Aaron Rodgers talks possible reconciliation with estranged family

Aaron Rodgers says he "believes in the possibility of reconciliation at some point" with his family after years of being estranged.

The Green Bay Packers' star quarterback, 38, made rare public comments about his family in an episode of the "Aubrey Marcus Podcast" released Wednesday.

"So I do believe in healing," he said. "I believe in the possibility of reconciliation at some point, but it’s a different journey for all of us. And to judge on the outside about what should be or what it should look like or who’s wrong and who’s right, it’s just a game I’ve never wanted to play and still don’t want to play."

Rodgers' younger brother, Jordan Rodgers, 33, appeared as a contestant on "The Bachelorette" in 2016 and told the show's star, JoJo Fletcher, at the time that he and Aaron "don't really have that much of a relationship."

Their father, Ed Rodgers, then told The New York Times in 2017 that Aaron had not spoken to them since 2014. Aaron did not respond to his father's comments at the time.

"Fame can change things," Ed Rodgers said.

However, Rodgers told reporters in 2018 that he had been visiting with his parents for his birthday, suggesting a thaw in their relationship.

"Many people have issues with family and deal with them in their own ways," he said on the podcast. "For me, I’ve always tried to deal with it quietly, behind closed doors. That hasn’t always been the case, or hasn’t been good enough for a lot of people who want to write about it or pick it apart or talk about it or even some things that my family has said or done over the years that’s been public."

The NFL's Most Valuable Player of the last two seasons then expressed respect for his father.

"But at the core I have deep gratitude and love for the way I was raised, the lessons that I was taught, the environment I was in," he said. "The fact that my dad made it a point to make my and my brother’s sporting events the No. 1 priority. The fact that he was willing to take a chance and go through the poverty that we experienced to make a better life for his kids by going back to school as a middle-aged man.

"My age, he went back to chiropractic college to try and give us a better life," he continued. "I have deep, deep gratitude for that, and really appreciate the sacrifices that were made on our behalf to give us a better life."

Rodgers did not put any timetable on when he and his family may reconcile.

"Who knows what that future can look like, when it's going to look like, when the time is going to come," he said. "But I have no bitterness in my heart, I have no resentment. I just have deep love and appreciation for the lessons that I learned, and the fact that if I hadn't been raised that way, all the good and all the frustrating, there's no way I'd be sitting here today.

"So to not have that perspective that because of the things that I experienced I turned out the way I did is looking at the glass as half empty, and I just won't do that."