Aaron Rodgers - Early Years

Early Years

Rodgers was born in Chico in Butte County, California, the son of Darla Leigh (née Pittman) and Edward Wesley Rodgers. Aaron's father is a Texas-born chiropractor who played football as an offensive lineman for California State University, Chico, from 1973 to 1976. His ancestry includes English, Irish, and German. The family moved to Ukiah, California, where Aaron attended Oak Manor Elementary School. Edward Rodgers tossed a football with his sons Luke, Aaron and Jordan, and told them not to drink and party in college or else they would limit themselves in sports like he did. Aaron Rodgers took this advice to heart. At the age of ten, he was featured on the front page of the Ukiah Daily Journal for his top performance at a local basketball free throw competition.

Later, the family moved to Beaverton, Oregon, where Rodgers attended Vose Elementary School and Whitford Middle School, playing baseball in the Raleigh Hills Little League at the positions of shortstop, center field and pitcher. The Rodgerses returned to Chico in 1997, and Aaron attended Pleasant Valley High School, starting for two years at quarterback and garnering 4,421 passing yards. He set single-game records of six touchdowns and 440 all-purpose yards. Rodgers also set a single-season record with 2,466 total yards in 2001 and graduated in the spring of 2002. Rodgers finished high school with a good grade point average, variously reported as 3.6 (A-minus) or a "perfect" 4.0, and he scored well on his SAT, variously reported as 1300, 1310 and 1400.