Ian O’Connor has written about some of the biggest stars in sports with New York Times bestsellers on people like Derek Jeter, Mike Krzyzewski, and Bill Belichick. His latest book will tackle Aaron Rodgers. The future Hall of Famer has become polarizing in recent years, but O’Connor said there’s more to the New York Jets quarterback than conspiracy theories and vaccine debates.
We caught up with O’Connor to talk about why he decided to write about Rodgers and to discuss other topics. Out of the Darkness: The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers will be available in August. You can pre-order it here.
Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
Awful Announcing: Why write a book about Aaron Rodgers?
Ian O’Connor: “I was under contract to do a book on LeBron James. There had been a few books done on LeBron, including a fairly recent one by Jeff Benedict. I thought maybe there was a little LeBron fatigue. At the same time, Aaron Rodgers got traded into my backyard. I’ve been in the New York market my whole life. So, when that happened, I thought he’s a compelling and mysterious figure. Of course, at the time, I didn’t know he’d play four snaps and that would be it. But I just thought there really had never been a defining book on his career and life. So, I made the switch over to Rodgers to explain to people who he is and why he is the way he is. He probably was the most famous American male superstar who did not have a defining biography written about him. That’s why I traded LeBron James for Aaron Rodgers.”
How much access did you get to Rodgers?
“I was pretty much done with the process, and he had not agreed to do an interview. I had almost given up hope that he would talk to me. I had already conducted about 250 interviews and was going forward without any cooperation from him, but then I got a call from the Jets saying that he was now willing to talk to me. I went to his home in Malibu recently and sat down with him. He wasn’t going to sit there for 10 hours and tell me his life story. It was, ‘Okay, what did you find out? What fact-checking do you need to do? What do I need to hear that requires my response? And, if I need to correct something that is, at least from his perspective, factually wrong, then this was an opportunity to do that.
“So, I spent a couple of hours with him. I said, ‘Okay, this person said this. This person said that.’ I let him respond. That was the extent of the access, but it was valuable. He was very gracious. He was willing to talk about just about anything. I very much appreciated it. It made it a better book.”
I was asked why I'm pulling for a #Jets #Packers Super Bowl. Here's why: My upcoming biography of Aaron Rodgers. I saw him recently & he looks pretty jacked in the upper body. He confirmed he got bigger. Looks ready for a fight. Pre-order: https://t.co/XXJvKUPjVn pic.twitter.com/AcSgJCFXrz
— Ian O'Connor (@Ian_OConnor) February 28, 2024
What is the most revealing thing in your book?
“That’s hard to answer. I wish I was talking to you a week before publication. I’m probably going to have to generalize this some. I think there will be a better understanding from this book as to why players in the NFL feel the way they do about him. I’ve run into a lot of people who’ve been in the NFL or around the NFL for a very long time, decades. They said that they felt like they did not know who Aaron Rodgers really is. I think they will have a better idea after reading this book.”
How do teammates view Rodgers?
“I had a prominent NFL figure say to me, although he doesn’t know Aaron Rodgers personally, he has a problem with his vaccine stance. He said, ‘From a distance, I don’t like the guy. But I have to say that I’ve never met an NFL player who doesn’t like him.’
“I think one thing that comes out in this book is the players, not maybe to a man but close to it, all like him. I think in Green Bay, that was the case for the vast majority of guys. And the Jets love him. There are things behind the scenes that he does, and Hard Knocks brought some of that into the public arena. He seemed like a great leader who could connect with young and old teammates of different backgrounds. If the national perception of Aaron Rodgers is a negative one, I think most players don’t quite understand that.”
Rodgers is estranged from his family. How much do you get into that?
“He has not ever spoken about his family issues. Here’s one thing I think that is important to point out. Most star athletes I have interviewed over the years would have a hard time understanding, ‘Why do you have to write about that part of my life in this biography? Why is that necessary? My family life has nothing to do with my athletic career.’
“Aaron Rodgers has read a zillion biographies. He’s probably read more books than just about anyone I know. He understood that that had to be covered in this biography. That it made no sense for me to write the story of his life without including this. For nearly 25% of his life, he’s had virtually no communication with his immediate family members. So, that had to be a part of the story. What I can say is that he got that. And I appreciated that he understood that. So that was part of our conversation. I’ll say that he was willing to engage on some family issues.”
Why does he keep going on The Pat McAfee Show?
“If he’s getting between $1 and $1.5 million a year, Aaron Rodgers doesn’t need that money. Yeah, it’s always nice to have it, but he certainly doesn’t need it. He has decided that the aggravation is worth it. To him, it’s a platform, and Pat McAfee is a friend. Pat McAfee reaches a ton of people. Aaron likes to be out there. Obviously, he shouldn’t have said what he said about Jimmy Kimmel, but Aaron Rodgers is fearless. He is not afraid to deal with the consequences of his beliefs and his words. Now, that’s an admirable character trait even if I disagree with a number of things that he did and said on that show.”
How much power does Rodgers have with the Jets?
“Almost as much as (owner) Woody Johnson has. Yeah, I think that’s pretty clear that the Jets were so all in on the Aaron Rodgers experience. They did a lot of things personnel-wise for him. And hey, when Tampa Bay signed Tom Brady, they did a lot of things for him too. Now that worked out. This didn’t work out. Aaron Rodgers got hurt four snaps in. So we don’t know. But if you look at the personnel moves that Aaron would be in favor of or push for, a lot of them, really all of them, did not work out. But how many of them would have worked out if Aaron Rodgers was playing? Allen Lazard would have been better. Randall Cobb would have been more useful. Nathaniel Hackett would have been a better offensive coordinator. And across the board, the whole operation would have run a lot smoother than it did. They would have been 10-7, 11-6 if Aaron stayed healthy. They would have made the playoffs.”
In a surprising plot twist, Aaron Rodgers is on The Pat McAfee Show, which is airing on ESPN, to talk football pic.twitter.com/HpYWRRdXOJ
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 11, 2024
How surprised are you that Bill Belichick isn’t coaching now?
“Very. That was the one scenario nobody could have predicted. Nobody would want to hire the greatest NFL coach of all time? There were reasons thrown out there. I don’t know if any of them were good enough to keep him unemployed. That he would want too much personnel power. Front office people were going to get fired. Given his age, how long is this going to last? Obviously, after Tom Brady, it wasn’t a pretty picture in Foxboro, but it amazed me that nobody hired him. I do think he will certainly get a job next year.”
What’s your best guess on where Belichick will be in 2025?
“I think Brian Daboll is going to make it long-term, so I can’t say the New York Giants. It’s anybody’s guess. I think the one scenario that would be the most entertaining would be the Jets because Belichick walked out on them after 24 hours, and he has a good relationship with Aaron Rodgers. If Rodgers has a pretty good year, but it’s not enough for Woody Johnson to keep Robert Saleh, then I think it would be incredibly entertaining to end his career with the franchise he walked out on.”
You worked with Chris Mortensen at The National. Do you have a favorite memory of him?
“The day that Mortensen broke the Peyton Manning is retiring story, I got a (voicemail) message that morning from Archie Manning. I had a good professional relationship with him. He left a message saying ‘Hey, I wanted to give you this ahead of time, but Peyton said Mort had to be the one to break this story.’ I just thought that that spoke to the power of Mort. Peyton was like, ‘I’m not going to allow anyone else to break this story other than Chris Mortensen.’ I got a kick out of that message.”
