EXCLUSIVE
I’ve spent my entire career with Aaron Rodgers – he’s the Zlatan of the NFL and here’s why
A legendary striker who was not afraid to challenge norms and ignite controversy.
A future Hall of Fame quarterback who has become increasingly controversial as he approaches the end of his NFL career.
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Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Aaron Rodgers played different sports and were often separated by oceans as they became international superstars.
But New York Jets wide receiver Allen Lazard is an admirer of both, and Rodgers' longtime teammate with the Green Bay Packers and Jets sees striking similarities between the veteran QB and outspoken former Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United and LA Galaxy striker.
Both have an edge, and they use that edge to their athletic advantage.
"It's very inspiring. Just to see it with Zlatan, but also with Aaron," Lazard exclusively told talkSPORT.
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"I obviously got to share the locker room with him and play alongside of him for the past six years and everything.
"It's just seeing how he carries himself and how he may say things that, from society, you're not supposed to say or it's against the grain.
"But it's the fact that he's standing on his word and telling his truth and believing in it, and not caring about the repercussions.
"It's inspiring because it's allowing me to feel more comfortable in expressing myself, being myself."
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The 28-year-old Lazard went undrafted out of Iowa State and only played in one game during his 2018 rookie season with Green Bay.
But Lazard has played in 70 contests (52 starts) since, totaling 192 catches for 2,547 yards and 21 touchdowns, while following Rodgers from the Packers to the Jets.
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As Rodgers and New York prepare for a big Week 1 road matchup against Brock Purdy and the defending NFC champion San Francisco 49ers, Lazard is benefiting from his on-field relationship with the 40-year-old QB and Rodgers' unique personality away from the game.
"I think what makes Aaron so special is that he plays the game, or he's able to manipulate the game, to its purest form," Lazard said.
"A lot of the times ... the dynamic of football, how it works is that the offense calls a play, the defense calls the coverage, and you run it against each other and hope hope for the best.
YouTube superstar KSI names Zlatan Ibrahimovic as the perfect boxing opponent for Cristiano Ronaldo
"But with Aaron out there, we can call whatever play we line up and if he sees something that he doesn't like by the defense, he has the capacity to be able to to switch a route, switch protection, to switch the play entirely."
Lazard didn't grow up following European football.
But in 2014, he begin to fall in love with the beautiful game by playing FIFA during down time at college.
"That's kind of how I got really introduced to to the fandom of soccer and everything," Lazard said.
"PSG was in a really good spot for their club. And Zlatan Ibrahimovic was a monster at that time. So he ended up becoming my favorite player, and I ended up just following him throughout the rest of his career."
Rodgers is a Super Bowl winner and four-time MVP.
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From 2008-22, he was one of the best QBs in the NFL, and is hoping to regain that elite form in 2024 after missing almost the entire '23 season due to an Achilles tear after just four snaps with the Jets.
"To make an incredible throw at a crunch time moment, it's just like once you fully understand it, it's like, 'Wow, this is why they say he's the best ever do it,' " said Lazard, referring to Rodgers.
As for Ibrahimovic, the super-famous striker helps Lazard remember that mental intensity can make the difference between winning and losing on the field of play.
Ibrahimovic scored more than 500 goals while playing for Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan, PSG, Manchester United and LA Galaxy, among others and once turned down Arsenal as a teenager because 'Zlatan doesn't do auditions'.
The striker retired in June 2023 at the age of 41.
I am Zlatan
Known for his supreme confidence, those who watched Ted Lasso will recognize 'Zava' was based on the mercurial striker. Here are some of his best quotes...
"I can't help but laugh at how perfect I am."
"What [John] Carew does with a football, I can do with an orange." - Said in response to Carew's stating Zlatan's flicks and tricks were pointless
"When you buy me, you are buying a Ferrari. If you drive a Ferrari you put premium petrol in the tank. [Pep] Guardiola filled it up with diesel and took a spin in the countryside. He should have bought a Fiat." - How described himself when questioned about his tense relationship with Guardiola at Barcelona
"It's true I don't know much about the players here, but they definitely know who I am." - On his move to France's Ligue 1 in 2012
"Dear Los Angeles, you're welcome." - What the full-page ad he took out in an LA newspaper read after signing for Galaxy
Lazard might run 40 routes a game, but only receive three to five passes from Rodgers.
Ibrahimovic believed he would win every 50-50 ball on the pitch, and Lazard takes inspiration from a legendary striker who has a lot of Rodgers in him.
"His mindset," said Lazard, referring to Ibrahimovic. "You know the way he talks in his interviews. It's only really a snippet of just kind of how he thinks and how he goes about things.
"Being an athlete myself, just hearing the way that he's able to kind of answer the questions and kind of give you a little insight of how he thinks about himself.
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"And really there's the belief in himself, and he's just a monster out there on the field."
You can listen to Jets games this season on talkSPORT and talkSPORT2, including this Saturday's preseason finale vs the New York Giants and the opening game of the 2024 NFL season vs the San Francisco 49ers.
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