Were the evangelists also disciples of Jesus?

The authors of the four New Testament gospels are collectively known as the evangelists. However, the gospels were originally anonymous and were only attributed to the apostles whose names they now bear, later in the second century. Thus, by tradition, the authors of Matthew's Gospel and John's Gospel are regarded as disciples of Jesus, while the authors of Mark and Luke, while important apostles, were not original disciples.

However, scholars say that none of the evangelists could have been an eyewitness to the events described, and therefore none of the evangelists was among the disciples of Jesus. We do not know who the gospel authors were.