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Jordan Rodgers gave a tip of the cap to his older brother, Aaron Rodgers, after the two reconciled earlier this year following a years-long estrangement.
During an appearance on ESPN’s First Take on Wednesday, September 23, Jordan, 38, discussed Aaron’s shaky first couple of weeks of the 2026 NFL season with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“I think if you truly watched Week 1, this was a team that was a few drops and a few drops away from being absolutely explosive like we haven’t seen out of the Steelers in a really long time,” Jordan said. “Rodgers was actually very accurate down the field. The throws that were not completed because of either a non-call or a drop down the field were on the money. Not trying to be a homer.”
The comment drew laughter from the rest of the First Take panel, before Jordan discussed the relationship between Aaron and first-year Steelers coach, Mike McCarthy, who previously coached Aaron for years in Green Bay, where they won Super Bowl XLV in 2011. This year marks Aaron’s 22nd year in the league and second year with Pittsburgh.
“The other aspect that I think is still a feeling out process, Rodgers and McCarthy are like that ex you ended up getting back together with after a long time,” Jordan explained. “You’re like, ‘Things are better. We’re different people. We’re still trying to figure out those quirks we had when we were in a relationship.’”
He continued, “So I think they’re still trying to figure out who they want to be based on what they both are capable of in this second iteration of their relationship. I think that’s going to take time.”
Jordan’s comments came just weeks after Aaron revealed the brothers had recently linked up for the first time years amid a bitter family feud.
“I went out to Nashville and met with my older brother,” Aaron said on the September 10, episode of Cam Heyward’s “Not Just Football” podcast, referring to his brother Luke, who lives in Tennessee with his wife and three kids. “A couple weeks after that, I met with my little brother. It was cool.”
Aaron didn’t spill many details about his reunion with Jordan, but said the brothers had a “tough conversation.” The quarterback credited his wife, Brittani, for helping to bridge the gap.
“I’m in a much better headspace, and I said it before, but my wife deserves a lot of the credit for that just to be even able to to get to that point where I could think about having the conversation,” Aaron said. “She was a big part of that, not that she was pushing anything, she wasn’t.”
He continued, “When you’re loved by someone in such an unconditional and beautiful pure way, it changes your perspective on all your relationships around that. That becomes your anchor point. It’s like, wow, if I can be made to feel like this by this person, it opens up your heart in a really deeper way, you know, that I never experienced before. I mean, a year ago, even two years ago, [and] five years ago for sure, I would have said, ‘No, I’m never going to reconcile. It’s just not going to happen. It’s not in the cards. I’m not ready for that. It was really built in judgment, just like ego and judgment. And ego and judgment gets in the way of any progress or evolution. I had to really put those aside.”
Aaron Rodgers explained how his relationship with ESPN analyst Mina Kimes came to an end during a controversial time in the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback’s career. “Mina Kimes had me to her house for a feature that I did,” Rodgers, 42, said on the Thursday, September 10, episode of the “Not Just Football” podcast. “All these […]
Aaron and Jordan had not been on speaking terms for years, which Jordan discussed when he was a contestant on The Bachelorette in 2016, where he met his now-wife, JoJo Fletcher.
“Me and Aaron don’t really have that much of a relationship,” Jordan said at the time. “It’s just kind of the way he’s chosen to do life and I’ve chosen to stay close with my family and my parents and my brother. Yeah, it’s not ideal and I love him and I can’t imagine what it’s like to be in his shoes and have the pressure he has, the demands from people that he has. Don’t have hard feelings against him, it’s just how things go right now.”
Aaron discussed the estrangement with his family — which also extended to his parents, Ed and Darla, before they reconciled earlier this year — in his 2024 Netflix docuseries, Enigma.
“It wasn’t like I was super duper close with everybody in the family. I was close with my little brother,” Aaron said. “But in actuality, it goes back to stuff from high school that kind of made me feel distant. Stuff in college, stuff post-college. I was quiet about it. I thought the best way to do it was just don’t talk about it publicly.”
