About the Book

Four-time New York Times bestselling sportswriter Ian O’Connor takes on four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers, delivering the definitive biography of the legendary yet mysterious quarterback who has astonished, befuddled, yet always captivated fans of America’s #1 sport.

Aaron Rodgers is among the two or three most talented players to ever hold the most important job in American team sports – quarterback. He also stands as the most mysterious and polarizing figure in the modern-day national pastime that is professional football.

From his controversial Covid stance to his methods of spiritual awakening to his estrangement from his family to his high-profile romances to his devastating Achilles injury a mere four plays into his New York Jets career, Rodgers has long dominated the NFL’s news cycle.

At thirty-nine, in search of a challenge that would rejuvenate him, Rodgers divorced the iconic Green Bay Packers of Vince Lombardi fame for the Jets, who have not appeared in a Super Bowl since Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon. The trade made Rodgers the biggest story in the biggest league in the biggest market. By far.

That story only got bigger when Rodgers shockingly went down on the night of 9/11, in front of a packed house that roared for him when he took the field carrying an American flag, and in front of the biggest Monday Night Football audience in ESPN history, peaking at more than 25 million viewers across all platforms. Rodgers then shocked the world by pulling off the fastest recorded comeback from an Achilles tear, returning to practice eleven weeks after surgery. Remarkably enough, he would have played again in the 2023 season, at age 40, had the Jets remained in playoff contention.

Ian O’Connor uses hundreds of original interviews to pull back the curtain and answer the most penetrating questions about the league’s most enigmatic player. Just like he did in his defining bios of Bill Belichick, Mike Krzyzewski, Derek Jeter, Jack Nicklaus, and Arnold Palmer, O’Connor reveals all sides of an all-time great and delivers a portrait of a complex man that will forever shape the way he is viewed.

Critical Praise

"I knew--I just knew--that Ian O'Connor would paint a masterwork on Aaron Rodgers. This book perfectly details the roots of the enigmatic Rodgers, starting with the World War II fighter-pilot grandfather with no fear, the quasi-rebellious father who refused to do what his domineering dad said just because. Wonder about Rodgers' unflagging confidence? You won't after you see the kid who reported for his first day at junior college, determined to shred the best cover guy on the team. O'Connor answers every question, deftly and deeply, that we've had about the most controversial person in America's biggest game." — Peter King, National Sports Media Association Hall of Famer and three-time National Sportswriter of the Year

“Aaron Rodgers is one of the most uniquely complex superstar athletes of my lifetime and Ian O Connor peels back dozens of layers, maybe hundreds. The depth of reporting is relentless. Ian goes a mile deep and keeps on digging. Every story, better than the next. … I've wanted this book to be written and Ian delivers a masterclass in storytelling." — Colin Cowherd, host of Fox Sports’ The Herd

"America's premier sports biographer has done it again. With exquisite detail and energetic prose, Ian O'Connor pulls back the curtain on this country's most enigmatic athlete, telling the real Aaron Rodgers story with all of its polarizing complexities. Many sports fans look at Rodgers and ask, 'What's with this guy?' O'Connor goes deep in addressing that question, and the answers will amaze." — Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times sports columnist and panelist on ESPN's Around the Horn

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Product Details

• ISBN: 9780063297869
• ISBN 10: 0063297868
• Imprint: Mariner Books
• On Sale: 08/20/2024
• Trimsize: 6.000 in (w) x 9.000 in (h) x 1.110 in (d)
• Pages: 384
• List Price: $29.99
• BISAC1 : BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Rich & Famous
• BISAC2 : BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Sports
• BISAC3 : SPORTS & RECREATION / Football