Aaron Rodgers‘ questions about his Christian faith may have pushed his family further away.
The Green Bay Packers quarterback, 36, recently sat down with his girlfriendDanica Patrickfor a conversation on herPretty Intensepodcast, during which he opened up about not feeling connected to his religious community as a child.
After hearing Aaron’s’ sentiments about his Christian upbringing, a source close to the family tells PEOPLE they felt like he had “turned his back on them.”
Aaron Rodgers.Harry How/Getty
The NFL star and his family have beenestranged for several years— including his younger brother andBachelorettestarJordan Rodgers.While Aaron has not spoken publicly about the reasons behind the estrangement, the insider tells PEOPLE that religion is a part of it.
The insider adds that the family “still loves Aaron very much,” but disagrees with him about fundamental things. “They have these times where things start to thaw out, but then something like this happens, and then it’s back to square one. It’s sad.”
In a 2017 interview with theNew York Times, the family patriarch, Ed Rodgers, claimed that Aaron’s rise to fame also caused the rift between the family, telling the outlet that the quarterback had allegedly stopped talking to his family members at the end of 2014, shortly after he began dating actress Olivia Munn.
Gregg DeGuire/WireImage
During her own interview in 2018, onAndy Cohen’s SiriusXM radio showAndy CohenLive,Munn said that Aaron had already been estranged from his family monthsbefore they became an item.
“I was friendly with Jordan, and I met the parents only a couple of times,” Munn told Cohen at the time. “Before he and I started dating, he hadn’t spoken to the parents and one brother for like eight months before we started dating.”
Later that year, Aaronsparked some hopes of a reconciliationbetween the family when he revealed he had celebrated his 35th birthday with his family in December 2018.
However, things seem to have remained tense since then.
A rep for Rodgers did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
source: people.com
