Shedeur Sanders, Aaron Rodgers Shared Sweet On-Field Moment After Browns Win vs. Steelers

Believe it or not, Rodgers once played against Deion Sanders years and years ago.

Sanders threw for 186 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions, while Rodgers threw for 168 yards. / NFL / Screensho

If you need a reminder of just how long Aaron Rodgers has played in the NFL, his postgame moments with some of the league’s younger stars are always quite illuminating.

Case in point: Rodgers's on-field embrace with Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders, whose father once played against Rodgers twenty years ago.

The hug, which followed Cleveland's 13–6 win over Pittsburgh on Sunday, seemed otherwise run-of-the-mill, with some presumably encouraging words from Rodgers and a few pats on the chest. It was really just wild to see these two sharing the field together at any point, considering both Sanders and his father will now share a version of this match-up.

Generational link up. pic.twitter.com/K68zOOAl5x

— NFL (@NFL) December 28, 2025

That said, Shedeur sounded relatively uninspired by the day's intergenerational antics when speaking ahead of the game (though you can understand he was probably just focused on winning rather than oogling over his opponent).

"It's nice," Shedeur said, asked what he thought about playing someone his father once played. "But we got a lot of old people in our locker room, so it be surreal all the time. I'm just 23. I'm just 23, having fun."

As mentioned, Deion and A-Rodg faced off in the second half of a Monday Night Football game during Rodgers's rookie season in 2005. Sanders had an interception earlier that same contest.

So it really was quite the 360-degree moment on Sunday, when Rodgers played and lost to Sanders's son in the latter's rookie season. Time is a flat circle, indeed.

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