It was February 2021 and Aaron Rodgers had just won the MVP for his contribution (over 4000 yards and 50+ total TDs) in leading the Packers to the 13-3 finish. It was also the month when the insiders confirmed Hollywood actress, Shailene Woodley, and A-Rod were a thing. However, a year after dating, engagement, future family planning, split, and patch up…they saw no end to the cycle. They tried. They did but eventually split in 2022.

Now, a couple of years after the breakup Woodley mustered some strength to talk about the aftermath of the relationship that caught everyone by surprise. “I had a really awful, traumatic thing happen in early 2022,” she said in an exclusive interview with Outside Magazine. Woodley never mentioned Aaron Rodgers. But we all know what and who she was talking about here.

The couple got engaged within days of making their relationship official back in 2021. They were moving fast. “It was a surprise that they got so close so quickly.” This is what someone close to Aaron said to The People back then. But, guess, in the rush, they must’ve forgotten to sit down in silence and watch the time fly by. And a year later in February, the breakup hit like a freight train.

Woodley recalled, “I felt like I lost my soul, my self, my happiness, my joy…” That was the moment it all came crashing and as The Fault in Our Stars actress put it: “I really understood depression and anxiety and, like, complete soul detachment.”

Back when the breakup was announced, she did not come on record to say anything about it. But one thing that was conveyed by a source close to her was that “Shailene felt like everything was on Aaron’s terms…that made her feel unhappy.” Now, the key thing is that this was in April ’22. A couple of months before their split was official, they had their first split. But they tried to make things work out, only to end up going separate paths. That’s what she talks about now.

Shailene admitted she stayed in what she called a “toxic situation” with Rodgers because she was busy putting someone else’s needs ahead of her own. She explained it was “Empathy.” This empathy, “kind of kept me in this loop of feeling everything for everyone,” she admitted. After the breakup, Woodley spiraled into depression and it took time and help from her best friend to come out of the situation.

“I knew I was depressed when I looked at a tree and felt nothing. That was the lowest low of my life,” she said. It was then her best friend and stylist Kris Zero, who came to her rescue.

Zero would wake her up every morning by blasting music in the room to get her out of bed. For the next six months, Woodley would have bouts of depression while her friend would help her tackle the situation.

She said, “Sometimes I was so angry at her. But then we’d go surf, and for ten minutes that day I thought life could be OK again. Then the depression would come back and she’d go, ‘We’re volunteering at the horse ranch!’ And we’d find a random f*****g horse ranch, and we’d clean up horse s**t. We’d clean hooves and brush the horses, and for 20 minutes that day I thought life could be OK again. And then the depression came back and she’d wake me up the next morning and go, ‘Let’s go on a hike and bring trash bags and clean up trash!’ ”

After going through this period, her depression started to wane. During the conversation, Woodley looked back at her relationship with Rodgers and was emotional when talked about what it meant to be with him. “I haven’t shared much about my relationship with Aaron because it always makes me cry. It was not right. But it was beautiful,” she explained.

However, now they both have moved on from that time and situation. As for Aaron Rodgers, we might or might not hear his side on this, but we have, maybe, got an answer directly from him on why he kept losing relationships.

Aaron Rodgers opens up about life for a change

Aaron Rodgers has always been more than just a quarterback. For us, the pigskin fanatics, he has been the gunslinging AR12, but there’s a side to him we are not completely aware of. That’s where his upcoming Netflix docuseries: Aaron Rodgers: Enigma comes in. We will be watching him get real on stuff…about life!

From his Achilles injury to fractured family ties and even his high-profile breakup with Shailene Woodley, Rodgers finally opens up—and it’s not all game-day glory. “Losing friendships, family—it was heartbreaking,” Rodgers said in the trailer, and you can feel the weight of those words. His estranged family ties are no secret. It’s been a tabloid mainstay since 2016, when his brother, Jordan, aired their dirty laundry during The Bachelorette.

Add to that the whispers about how his relationship with Olivia Munn supposedly strained things further, and it’s been years of public speculation. Then came Shailene Woodley. The engagement was short-lived, but her recent revelation adds another layer of heartbreak to his story. Empathy kept her in it; silence ended it.

Rodgers’ controversy-filled pandemic years also take center stage. Whether you agreed or cringed, his take on bodily autonomy had people talking (and tweeting). “Not to have to acquiesce to some woke culture,” he said at the time, defending his choice to skip the jab. It’s bold, sure, but it’s classic Rodgers—unfiltered and unapologetically himself. Add his forays into conspiracy theories, like questioning 9/11, and you’ve got a playbook not many would follow.

But this isn’t just about controversy. It’s also about reinvention. After tearing his Achilles just four plays into the 2023 season, Rodgers found himself facing more than just a physical recovery. Spiritual retreats, silent musings, and existential questions followed. “The metamorphosis is happening,” he says in the trailer, and for once, it feels like we’re seeing the man, not just the quarterback.

Aaron Rodgers: Enigma premieres December 17 on Netflix. It’s not just a sports doc; it’s a look at a man trying to reconcile who he is with how the world sees him.