A couple of weeks back, Aaron Rodgers was making his weekly appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on ESPN when he opined, “There are a lot of people talking about the game now. Both non-former players and former players who are trying to stay relevant fame-wise. … I’m talking about these experts who nobody remembers what they did in their career. So, in order for them to stay relevant, they have to make comments that keep them in the conversation. … They believe they’re the celebrities now, they’re the stars …”
Rodgers made a point to tell McAfee he wasn’t talking about him, but the irony was rich. Here was Rodgers criticizing the cult of sports personality on a show hosted by a guy who was a one of the best punters of his generation in the NFL but is exponentially more famous as a breakthrough personality with a five-year, $85 million deal with ESPN. It was like walking into a McDonald’s, ordering and downing a McRib and then criticizing them for having meat on the menu.
Now comes the three-part Netflix documentary series “Aaron Rodgers: Enigma,” with a total running time that is 39 minutes longer than “Wicked” Part 1. Although Rodgers didn’t have editorial control over this well-filmed project and it’s fascinating to have a front-row seat as he goes through the grueling rehab process after tearing his Achilles or he goes on a three-day ayahuasca binge in Costa Rica, the series suffers from a lack of balance. There’s almost no pushback, no criticism of Rodgers, save for a few audio snippets of negative remarks from those darn personality-driven media types on radio or TV. Even as Rodgers talks about his quest for self-discovery and shedding ego and blah blah blah, he often comes across as an off-the-charts narcissist who always thinks he’s the smartest person in the room.
From the opening moments of “Part One: Becoming,” with Rodgers getting a tattoo and explaining, “Eight sideways is infinity … then I woke up this morning and I had an intuition about a dragon, and then it just came together from there,” there’s no denying that Rodgers is a different kind of cat. Even when you’re rolling your eyes at some of his half-baked pearls of wisdom, at least he’s never a soundbite robot athlete.
“Enigma” hops back and forth from recent events of 2023-24 to Rodgers’ upbringing and his high school and college career, to his glory days with the Packers and then back to the present and then back again. In the 2023 season opener, with talk of the Jets as a Super Bowl contender, Rodgers takes the field hoisting an American flag, looking like a superhero as the crowd goes into a frenzy. Four offensive plays later, Rodgers is sacked by Leonard Floyd and tears his Achilles. The rehab process begins, with Rodgers determined to heal at a record pace, and therapists and physicians expressing astonishment at his progress.
A physical therapist helps Aaron Rodgers recover from his 2023 Achilles tear in a scene from “Enigma.”
Flashback to Chico, California, where a young Aaron Rodgers has a sparkling high school career as a talented but undersized QB. In Michael Jordan-esque fashion, he talks about a rejection letter from Purdue that told him he didn’t compare favorably to their recruits: “I took that as a major slight.”
After starring in junior college and putting up gaudy numbers while showing next-level talent at Cal, it was a shock when Rodgers fell to 24th in the NFL draft. He joined the Green Bay Packers, where he was welcomed with folded arms by Brett Favre, who famously said, “My contract doesn’t say I have to get Aaron Rodgers ready to play.” (Later in the series, Rodgers visits Favre in Mississippi in present day for a semi-friendly, semi-reconciliation.) More motivation for Rodgers. More fuel for the fire inside him.
As Bears know all too well, when Rodgers was finally given his chance to start, he excelled at a level that puts him in the conversation as one of the top five quarterbacks of all time. He also comes as a brilliant strategist who’s like a second coach on the field, a tireless worker and a valued teammate. Time and again, we hear from former teammates and coaches who sing his praise.
The football stuff is great. The off-the-field adventures … well, it’s a little like taking a gummy and watching “Pineapple Express.” When Rodgers says, “I got the unseen world, and the whispers of the universe telling me I matter, I’m enough,” or talks about how “wisdom is stored in rocks,” you kind of want to back out of the room and wish him well. We see him hiking with then presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., after which he tells us, “I got asked by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to be his vice-president, right after the hike we went on,” and you almost wish that had happened just for the debate possibilities.
The series also touches on the controversy surrounding Rodgers’ infamous “I’ve been immunized” answer about whether he had been vaccinated and follows Rodgers as he makes that trip to Costa Rica to take part in ayahuasca ceremonies. (“I’ve done ‘aya’ nine times,” he tells us.) It’s like an unchecked advertisement for a psychedelic.
The “Enigma” cameras watch as Aaron Rodgers participates in ayahuasca ceremonies in Costa Rica.
Rodgers also seems a bit disingenuous when he says he never desired this level of fame, though he acknowledges that dating actresses and doing TV commercials isn’t the best way to keep a low profile. We also empathize with him when he addresses the rift between him and family members and points out he wasn’t the one who aired it out in public. (Spoiler alert: He’s not fond of his younger brother’s stint on “The Bachelorette.”)
Although it always feels like being around Aaron Rodgers means you’re going to be a supporting player in the Aaron Rodgers Show, you see his intelligence and his warmth, and you even find yourself nodding in agreement with him when he says, “Life really exists in millions of little moments. So just can we be present? To not miss out on the moments along the way that actually make the journey worthwhile.” That’s some Ferris Bueller, “Life moves pretty fast”-level wisdom right there! Aaron Rodgers makes sense — when he’s not uttering nonsense. Guess that DOES make him an enigma.