- Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes are two of the greatest quarterbacks the NFL has ever seen.
- Wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling has caught touchdown passes from both future Hall of Famers.
Wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling had the incredible fortune of catching passes from one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history to start his professional career.
Then, he had the incredible fortune of teaming up with yet another all-time great QB.
Valdes-Scantling has exclusively played with future Hall of Fame quarterbacks over his six years in the NFL; he was on the receiving end of Aaron Rodgers' passes during his four seasons with the Green Bay Packers, and in the two years since, he's been catching touchdowns from two-time Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes.
The 29-year-old star thinks the two legendary QBs are "very similar," he told Insider while discussing his partnership with Charmin.
"I think they're very similar in how they operate, how competitive they are, how much they want to win, and how much they'll take the blame on themselves and try to bring other guys along," Valdes-Scantling said. "I've seen it from both those guys."
Valdes-Scantling hinted that Rodgers' and Mahomes' strong leadership styles were pivotal to him being "part of some really good football teams" and "running deep into the playoffs, year in and year out." Neither Rodgers nor Mahomes is the type of player to make excuses for their team falling short, and more often than not, their teams thrive as a result.
The 6-foot-4 South Florida product made it to two NFC Championship games in his four years with Rodgers and the Packers. And in his first season in Kansas City, Mahomes led the Chiefs to their second Super Bowl title in a three-year span.
"They're not going to ever sit here and complain about: 'Oh, we don't have this, we don't have that,'" Valdes-Scantling told Insider. "They're going to make it work with what they have and go out and win games week in and week out."
The "biggest difference" between Rodgers and Mahomes that the Florida native has picked up on is "just their age." Rodgers, who turns 40 in December, would be competing in his 19th NFL season if not for his Achilles rupturing at the very start of the 2023 season — his first with the New York Jets.
Mahomes, meanwhile, is still in the early years of his historic career. At 28 years old, he's already won two Super Bowls and a pair of NFL MVP honors, and he's doing everything in his power to ensure there's more to come.
It's not lost on Valdes-Scantling just how lucky he is to witness and benefit from such greatness with two different teams in two different cities:
"I've been very fortunate enough to have both of those guys be my quarterbacks and being able to see that," he told Insider. "I'm just grateful for it."