Former Philadelphia Eagles and All-Pro running back LeSean McCoy is hitting back at Pittsburgh Steelers legend Ben Roethlisberger for recently suggesting that he would take Aaron Rodgers over Patrick Mahomes in his prime.
Roethlisberger was candid in his argument, suggesting that Rodgers’ peak form was better than Mahomes’ was, though Mahomes has more success at the team level than Rodgers did.
“I would take Aaron in his prime over Patrick now,” Roethlisberger said on Footbahlin. “I think Aaron Rodgers, in his prime, was one of the top few to ever do it. So is Patrick Mahomes in his prime. Patrick Mahomes is just entering out of his prime. I think Patrick Mahomes is going to go down as another arguable GOAT.”
McCoy, however, has an axe to grind with Roethlisberger over the take, saying that all the former Steelers quarterback does is hate on others.
Roethlisberger’s lack of individual accolades outside of his two Super Bowls with the Steelers is his main issue.
“Big Ben hates,” McCoy said on FS1’s The Facility. “One thing about Big Ben, you play 18 years, you have no All-Pros, not one, not one first-team, not one second-team. This is just me, I don’t respect players that talk about greats a certain way and you have nowhere the type of success they had. You played for 18 years, and you never was considered the best quarterback or the second-best quarterback in football.”
Rodgers and Mahomes are two of the best quarterbacks ever to play the game, but in terms of Super Bowl trips and wins, Mahomes would win that argument. Regarding individual accolades, Rodgers can have that as a trump card over Mahomes as a four-time MVP winner.
Either way, Roethlisberger hopes to see the Steelers surround Rodgers with another wide receiver to maximize his talent at 41 years old. That will be a key factor in whether the experiment with Rodgers will work.