And though Green Bay, Wis., is quite a ways from Chico, the Rodgers family seemingly remained as supportive as could be.
Ed, Darla, Luke, Jordan and the brothers’ maternal grandparents, Barbara and Chuck Pittman, were all in Arlington, Texas, when the Packers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers to win Super Bowl XLV in 2011, three years after Rodgers had taken the team reins from veteran quarterback Brett Favre. Rodgers threw for 304 yards for three touchdowns with no interceptions and was named Super Bowl MVP.
Interviewing Ed before the big game, a writer for Dallas News‘ Sports Day noted that there was no evidence in his chiropractic office of who his son was.
“Just my way, I guess,” Ed said. “I don’t go strutting my stuff. People here kind of know me and what’s happening.” That being said, he couldn’t have sounded prouder.
“I knew Aaron had a special gift,” Ed also told The New York Times before the game, “but you never think your kid is going to wind up in the Super Bowl.”
The elder Rodgers also told a story about a friend of his who complimented Aaron on his game. “Aaron was like, ‘Yeah, but you should see my brother. He’s better.’ The gentleman turned to me and said, ‘You know, that response is really rare.'” Ed added, “Aaron has always had this interesting combination of being really humble and extremely confident.”