Can The Jets Deliver Aaron Rodgers' Redemption Story? | Kennedy Saves the World

welcome to this episode of Kennedy Saves the World um I read an excerpt from a brand new book that was the excerpt was so fascinating I had to get the book and now I'm lucky enough to be talking to the author Ian o Conor out of the darkness the mystery of Aaron roders there's the book there's Aaron roders there's Ian no name um Ian welcome to Kennedy save the world oh great to be on Kennedy how are you so you've written a lot of sports books you know you've written uh not just football you've written about Derek Jeter saw him this weekend at the old-timers game at Yankee Stadium uh bichi is is that your bestselling book to date actually Jeter is no I don't blame I don't blame anyone what what a wonderful person Derek Jeter is uh to be contrasted with Aaron Rogers who's who is a Myster but he's also incredibly fascinating and I want to know from you because obviously when you're pouring yourself into hundreds and hundreds of interviews and you're spending so much time on one person how do you decide on Aaron roders when there are so many characters within Sports you know across the world how did you zero in on his story well uh to start with the iconic code for the Green Bay Packers Vince Lombardi Coast High School and also lived about eight houses down from where I grew up so I was always fascinated by Packer's mystique and Aura and all those things and so I wanted to write a Packers book at some point in my career Aaron got traded into my backyard and I was scheduled to write a biography of LeBron James thought this would be a good time to pit because you have an all-time great quarterback leaving an iconic franchise with the Packers to go to what has been a loserville franchise in the Big Apple so going from the smallest Market to the biggest Market in the NFL and it just struck me that this would be the right time to tell his story he had not had a defining biography written about him I thought he probably was the most prominent American male athlete who didn't have that so I just thought the time was right before his career was over to try to paint the full picture of who he is not only as an athlete but as a human being and from a distance I always found it to be mysterious compelling and fascinating and that's why I took the project on yeah and it's interesting because at this point in any other Pros career they would kind of be fizzling and you know even with Tom Brady before he retired we knew that he had signed a big multi hundred deal dollar deal with Fox Sports and you know still waiting for that to materialize that'll be super fun though uh but Aaron roders he's one of these people that through sheer force of will he continues to heal himself take non traditional means uh to expand his mind he dabbles in politics and conspiracy theories uh which it all lends itself to the interestingness of you know this third act in his football career and you know on top of all that because we know about the famous women that he's dated but what I didn't realize was the depth of his family feud until I read that excerpt and started reading your book out of the dark were you surprised that you were able to talk with as many family members and interview Aaron Rogers as well to some extent Kennedy I I thought that his parents had never really an interview at least a full interview in depth about the estrangement and particularly as it related to Olivia mun uh I had been told going into the uh research of this book and reporting of this book they felt she was largely depl for the obviously Aaron was dating her back in 2014 late that year when the arangement really started so they they were willing to address that and some things that she had said on Andy Cohen's podcast about the family and disputing some things she said but Aaron did say and he talked about it on the record too and frankly I don't believe he's ever done that before I was a little surprised that that he was willing to engage on that subject when I sat with him in his backyard in Malibu his backyard is the Pacific Ocean so it's the nicest backyard I've ever had an interview in it's for sure but he uh he didn't say that actually Olivia is really blameless in it because I had some thoughts and issues with my family before I even met her and I think what Olivia man's role was she confirmed his thoughts one relative of erns told me that he found a comrade in her who actually agreed with what he felt and but he hasn't dated her in seven years and the estrangement continues so clearly it's not all her fault or her doing but um yeah there there are there's not one defined issue that is the cause of this fracture in the family there are really about 15 things and I was surprised by that I I did think it was going to be one thing and so it's complicated like most family divisions are and so I think for the first time I was able to detail those issues and it's unfortunate that it's gone on for 10 years Aaron did say in the book that he wants to have a relationship with his father after they had a an emotional scene and hug at Lake kahoe last summer at the Celebrity Golf Tournament so I'm hoping that that scene that moment is the first step towards reconciliation yeah and and it's interesting that you know and and this is a a family of Faith anded Darla you know they they raised their kids in a religious household and uh it's it's interesting that Erin's like yeah I want to see my dad but not a lot of love there for his brothers or for his mom but you know when you read the book when you read the story and you start to tease some of these things out you realize they can all kind of be true at once like of course as human beings you know when we watch someone else's story and drama unfold we want the the causes to be pretty simple but that's not the case here and as I'm reading this and I'm reading about Aron Rogers you know I think it's pretty typical of an athlete this talented you know someone because athletes are groomed from a very very young age and their parents have to go all in on their training as a family and then when someone actually realizes that and you know is a Super Bowl winning you know cultural icon and and so much money and access comes with that um you want to keep your family on your side but it's really easy for your family you know maybe in the midst of jealousy to kind of try and drag you down while you're bringing them up at the same time so you know reading this I felt like his family was absolutely taking advantage of him but you know there's a really interesting line in here about someone in the Green Bay organization that said Aaron Rogers if you get in a fight with him you are dead to him so he has that quality for sure and the family members that I spoke with friends that are close to the situation and Ed and darlo they're nice people I I spent time with and they don't see it the same way I don't believe he had those feelings of his generosity with family members was not fully appreciated and that the the family was revolving too much around his success and they don't see it that way they don't think they did anything wrong at all of course what matters is Aaron's perception his perception is driving the EST stranger and he did have those feelings so who's right who's wrong there's a lot of he said he said he said she said in this I come from a big Irish Catholic Family we've had our share of issues over the years they are complicated everyone has his or her own truth when it comes to it but at the end of the day Aaron is the one again who has set the terms of Engagement or in this case disengagement with his family and I asked him well when does it end and and one of his friends told me does and have to question Aaron does the punishment bit the crime here and he did say that he has gotten close to reconciliation um on a few occasions and that every time he got close something weird happened so I guess this time around I hope something weird doesn't happen and he can start with his father and then go from there don't go anywhere more Kennedy Saves the World right after this yeah and I know one of his brothers was on The Bachelorette and and blabbed about the family cuz it's very interesting because Aaron Rogers sort of paints himself as this private person but we know so much about his private life so that is coming from somewhere can he be both things at once can he be an attention seeker and someone who really enjoys Fame but at the same time is he super controlling and does he want to keep the aspects of his life private that he he wants to can is he is he like Prince Harry is he trying to have it both ways that's an excellent question it really is you the first person that I've done a lot of interviews and that that really is the first time I've been asked that question it's a very good one there is a dichotomy there and frankly I think later in life he's been more willing to talk about his personal life and and really he's become like this Fearless public speaker and not many people are including myself so on a certain level I I commend him for that he was more private when he was younger now Jordan his brother went on The Bachelorette in 2016 so we're talking eight years ago and I don't think Aaron was nearly as public then as he is now as as a a football player and public figure but he was upset because on that episode Jordan talked about the estrangement the arangement at that point was less than two years long and they filmed the scene where they at the dinner table they had two Empty Chairs signifying the absence of Aaron and Olivia mun and Aaron told me I wasn't even invited to that session and I'm not saying I would have gone but you're going to sort of embarrass me with that scene at least have an invitation on the front end of it so I would agree with him on that but he just didn't the way he saw it was Jordan was using the arrate to further his TV career I'm told Jordan doesn't feel the same but again Aaron's driving this thing and he perceived that to be the case uh he is now right he's he's definitely more willing in recent years to to talk about uh personal things the public forum and really his life changed in August of 21 when he said yeah I've been immunized those four words when he was unvaccinated changed his entire life and I think what happened was media commentators and columnists who used to praise him for being on the right side of social issues like Colin Kaepernick turned on him and he decided to dig in if you want a war I will give you a war and sometimes he's defending indefensible positions but yeah he's a Fearless in uh in talking about a lot of things at public and he's committed some unforced errors some self-inflicted wounds and that's why his image today is what it is yeah and I I do think in terms of the vaccination I think there are a lot of people now who are second guessing uh the the vaccinations and the boosters that they've gotten I think history will be kinder to him there uh but yeah it it was a little bit so he certainly didn't change his stat and I wasn't there to change his opinion on that I just asked him Kennedy why didn't you just tell the truth that that day when you asked if you were vaccinated cuz his truth was that he was allergic to an ingredient in fiser and madna and concerned about Johnson and johnon side effect and I said Haron I can't guarantee this because I wasn't in the room but if I were a sports columnist sitting there repres green beay or Milwaukee Outlet I was vaxed but if you said that I I find that to be a somewhat reasonable position I really don't think I would have hammered you in my column that day I think you would have gotten less than 50% of the criticism you end up getting 3 months later when the truth came out that you weren't vaccinated and he effectively said yeah I should have told the truth so I I didn't mean to suggest that he was wrong because as a professional athlete competing at the highest level I understand his decision on the vaccine taking it or not is different from mind his body is everything to his success and he needs to be functioning at an optimal level to be an all-time great and so his decision was different from mine and I wasn't there to certainly try to change his mind and I would have failed at that anyway but I I thought he at least admitted that he made a mistake and he shouldn't have misled public that's all yeah and but you know there were other athletes like Novak who did the same thing like you know he didn't want to take the vaccine either and you know he could have compromised his overall Legacy and how many majors he won uh by not taking but but he he was at least more honest and and maybe Aaron Rogers signed with the Jets because of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine well he told me he joked with Christopher Johnson as the vice chairman of the and obviously Woody Johnson is the owner their brothers they from the Johnson and Johnson family and asked Aaron if he had ever joked with Woody uh the owner about not taking the the J&J shot and he said he had joked with Christopher about it and uh it seemed to be in all in fun I guess but no I I uh I certainly wasn't at all trying to change his stance on and he was never going to do that anyway it was all about if why you're a Fearless public speaker why did you always tell your truth why didn't she do it in that situation he basically said I should yeah and it's one of those things where I kind of feel for the guy because once you said something like that you can't unring that Bell and you know even if you make the admission a couple months later like I should have just said it and I don't know why I didn't say it you know people are by and large forgiving but so much damage was done in that moment so why do you think um he's attracted to these kind of Mercurial higher profile relationships that don't always seem to end well funny yes because he he was engaged to a woman from his hometown Chico California Destiny Newton was her name that hot pot of coffee that was the one he had a crush on forever that's correct so we're going back about I don't know 12 years or so and his family members and friends that I talked to and a lot of them wanted him were sort of rooting for that one to work and get to marriage because they felt that Destiny being a local young woman who is not an actress kept that group together and maybe the family would still be together some friendship that he ended would still be intact and it's not the case I don't know the answer to that question and perhaps when I sat with him in Malibu I should have asked but I do know that those relationships have ended in part D Patrick and shayen Woodley both talked about really sounding brokenhearted after the uh the relationship ended that the public scrutiny of or the scrutiny of being public figures both parties in the relationship really was a factor in the end of those relationships so uh the specific reason I think uh is is not something that is certainly not something that Aaron shared with me but he did talk about the scrutiny and how that had a negative impact on on those relationships and the thing he said to me I was sitting at his house and looking around it's like wow this you're a self-made person because he came out of high school have a single scholarship offer had to go to the local Community College even though had 13 to as SATs and he created this Hall of Fame career all by himself and so I asked them when did you when did you buy this house again was it 2018 or 2019 so we're talking about a house he purchased for $28 million in Malibu right on the ocean I'm sure today it's worth a lot more than that he said 2019 and by the the way I bought it by myself so cuz reports were at the time he bought it with Patrick so the implication is that the each paid $14 million he wanted me to know that I this was my $28 million house nobody else's and uh I thought that was a very interesting observation and he made yeah and I I thought that was interesting you put that in the book because that that was a tell but that's also you know it it kind of made me think that you know when when things end amicably people always tag on but I wish her well I think Danica is amazing she's an incredible race car driver I'm so glad we're still friends you don't hear that from him about his patch relationships which makes me think that you know with some of his girlfriends the reason they're so brokenhearted is cu he just ends it like he is coldhearted like when he is done he is done and he extricates himself from these complicated emotional relationships whether it's with women or his family and you have to think like it's a brutal way to live and ultimately you know those kind of patterns lead to loneliness but maybe there's something in that that makes him an incredible football player do you see anything there I do um another really good question because uh one of his his best friend really Jordan Russell I have him in the book he actually was exiled out of Aaron's life and I have a chapter titled the island in my book that's where Aaron puts people and usually they never escape the island it's a very cold lonely and distant place there's no cell phone service for no fatime connections with Aron nothing you're done when you're on the island and if you talk to somebody on the island you're probably going to be the next person put there so Jordan Russell was on the island after three or four years Aaron actually brought him back and he said that Aaron is a he's a master of his craft and he is SE in Perfection his crap happens to be F if you're not Mission aligned if you're a distract any way he's going to move you out of the way and that's going to be the end of that relationship I don't know why Jordan Russell was pulled back in but one day he got a phone call from Aaron after three or four years saying I want you back in my life and Jordan said only if you only if you give me your respect I'm not just walking back into your life I command and demand your respect and so they work that out and they are friends today at least they were as of a month ago I'm assuming that's still the case but he did say that if you or not if you're a hurdle he perceives you to be a hurdle on his mission to be an all-time great football player you will be removed so let's talk about the mission do you think that he's healed do you think that we're going to see something extraordinary that remains in his career yeah and when he took on the challenge of New York which I think was a necessary challenge he needed to change the dynamic of his career in Green Bay it was one bitter postseason defeat after another Tom Brady has seven championship ring Rings Aon has one and there's no way to close that Gap at this one more than Dan Marino that's one more Dan Marino one more than a lot of guys it's hard to Jim Kelly that's what and and uh Tom Brady made it look easy that's the problem that's Aaron's problem is that he's compared to the guy who made it look easy and it is very hard to win one and we've seen that over time but uh yeah I think that the he realized he needed a change the Packers wanted to move on to Jordan love just like they wanted to move on to Aaron Rogers in 2008 when they pushed Brett Favre to the Jets so but New York's a great opportunity for him the Jets have not been to the Super Bowl since January of 1969 I always say they haven't stepped in the Super Bowl since Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon that's a long time and so that's such a brutal perspective I bring that up that's sort of my go-to line when it comes to the D the championship drought of the Jets but going to New York makes a lot of sense for Aaron because is if he wins a championship in the Big Apple for a Charlie Brown franchise it's going to feel like three or four champion and his legacy if he finishes his career doing that in New York it's going to explode I think he's back up there I'm not going to say he's on Tom Brady's level but I think he's back up there with Joe Montana and Patrick Mahomes so yeah it it actually made a lot of sense for him to do this age 39 and now 40 well as as a Joe Montana 49ers fan I will say it goes Joe monana Tom Brady and then a bunch bunch of yeah I think Joe Tom BR Joe Montana absolutely yes he was and and history will will remember at thusly he's like Michael Jordan to Tom Brady's LeBron James like you you can talk about them and and Tom Brady's really good but he'll never be Joe Montana and yes I am completely biased as a 49ers fan and Aaron Rogers should have been a San Francisco 49er as a member of the faithful I will always believe that and you know I want to believe in the guy um the story is not finished your book is compelling and fascinating we can all see ourselves and our own family Dynamics in here even though they don't play out on a massive Global stage like it has for him and his family and all I can hope for him is that there are reconciliations and that you know through siloc cybin or whatever you know I don't know if it's mushrooms or ketamine or MDMA but that he finds some sort of psychic healing and and reconciles with his family yeah and in some strange way Kennedy I hope that this book would somehow help uh and not hurt I really didn't want it to hurt the process so yeah I I would love to see that happen frankly when he won the Super Bowl his entire family including his grandparents they were on the field celebrating with him afterward and so I hope that could happen been with the New York Jets at some point we'll see how it unfolds yeah and uh you know it is absolutely possible the fact that he knew that you would already spoken to his family and he agreed to talk to you I think that in itself is a step forward uh I encourage everyone for your late summer reading out of the darkness and uh Ian know Connor is the author Ian thank you so much for taking time today I really appreciate it thanks keny I've been a fan for a long time appreciate it thanks man this has been Kennedy Saves the World along with the UN Conor I'm Kennedy listen ad free with a Fox News podcast Plus subscription on Apple podcast and Amazon Prime members can listen to this show at free on the Amazon music app oh go ahead and leave me a review while you're there I'd love to hear what you have to say you've been listening to Kennedy Saves the World on the Fox News podcast Network