Achilles accidents, ayahuasca journeys and Aaron Rodgers as you’ve got by no means seen him earlier than: Netflix’s ‘Enigma’ is extraordinary, must-watch TV
Late on in episode three of Enigma, a few minutes before the final credits, Aaron Rodgers begins discussing another Netflix docuseries. It’s about BALCO and the steroid scandal that engulfed some of the biggest names in sports.
Rodgers is struck by from a quote from Tim Montgomery, once the fastest man in the world, but also the mindset that drove athletes to take illegal substances: win at all costs. ‘I don’t really subscribe to that,’ he ponders. ‘Is winning at all costs acceptable?’
It is the last of many philosophical questions posed in this three-part series, which tracks Rodgers’ journey to becoming one of the greatest and most polarizing figures in sports. It’s the culmination of three hours of film but also, it seems, years spent mining for answers.
Enigma is a fascinating examination of a brilliant, tortured mind. An eye-opening insight into what separates the best from the rest and the contradictions that often underpin their success. It also makes a compelling case for why Rodgers will never win another championship.
For so long, the series shows, the quarterback teetered between two worlds: who he was and who he wanted to be. Questions of identity ‘ate away’ at him.
Rodgers strived to be a free thinker but cared so much about the opinion of others. He was ‘heartbroken’ to see his reputation dragged through the mud and he remembered every slight.
Aaron Rodgers meditates during an offseason trip to Peru, as he heals from his injury
‘Enigma’ shows Rodgers’ journey to recovery after he tore his Achilles last September
The documentary shows the New York Jets quarterback in a light never seen before
He was ‘fueled’ by bitterness to prove doubters wrong – the parents who considered him ‘soft’, the division one schools that overlooked him, the NFL teams that drafted 23 players before him in 2005.
He dealt better with setbacks than success precisely because it offered him purpose. Those ‘ego deaths’ are what drove him to the very top. And yet Engima details Rodgers’ search for something else. Exorcism.
The 41-year-old’s journey to escape his shackles – the dogma of his Christian upbringing, the ‘self-loathing’ that comes with pursuing perfection – takes viewers to his home, the jungles of Costa Rica, on walks with Robert F. Kennedy Jr and to a makeshift sauna where he ‘absorbs the medicine and wisdom of our ancestors stored in the rocks’. It makes for extraordinary viewing at times.
The show is beautifully crafted, too, stitching together Rodgers’ career and his childhood and his conspiracy theories and his Ayahuasca ceremonies – and the ties that bind them all.
It features startling footage of his injury rehabilitation and his spiritual journey through alternative medication. There is plenty of childhood footage, too, as well as insight from coaches, teammates and friends.
At one stage in the second episode of the docuseries, Rodgers undergoes a brain scan
The documentary is beautifully shot, stitching together new footage with old memories
Rodgers’ determination to return to the field as quickly as possible is clear from the off
They all talk about Rodgers’ qualities as a leader. His abilities to inspire are evident in a teamtalk to the Jets – while still on crutches – and during a speech at his Ayahuasca retreat.
By the end of episode three, Rodgers has watched the BALCO series. He appears to have found new happiness and new purpose, too. No longer, he suggests, is life about defying critics or even titles. As he prepares for the next chapter, away from football, success can come elsewhere – learning to love himself and the life he has built, for instance.
‘I want to go out still knowing I can do it,’ he says. ‘On my feet, playing good football. And if that comes with a championship win, that’s fantastic.’
He adds: ‘I don’t feel like I need to prove anything to anybody but myself at this point, which is a great place to be.’ Except if you’re a fan of the New York Jets or whichever team Rodgers ends up with in 2025.
Because it was an insatiable desire for success and a relentless work ethic that propelled Rodgers to the Super Bowl in 2010. Now his priorities lie elsewhere.
Provided you drink the Kool Aid, that is. It has grown very easy to be cynical – particularly of Rodgers. There are, after all, very few athletes whose public image jars so starkly with the person portrayed by those around him.
That much is clear in Enigma. The series explores touchy subjects – his family feuds, his controversial stance on Covid vaccines – and it includes countless soundbites of pundits slating the quarterback. But every contribution from a teammate or coach or friend is glowing. No one ever challenges his comments to the camera.
Is that because his critics have been wrong all this time? Or because this is a one-sided attempt to garnish the quarterback’s reputation? Or both?
Rodgers takes part in a ceremony in Peru during his ayahuasca trip in remarkable footage
Jets quarterback Rodgers opens up in the Netflix documentary in a way he never has before
The show includes lots of footage of Rodgers’ spiritual journey through alternative medication
Throughout the show, Rodgers bemoans the black-and-white, right vs. wrong world he knew growing up in a conservative, Christian family. Decades later, perhaps truth remains a shade of gray.
This much is certain: even after trying to free himself from the pressures of perception, Rodgers has never lost his interest in making a point. Or his instinct for powerful PR.
Take his comeback from a torn Achilles in 2023. Time and again, Rodgers created artificial deadlines and curated powerful images – no matter if doctors agreed. He wanted to be back in practice by his 40th birthday. On his return to MetLife he wanted to prove he could walk without crutches. He urged medics to speed up his treadmill just to ‘show them something’.
So cynics might wonder if Rodgers really has made peace with failure. As for his supporters? This will serve as further proof that the quarterback was misunderstood all along. No one will watch and shrug their shoulders. Everyone will agree it takes them to places few sporting documentaries ever have.
