Aaron Rodgers reconciling with his parents after nearly a dozen years of estrangement

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If being happy and fulfilled helps a person at work, then Aaron Rodgers is apparently setting the table for a good final NFL season because his strained relationship with his parents seems to be healing.

Rodgers and his parents have been estranged for nearly a dozen years and perhaps longer.

But on Monday evening the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback posted on Instagram new photos of himself with his mother Darla Rodgers and father Ed Rodgers.

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And there seemed to be a good amount of joy in the snapshots.

Rodgers is seen in one photo with his arm around his mom while she embraces him with both arms. Both are smiling at the camera.

Rodgers and his father can be seen in the next photograph standing side-by-side, smiling, with their arms around each other's backs.

"Another bonding week," Rodgers wrote.

And then he added the hashtag "#fam."

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers listens to head coach Mike McCarthy during NFL practice in Pittsburgh on May 20, 2026. (Gene J. Puskar/AP)

This is not nothing.

The estrangement between Rodgers and his parents has been one of the NFL's most-discussed family stories despite the fact neither the quarterback nor his parents have ever pointed to one critical reason for the problem.

Most reporting is based on observations from family members, friends, former partners, and Rodgers' own comments over time. All of those have sometimes been used to paint Rodgers in a certain way – usually as aloof or haughty in articles that typically were unflattering.

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