I don't disagree with any of you that relationships aren't important. I'm just saying their are two types of relationships. The permanent type that is outside the work environment, and the work environment itself, which is a transitory type of relationship.
In police work, we were a circle of friends. We all did the same job. It was a bond. A circle of people who worked together, and played together. But the moment you left the job permanently, that all changed. For a while you see each other but in the end, the circle closes, and if you're the one that left the job, you're on the outside looking in. Those friendships disappear.
The reality is that within certain professions, those involved become part of this phenomenon because it's a matter of people seeking out those who have common interests, and with sports and police work, the element of team work. But, within that circle, those friendships, there is a second level. An inner circle level. Little groups, or cliques if that's what you wish to call it, who have something even more in common with each other, whether it's hunting, fishing, almost anything that makes them special. These are the ones you "hang out with." It doesn't mean others aren't friends, they just aren't part of that inner circle.
Of course, if there's someone who is as large of a presence as Rodgers, there are players who want to be part of his inner circle but don't end up inside, simply because there's not enough room. To them, they may feel slighted, and a little bitter about it. It's a fact of life, you need to learn to live with it.
Above all, please don't take what's normal in every day relationships and apply it to people who are constantly under observation, like pro athletes, or police officers. They live in glass houses, and they protect themselves by staying within their own circles. It's all about having something in common.