The details of Aaron Rodgers' darkness retreat are bizarre
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has emerged from the darkness. But there's no word yet on whether or not he saw his shadow, so it looks like we'll have to wait on his decision about playing in 2023. Rodgers, as many are aware of by now, isolated himself for four days in total darkness […]
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has emerged from the darkness.
But there's no word yet on whether or not he saw his shadow, so it looks like we'll have to wait on his decision about playing in 2023.
Rodgers, as many are aware of by now, isolated himself for four days in total darkness as he contemplates his future and reflects on….well we aren't really sure what he reflected on. But when you're in total darkness for four days, I imagine there's a lot of reflection that happens.
Anyway, Rodgers is out of his self-imposed isolation. And the details of his retreat are bizarre, to say the least.
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, Rodgers isolated himself in a 300 sq foot structure that's partially underground with no light and only a queen size bed, bathroom, and meditation mat.
Rodgers, 39, completed his darkness retreat at Sky Cave on Wednesday, according to Scott Berman, who owns the facility on hundreds of acres of forested land in southern Oregon. The quarterback, who has played his entire 18-year NFL career for Green Bay, hasn't said whether he's playing in 2023. Before entering the retreat, he said he was hoping to "have a better sense of where I'm at in my life," but was not going to the retreat just to figure out whether he'll play in 2023 or retire. He is under contract with the Packers for $59.465 million guaranteed if he plays in 2023.
Berman said the room in which Rodgers spent his time is a partially underground, Hobbit-like structure with 300 square feet of space, devoid of light, with a queen bed, a bathroom, and a meditation-like mat on the floor. It is fully powered, so at any point, the lights can be turned on from inside the room.
The retreat has three dark rooms and is booked for the next 18 months, Berman said, with a waitlist in the hundreds. Seven more rooms are planned to help accommodate the demand.
I'm not going to lie — part of me thinks this was just a ploy by Rodgers to help drum up business for the Sky Cave retreat.
But there's also part of me that thinks Rodgers is genuine in his darkness retreat motives.
Of course, Rodgers probably likes it that way. We know he prefers to not let folks in his inner circle. So the ambiguity of his motives probably makes him happy.
I imagine we'll soon know his plans for 2023. Teams have to start getting free agency plans in place and Rodgers' pending decision is holding up those plans for several teams, including the Packers.
Featured image via MARK HOFFMAN/MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL / USA TODAY NETWORK
