Aaron Rodgers: Enigma Review – The comeback that never was

Episode Guide

Becoming
Awaken
Reckoning

The definition of an enigma is someone who is mysterious and difficult to understand. This is important to note because when it comes to Aaron Rodgers: Enigma, a new football documentary on Netflix, it’s hard to know whether that title is genuine or an oxymoron.

In many ways, the opening scene of the documentary perfectly encapsulates how the rest of the world views the NFL. A tattooist baffled when he finds out he’s actually tattooing none other than Aaron Rodgers, one of the best Quarterbacks in the NFL. “I guess that’s good?” He says, and to be honest it almost feels like this documentary was designed specifically for those who have no knowledge of the NFL and just want a compelling sports doc to watch.

However, it also comes across as self-aggrandizing too, and while it does offer a fascinating glimpse into a controversial NFL players, he’s certainly not an enigma. He’s more of an outspoken misfit that has views that don’t always gel well with the general public.

The three episodes are certainly crafted well though from a technical standpoint, blending archival footage with the current 2023/2024 season that Aaron Rodgers finds himself side-lined in. This all leads up to a comeback story that never really takes off. 

The editing is excellent though and that’s perhaps to be expected given the team behind this also worked on Simone Biles: Rising, another Netflix sport doc. Here, we see the journey Rodgers has taken, including all the turbulent ups and downs that have caused his career to be quite the tumultuous one.

From the highest of highs in the NFL, to being vilified by the media for his stance on the COVID vaccines, the three episodes are mostly narrated by Rodgers himself, so of course there’s going to be a slight bias on this front. Rodgers tries to come across as a humbled guy by the end, where he talks a lot about how winning shouldn’t necessarily be everything, although of course when it comes to the NFL, and the fickle world of points on the board and wins, it kinda is.

Most of the documentary follows Rodger’s career with the Packers, with a good deal of focus on his first draft pick and how he struggled to acclimatize to the hostile feel of his new team when he first arrived. The end of the first episode leading into the second then tackles Rodgers’ career on and off the field, including some eye-opening scenes of him experimenting with alternate medicine, finding religion and – going into the third episode – his whirlwind of chaos against the media and scientific community for his stance on the COVID vaccine.

What’s particularly amusing here though is the way Aaron Rodgers contradicts himself at times. There’s a lot of scenes where he “gets away from it all” in the wilderness, while the Netflix film crew are there capturing every part of his experience. That’s before getting into the controversial comments to the media, And his absences from the team which – while discussed here – aren’t given as much scrutiny as you may expect.

Along the way we do see interviews with different teammates, but most of these are positive by nature and while there are critics, it’s mostly done through audio snippets from media pundits or critics talking about Rodgers’ career and his chances on the field each season.

Watching this, you really get the feel that Netflix wanted this to be a feel-good comeback story. Instead, the show just sorta ends, and perhaps, given the season Rodgers is currently having, that’s probably for the best.

Looking down the barrel at a record of 3-9 for the season with the Jets, while simultaneously releasing a documentary about how Rodgers himself is some sort of enigma and mysterious figure, feels like a bit of a misfire and classic case of the wrong place and wrong time.

While the content in this is interesting at times, it’s difficult to know whether NFL fans are actually the core audience for this. And if they are, I can’t see how Rodgers is going to endear himself to his critics with this effort. Even for those who don’t know him, there’s not a lot in this to make for a compelling documentary, given the autobiographical tone, which is a shame. I guess the only enigma here is quite why Netflix decided to release this now.

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