Marshawn Lynch credits Aaron Rodgers for his 'opportunity' at Cal

The merits of adding Aaron Rodgers to your roster is legitimately up for debate with the way the enigmatic 41-year-old quarterback had his once-promising tenure end with the New York Jets.

The future Hall of Famer's negatives outweigh the positives for every NFL team except for two QB-needy franchises: the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Giants. Both clubs are waiting for Rodgers' decision on his future.

Perhaps it's the social media algorithm at work — not the Calgorithm that raised the profile of Cal football last season — but the story of how Rodgers helped jumpstart Marshawn Lynch's college career is making the rounds again.

Video resurfaced on X of Lynch's appearance on Shannon Sharpe's "Club Shay Shay" podcast from February 2024. In the episode, Lynch talked about what Rodgers did for him as a freshman when the two played for the Golden Bears during the program's modern-day heyday under former head coach Jeff Tedford.

According to Lynch, Rodgers saved Lynch when he got his chance with the first stringers by covering for the freshman running back when he completely botched his first play.

"Aaron Rodgers is the reason why I got my opportunity at Cal," Lynch declared.

Wholesome: Marshawn Lynch tells the story of how Aaron Rodgers saved his football career at UC Berkeley.

People still find ways to hate on Rodgers 🤦‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/mVsItpveci
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) March 24, 2025

Lynch's tale takes place in 2004, his first year at Cal. His chances for playing time were "slim" because of senior running back J.J. Arrington, who rushed for 2,018 yards that season and be selected 44th overall by the Arizona Cardinals in the 2005 NFL Draft.

In Cal's spring game, Tedford surprised Lynch by giving him a shot with "the ones against the ones." The coach also wanted to test the toughness of the highly regarded recruit from nearby Oakland Tech High.

"They called 24 Power. I'm like, 'I get a Power? Man, what?'" Lynch recalled of having to run downhill against the "grownups" on defense.

It got worse for Lynch. "I done went the wrong way. I went the wrong damn way," he recalled.

"But this is how I knew A-Rod was special," he added.

Lynch said Rodgers pulled "the smoothest move" by turning around and handing off the ball to Lynch "backwards."

"He was facing the other way," Lynch said. "I come around and get back into the play."

Despite the play being salvaged, the coaching staff wasn't pleased. Lynch got called out by the running backs coach, but before Tedford could rip into Lynch, Rodgers stepped in to take the blame, saying "I did the wrong thing." He demanded Tedford give them one more chance to run the play the right way.

"The rest was history after that," Lynch said. "Me and A-Rod built a level of trust. ... So A-Rod really put me in the mix."

That 2004 Cal team finished the regular season at 10-1 but lost out to Texas on a Rose Bowl bid after head coach Mack Brown successfully campaigned for his Longhorns. Rodgers has shared his bitterness over the snub.

Both Lynch and Rodgers attended the 20th anniversary celebration of the '04 Golden Bears at last November's Big Game against Stanford in Berkeley.

Aaron Rodgers and DeSean Jackson at Cal vs Stanford pic.twitter.com/pqoglw1oCy
— Brad (@Graham_SFN) November 23, 2024

Lynch told Sharpe he knew Rodgers was destined for NFL greatness when they were teammates in Berkeley. "The only difference is I would've thought he would have more Super Bowls by now," Lynch said.