempo, and therapists and physicians expressing astonishment at his progress.
Flashback to Chico, California, the place a younger Aaron Rodgers has a glowing highschool profession as a proficient however undersized QB. In Michael Jordan-esque vogue, he talks a couple of rejection letter from Purdue that instructed him he didn’t examine favorably to their recruits: “I took that as a serious slight.”
After starring in junior faculty and placing up gaudy numbers whereas displaying next-level expertise at Cal, it was a shock when Rodgers fell to twenty fourth within the NFL draft. He joined the Inexperienced Bay Packers, the place he was welcomed with folded arms by Brett Favre, who famously mentioned, “My contract doesn’t say I’ve to get Aaron Rodgers able to play.” (Later within the sequence, Rodgers visits Favre in Mississippi in current day for a semi-friendly, semi-reconciliation.) Extra motivation for Rodgers. Extra gasoline for the hearth inside him.
As Bears know all too nicely, when Rodgers was lastly given his likelihood to begin, he excelled at a stage that places him within the dialog as one of many prime 5 quarterbacks of all time. He additionally comes as an excellent strategist who’s like a second coach on the sector, a tireless employee and a valued teammate. Again and again, we hear from former teammates and coaches who sing his reward.
The soccer stuff is nice. The off-the-field adventures … nicely, it’s a bit of like taking a gummy and watching “Pineapple Categorical.” When Rodgers says, “I acquired the unseen world, and the whispers of the universe telling me I matter, I’m sufficient,” or talks about how “knowledge is saved in rocks,” you type of need to again out of the room and need him nicely. We see him mountain climbing with then presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., after which he tells us, “I acquired requested by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to be his vice-president, proper after the hike we went on,” and also you nearly want that had occurred only for the controversy potentialities.
The sequence additionally touches on the controversy surrounding Rodgers’ notorious “I’ve been immunized” answer about whether or not he had been vaccinated and follows Rodgers as he makes that journey to Costa Rica to participate in ayahuasca ceremonies. (“I’ve accomplished ‘aya’ 9 instances,” he tells us.) It’s like an unchecked commercial for a psychedelic.
Rodgers additionally appears a bit disingenuous when he says he by no means desired this stage of fame, although he acknowledges that dating actresses and doing TV commercials isn’t one of the best ways to maintain a low profile. We additionally empathize with him when he addresses the rift between him and relations and factors out he wasn’t the one who aired it out in public. (Spoiler alert: He’s not keen on his youthful brother’s stint on “The Bachelorette.”)
Though it at all times appears like being round Aaron Rodgers means you’re going to be a supporting participant within the Aaron Rodgers Present, you see his intelligence and his heat, and also you even end up nodding in settlement with him when he says, “Life actually exists in tens of millions of little moments. So simply can we be current? To not miss out on the moments alongside the way in which that really make the journey worthwhile.” That’s some Ferris Bueller, “Life strikes fairly quick”-level knowledge proper there! Aaron Rodgers is smart — when he’s not uttering nonsense. Guess that DOES make him an enigma.
