Steelers Now
PITTSBURGH — New Steelers practice squad wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling confirmed on Wednesday that Aaron Rodgers was the main factor why he signed with Pittsburgh.
“He is the reason,” Valdes-Scantling simply stated.
Rodgers was teammates with MVS for four seasons in Green Bay. In 2020 with Rodgers, Valdes-Scantling set career highs in receiving yards (690) and touchdowns (6) while making 12 starts. He also had a career high 20.9 yards per catch that season.
Valdes-Scantling’s locker is next to Rodgers in the practice facility. Rodgers said last week that MVS is one of his favorite teammates of all-time.
“Yeah, man, this guy next to me got me here [gestures to Rodgers]. You’ve been trying to get me around since we left Green Bay,” he said.
Valdes-Scantling said it was between signing with Pittsburgh or San Francisco in late August, but signed with the 49ers because he was familiar with offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak’s system. Kubiak’s brother, Klint, was the offensive coordinator when Valdes-Scantling was in New Orleans last year. The two brothers run similar schematics. MVS had four touchdowns in eight games with the Saints last year.
Valdes-Scantling appeared in five games with the 49ers, catching four passes for 40 yards. On Oct. 17, Valdes-Scantling was placed on injured reserve due to a calf injury, and released the next day.
“It was a joint effort,” Valdes-Scantling said of Rodgers’ recruiting pitch. “He called and we talked about it a couple of times. He said he would love to have me here. Made his pitch and it was down to the wire to be honest. I was already on the West Coast, so it was kind of easier to stay over there, moving around and stuff. But going back home for a week and reset and say, hey man, I want to keep playing this thing. I gave Aaron a call and said ‘let’s do it.'”
The Steelers will be Valdes-Scantling’s fifth team over the last two seasons.
“Learn fast. Everybody runs the same plays, they just calls it different names,” he said abut getting acclimated to the playbook. “Just being able to figure it out what they call it here and go play.”
Rodgers said he’ could make some changes to help MVS learn the playbook faster.
“I can translate the offense we ran in Green Bay for a number of years into this offense for him,” Rodgers said. “He’s a smart guy, he’s played a lot of football. Has played for a long time, has been productive. I’m sure he’ll pick it up pretty quick.”
Alan Saunders provided reporting from Pittsburgh.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Marquez Valdes-Scantling Explains How Aaron Rodgers Recruited Him to Steelers
