Some of the best quarterbacks in NFL history were either influenced significantly by their direct predecessors or helped shape their replacements. Here's a look at some of the most prominent mentor-mentee relationships in the NFL, starting with the one that's quickly paying dividends in Green Bay.
Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love (Packers)
When Aaron Rodgers came into the league, he sat behind Brett Favre for three years; the 2005 first-round draft pick's first NFL start didn't come until 2008. The relationship between the two was by all accounts as frosty as the air in Green Bay this time of year, as Favre wasn't exactly keen on training his replacement. Rodgers also wasn't thrilled when the Packers drafted Jordan Love in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft — especially since they may well have won a Super Bowl in Rodgers' 2020 or 2021 MVP seasons had they used that pick on a WR such as Tee Higgins or Michael Pittman, or traded up a couple spots for Justin Jefferson or Brandon Aiyuk. Nonetheless, Rodgers was determined to be a better mentor to Love than Favre had been to Rodgers.
Like Rodgers before him, Love barely saw the field for three seasons, but also like Rodgers, he hit the ground running when he finally took the starting job in 2023. Between unconventional arm angles and an innate ability to extend plays, you could see that learning behind Rodgers had rubbed off on Love. They were similar statistically as well, as Love's 98.3 passer rating through 16 games in 2023 was identical to Rodgers' mark in his 16 starts in 2008. In the 17th game, Love showed that he also seems to have inherited another key trait from Rodgers: ownership of the Bears. Rodgers had a 24-5 career record against Chicago, and Love's Packers went 2-0 against the Bears this season, with the latter win clinching a playoff berth for Green Bay. The jury's still out on Love, but at least Green Bay seems to have learned from its mistakes in Rodgers' later years and is making sure to surround its new QB with weapons, having used eight picks over the last two drafts on WRs and TEs.
Joe Montana and Steve Young (49ers)
There was certainly some animosity between Joe Montana and Steve Young, but the pair of fiery competitors pushed each other to be better, and they were both better off for it. Their quotes from a 1988 Sports Illustrated Piece perfectly encapsulate the effectiveness of Montana's tough-love mentorship. "We're friends, Steve and I," said Montana, "But out on the practice field, if he doesn't hate me as much as I hate him, then there's something wrong." While Montana wouldn't admit it, Young made it clear that the veteran QB was indeed mentoring the underling during their time together in San Francisco, both on and off the field. "Joe goes out of his way to be helpful, especially when it comes to stuff outside football," Young said. "I'd like to think both of us will take the 49ers to the Super Bowl."
Young's words proved prophetic. The quotes above all came prior to the 1988 season, on the heels of a 1987 campaign which was Young's first in San Francisco after he posted a 3-16 record in two years as Tampa Bay's QB. Young started three regular-season games for the 49ers in 1987 while Montana was injured, but Montana got the starting nod for the team's playoff opener against Minnesota, only to be replaced by Young at halftime of the eventual 36-24 loss. Montana went on to hold off Young for the starting job for three more years, winning his third and fourth Super Bowls and two MVPs from 1988-90. When Montana missed the 1991 season with an elbow injury, the mentee took over and never looked back. Young added another Super Bowl ring and two MVPs of his own in a reign as SF's starter that lasted until 1999.
Drew Bledsoe and Tom Brady (Patriots)
Drew Bledsoe didn't perceive Tom Brady as much of a threat to his starting job when the latter was selected in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft. After starting all 16 games for the Patriots in 2000, Bledsoe was once again penciled in atop the QB depth chart to begin 2001, but he was injured on a big hit in Week 2, paving the way for Brady's reign to begin. Brady took over the starting job and ran with it, using some of the mentorship he had received from Bledsoe as a rookie in 2000 to guide him. Even after Bledsoe returned to full health, Brady remained the starter, while Bledsoe took the demotion in stride. "When Drew got hurt, no one would've wanted that, no one hoped for that," Brady said in the pilot episode of ESPN's Tom Brady: Man in the Arena, per NESN. "And I think what I respect so much about him is he never let any of those emotions negatively impact me in any way."
Brady went on to win the first of his six Super Bowl championships with the Patriots that season, proving that the mentee had already surpassed his mentor, who was a three-time Pro Bowler at the time. The Patriots aren't complaining after their dominant run with Brady, but he didn't exactly pay it forward with Jimmy Garoppolo, instead running his heir apparent out of town after the 2014 second-round pick showed promise in 2016 while Brady was serving a suspension for one of New England's numerous cheating scandals during his tenure. The Patriots traded Garoppolo in 2017, and New England's QB situation has been a mess ever since Brady left for greener pastures in Tampa Bay after the 2019 season.
Kurt Warner and Eli Manning (Giants)
Kurt Warner's best remembered for winning a Super Bowl with the Rams and reaching another with the Cardinals, but in between those accomplishments, he had a cup of coffee as Eli Manning's mentor with the Giants. The two-time MVP was playing at far from an MVP level in his lone season with Big Blue in 2004, but the Giants were 5-4 in spite of Warner's pedestrian 6:4 TD:INT. Coach Tom Coughlin made the move to replace Warner under center with the first overall pick from the 2004 NFL Draft, and while the move didn't pay immediate dividends, Warner's willingness to step aside and embrace a mentorship role proved pivotal to the Giants' success for years to come. Manning proceeded to go just 1-6 as a rookie, but in Warner's own words, "It worked out pretty well 4 Gmen!" Manning went on to start 210 consecutive games for the Giants, winning two Super Bowls in the process. The impact of Warner's influence wasn't lost on Manning, who directly thanked Warner for being such a great mentor in 2020, after both legendary QBs had retired.
