In a recent appearance on the “Million Dollaz Worth of Game” podcast, Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud sparked controversy with comments about New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Normally, the humble Stroud isn’t eager to go after anyone – especially someone as revered and respected as Rodgers.
However, following his phenomenal rookie season, Stroud seems to be getting more and more comfortable at speaking his mind.
When asked to choose between Eli Manning and Rodgers’ careers, Stroud didn’t hesitate to favor Manning, citing his two Super Bowl rings.
“You want the rings … Eli’s got two,” Stroud confidently stated.
There’s nothing overly controversial about that statement.
Stroud is making a point that winning is the most important thing and my quick math tells me that two (Manning) is greater than one (Rodgers) when it comes to Lombardi Trophies.
(In fairness, Rodgers still has a chance to update that score. But we’ll see…)
The real controversy came when Stroud seemed to indicate that Rodgers has largely underachieved during his career.
He also hinted that Rodgers may not necessarily be the greatest of leaders.
“You know what I think it is? I’ve talked to Tom Brady about this because he’s a good mentor to me,” Stroud said. “What he told me is his teammates, and how he treats his teammates.
“And that’s where I think it falls off for Rodgers. We don’t know how Aaron Rodgers treats his teammates, but you can guarantee that Tom Brady treats his teammates right because how he got those rings.”
“If you give Matthew Stafford a chance like Aaron Rodgers had, I guarantee you he might have had more rings,” Stroud interestingly added.
“I’d say he would have like three or four [rings].”
“I’m a student of the game and that’s all I watch, I watch nobody else,” Stroud said of Stafford.
“I watch [Patrick] Mahomes at times, because Mahomes does stuff I like, but you can’t coach [that]. Stafford, though, he’ll beat you with the same thing every time … I’m a fan of his.”
While it’s somewhat surprising (yet certainly refreshing) for Stroud to make such bold claims, especially when it comes to a future Hall of Famer such as Rodgers, there are a decent amount of people who would agree with him.
Rodgers may very well be the most “talented” quarterback in NFL history. Yet, the fact that he only has one Super Bowl victory in his entire career is quite shocking.
It’s also impossible to ignore all of the big playoff games that Rodgers has lost – many of which came on the Frozen Tundra of Lambeau Field.
On the other hand, Stafford has always been an extremely underrated quarterback.
In many ways, he still is. (Don’t count out the Rams this year!)
If Stafford was surrounded by the type of talent and stable consistency that Rodgers was all of those years in Green Bay, it’s hard to imagine him not having more than one Super Bowl ring.
Still, it’s surprising to hear the young Stroud be so open with such controversial thoughts.
Speaking of controversial thoughts, Stroud also revealed his top 5 quarterback rankings during the interview.
On his list was none other than Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott…
“Dak’s that boy,” Stroud said. “Y’all aren’t gonna say that because he ain’t won the big one yet. (But) Dak is that dude bro. Dak tough bro. Dak is one of the most accurate quarterbacks in the world.”
What are your thoughts on Stroud’s comments?
Do you agree with him?
Would you rather have Eli Manning or Aaron Rodgers’ career?
Would Stafford have won more Lombardi’s than Rodgers had he been surrounded by equal talent???