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TV-MA | 3 episodes | Documentary, Biography, Sports | Dec. 17, 2024
Making a biographical movie or documentary about an athlete before their professional career is officially over cannot be considered definitive or complete. No one could argue that NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers is at the tail end of his playing days, but he is still active, under a conditional contract. By all accounts, he intends on playing in the 2025-2026 season.
The new three-part Netflix docuseries, “Aaron Rodgers: Enigma” (“Enigma”), opens with the start of the 2023 New York Jets season, played at home against the Buffalo Bills on Sept. 11. During the first set of downs as a Jets player, Rodgers suffered a season-ending torn Achilles tendon, an injury so severe it more often than not puts an end to the careers of most athletes.
In more ways than one, this freak accident was a crushing blow to both the Jets and Rodgers. He was acquired in the off-season from the Green Bay Packers, the team he’d played on for 18 seasons. During his tenure with the Packers, Rodgers won four league MVP awards and a Super Bowl, was a four-time Pro Bowl starter, and broke multiple NFL passing records. There is little doubt Rodgers will be voted into the NFL Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
Five-Part Examination
Co-directed by Gotham Chopra and Liam Hughes, “Enigma” is presented with an out-of-sequence narrative; it takes some getting used to and is, on occasion, repetitive. The three segments cover Rodgers’s upbringing in Chico, California; his final college years at University of California, Berkeley; the Packers era; the recent Jets saga; and his, let’s say, “interesting” personal life.
Regarding the latter, the never-married, now 41-year-old Rodgers has dated three high-profile women over the last decade: retired race car driver Danica Patrick, and actresses Olivia Munn and Shailene Woodley, none of them current. To the filmmakers’ credit, less than a minute of the entire series is dedicated to all three of the women combined.
Compared to many other NFL players, past and present, who have grabbed tabloid headlines for their illicit and often dishonorable off-the-field antics, Rodgers is a relative choir boy. None of his past girlfriends have anything bad to say about him (nor he about them). He’s never been arrested, has donated regularly to multiple charities, and has been a trusted product pitchman. He was even in the running to be the full-time replacement for the late Alex Trebek as the host of the game show “Jeopardy!”
Life in the Age of COVID-19
All of this is well and good in the eyes of both fans and non-fans of the NFL, but this changed during the start of the COVID-19 era. When the NFL mandated all active players to be vaccinated, Rodgers acquiesced inasmuch as he never berated anyone opting to take the vaccine. But he personally refused to be bullied or browbeat into doing so.
With the aid of retrospect, 20/20 hindsight, and years of closer examination, one could rightfully say that Rodgers wasn’t the lunatic crackpot “science denier” he’d been labeled at the time. Then, COVID-19 vaccine couldn’t even be defined as a “vaccine.” Whether someone wants to allow a new, largely untested drug to be put into their body, Rodgers felt that should be their choice—and their choice alone.
Whether one agrees with this position or not is their right. Regardless of what you might think, it’s hard to not have some level of respect and admiration for Rodgers for standing his ground—ground that is shared by millions of Americans.
Temazcal and Ayahuasca
Equally eyebrow-raising but in a much different way was the multiple sojourns Rodgers made over the last five years to South America. There, he participated in Temazcal retreats, where he consumed the organic psychedelic drug called ayahuasca.
Temazcal is a Nahuatl (Aztec) word that means “house of heat” or “sweat lodge” where individuals go for spiritual rejuvenation. This is not something the majority of people would subscribe to, but something that Rodgers wished to explore. Was it eccentric? Yes. Was it fringe? Certainly. Was it legal? In this context (medicinal), yes. Did Rodgers feel it made him a better person? Based on what he repeatedly states here, absolutely.
My only issues with “Enigma” are the nonsequential presentation and slight overlap of information. I think the three-hour running length could have been trimmed by a third. I think this would have resulted in a final product with much greater overall impact.
The current NFL season is still ongoing, and the Jets are one of the worst teams in the league. But Rodgers is still playing better than his team’s record would indicate. He’s bounced back from a major injury and made it through unrelenting scorn of living his life as he deems fit, without hurting anyone in the process.
How can anyone not respect, if not fully admire, a man with such a staunch moral core and strong conviction?
The series begins streaming Dec. 17. on Netflix.
‘Aaron Rodgers: Enigma’
Documentary
Directors: Gotham Chopra, Liam Hughes
Episodes: 3
TV Parental Guidance: TV-MA
Release Date: Dec. 17, 2024
Rating: 3 1/2 stars out of 5
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