Marshawn Lynch: 'Aaron Rodgers is the best QB I ever played with'

Joining Shannon Sharpe‘s show Club Shay Shay this week, former Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch shared some unknown stories from his time in the NFL and in college.

Lynch played three seasons at California and in his first year, took snaps from future NFL Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers. As the team’s second-leading rusher in his freshman season, Lynch credited Rodgers for getting him involved right away and starting him on the path to eventually joining the league.

“He was the reason I got my opportunity at Cal,” Lynch claimed. “There was a running back on our team that rushed for 1,500 the year before and had 2,000 my freshman year so the chances of me getting the opportunity to play was slim.”

“We had our spring game, the ones going against the ones… They call 24 power, man, what? I’m lookin’ across that defense like ‘oh s**t, them grown-ups… ‘Go!’ I done went the wrong way,” Lynch continued. “I went the wrong damn way. But this is how I knew ARod was special. He sees I’m on the other side, that boy turned around and handed the ball off to me backwards. I came around and got back into the play.”

Not only was the play saved, but Lynch scored on it as well. When the running backs coach wanted to call him out to head coach Jeff Tedford for the mistake, the freshman heard Rodgers take the blame for running the play on the wrong side.

“I hear ARod telling him, ‘nah, nah, nah, that was me,’ … The rest was history,” Lynch added.

After his one season with Rodgers, Lynch went on to post two 1,200+ yard rushing seasons for the Golden Bears on the way to his own first-round selection in 2007.

Lynch told Sharpe he wasn’t surprised by Rodgers’ success, however, he believes the veteran QB should have more Super Bowls.

Lynch helps launch Cal NIL collective

To this day, Marshawn Lynch is giving back to his former program. He played an active role this offseason in the launch of the California Legends Collective.

The California Legends Collective aims to assist Cal Bear student-athletes in their pursuit of NIL opportunities. The collective has a partnership with Beastmode Marketing, launched by the former Cal running back. Led by Kevin Kennedy, the collective will connect Cal fans, alums, supporters and brands with Bear student-athletes for various services.

“I’m always open to finding ways to help current and future Bears,” Lynch said in a news release. “This is a really special opportunity that I had to push play on. This partnership is gonna be hella fun, and it’s not just about NIL money.

“Our focus is also on education and sharing our experiences to help Cal athletes with financial literacy, staying healthy, brand building, being a pro and staying connected with your community.”

Lynch isn’t the only Cal great involved with the California Legends Collective. The collective’s founding advisory board includes football star DeSean Jackson, Layshia Clarendon, a WNBA all-star and Cal’s fourth-all-time leading scorer, and Val Arioto, Cal’s greatest women’s softball player ever.

On3’s Jeremy Crabtree contributed to this report.