Can’t Wait to Read Unauthorized Biography of Aaron Rodgers

Former Cal QB is an interesting, outspoken, talented, controversial, unusual football star who should be a good subject for the book that comes out next week

Aaron Rodgers / Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK

I don’t know about you, but I’m anxious to get my hands on “Out of the Darkness: The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers,” an unauthorized biography of the former Cal star written by Ian O’Connor that is scheduled to be released next Tuesday, April 20.

The one thing Rodgers regrets the most, according to an ESPN preview of the book, is that he said he was immunized during the pandemic. It was assumed at the time it meant he was vaccinated, but he wasn’t, and when it was discovered he wasn’t vaccinated, it brought a storm of criticism. It dramatically changed his public image.

But there is also his 2023 experience in a darkness retreat, his 2022 revelation that his use of a psychedelic in a trip to South America helped him win an MVP, his strained relationship with his immediate family, and his many controversial statements about the government and other people in power.  His relationship with high-profile women seems to be a frequent topic of the tabloids.

Yet Rodgers is beloved by other NFL players, according to the book.

Will his trip to Egypt, which caused him to miss a mandatory Jets minicamp, be reported, or did that happen too late for inclusion?

Nearly everything Rodgers says or does seems to be fodder for discussion.  And now, at the age of 40, after missing virtually the entire 2023 season with a torn Achilles tendon, he will try to lead the New York Jets to the playoffs, perhaps even the Super Bowl. The challenge is intriguing.

How much of the book will be devoted to Rodgers’ two years at Cal, when he went from unknown junior-college quarterback recruit to a first-round draft pick who helped Cal finish the 2004 ranked No. 4 in the final regular-season polls.  Will there be any mention of his outstanding game against USC, when he nearly led the Golden Bears to an upset road victory over a Trojan team that would wind up winning the national championship?  Will his anger about being robbed of a Rose Bowl berth by the computers and Mack Brown be brought up?  Or will his Cal experience be completely ignored in favor of the juicier stuff since he entered the NFL?

O’Connor’s forthcoming book needs no plug from me, but it will be interesting to see what O’Connor has come up with.  It could be a dud, but the fact that it’s “unauthorized” gives hope that it will provide an unvarnished version of Rodgers.

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