On Tuesday, “Aaron Rodgers: Enigma” debuted on Netflix.
The three-episode docuseries begins with the four-time NFL MVP receiving a tattoo of a dragon chasing its own tail.
It reflects on Rodgers’ last year, which included a trade to the Jets and the quarterback tearing his Achilles four plays into his debut in 2023. Viewers will see Rodgers rehabbing in his attempt to return before the end of the 2023 season.
Of course, that never happened because the Jets were eliminated from playoff contention before Rodgers could return in Week 16 of that season.
During most of the series, Enigma details Rodgers’ struggle with fame after winning Super Bowl XLV in 2011. This eventually led to his estrangement from his family and his spiritual journey to find himself. Rodgers also claims to be a perfectionist, which has been a struggle for him.
Episode 1 reflects on Rodgers’ upbringing in Chico, California, in a “very white, dogmatic church.”
“That just didn’t really serve me,” Rodgers said. “It was very rigid in structure.”
During the second episode, Rodgers went on an ayahuasca retreat in Costa Rica, where he also hung out with current Dolphins safety Jordan Poyer and friends of his.
“It’s the hardest medicine possible that I’ve tried,” Rodgers said. He also applauded its healing power for “mind, body, spirit.”
One of the themes of this show is Rodgers’ rebellion against his Christian upbringing, which upsets his family. He also discusses the public moment eight years after his brother Jordan went on “The Bachelorette.”
“They go on bulls–t show and leave two empty chairs,” Rodgers said during the hometowns episode of the 2016 season, where his estrangement with his family went public. “They all agreed this was like a good thing to do, to leave two empty chairs at a stupid dating show that my brother just went on to get famous — his words, not mine — that he ended up winning.”
Rodgers says his previous relationships with various celebrities and his family affected his life as a child and as an adult.
“When I became real famous, family members said, ‘Your life is too big. We need you to be smaller,’” Rodgers said. “Be smaller, like, don’t talk about your life.’
“It always hurt me because I just feel like you don’t see me. And so as I found my voice to kind of question things, I also found doing things that, compared to what I grew up in, would be considered an alternative lifestyle.”
No one from Rodgers’ family was interviewed in the documentary. Rodgers did say he was open to reconciliation with his family but also said, “I don’t want them to fail, to struggle, to have any strife or issues.”
The docuseries does address Rodgers’ COVID-19 controversy in 2021 when he told reporters while he was still playing for the Packers, ‘Yeah, I’m immunized.” Rodgers eventually tested positive for COVID-19 and missed a game when it was later found out he was not vaccinated.
Rodgers discusses his football future but doesn’t provide details on whether he will play past 2024. Last month, he said on The Pat McAfee Show that he “does not know if he wants to play” next season.