TheGrunt Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 (edited) John Elway: John Elway is the first quarterback to start in five Super Bowls; two of them were victories. For 16 amazing seasons – 234 games that included a NFL-record 148 wins – John Elway was the undisputed leader of the Denver Broncos. He will be forever remembered for his 47 game-winning or game-tying drives in the fourth quarter (another NFL record), his spectacular passing statistics, and his enduring competitive spirit, which led him from bitter disappointment to ultimate professional and personal triumph in the Super Bowl. Joe Montana: The most successful post season NFL quarterback in NFL history was a master of late quarter comebacks and clutch performances. Montana won the NFL’s passing title twice in 1987 and 1989. During Montana’s career he led his team to the post season eleven times, of the eleven, he earned nine divisional championships. Maybe his most legendary achievement is a 4-0 record in Super Bowls. Montana led the 49ers to victories in Super Bowls sixteen, nineteen, twenty-three, and twenty-four, and of the four Super Bowl wins, Montana astonishingly won the MVP three times. For his career with the 49ers, Montana completed 2,929 of 4,600 passes for 35,142 yards and 244 touchdowns. He had thirty-five 300 yard passing games. His career totals: 3409 completion on 5391 attempts, 273 touchdowns, 40,551 yards. His career passer rating was 92.3, 3rd highest of all-time, behind Kurt Warner (still active) and successor Steve Young. He also rushed for 1676 yards and 20 touchdowns. Terry Bradshaw: A tough competitor, Bradshaw had a powerful, but erratic throwing arm and called his own plays throughout his pro career and is often compared to current Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for his toughness. His physical skills and on-the-field leadership played a major role in Pittsburgh sports history. Bradshaw also excelled in big games. During his career, he passed for more than 300 yards in a game only seven times, but three of those performances came in post-season play, two of them in Super Bowls. In four career Super Bowls he passed for an impressive 932 yards and 9 touchdowns. In 19 postseason games he completed 261 passes for 3,833 yards. Steve young: As the starting quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, Young retired as the highest-rated QB in NFL history. He was the Super Bowl XXIX MVP and the league’s MVP in 1992 and 1994, as well as a two-time 4,000 yard passer (1993 and 1998). Young is also the only quarterback in league history to win four consecutive passing titles and to post six consecutive 300-yard passing games. In addition, he is tied for the league record in highest completion percentage for a career (64.3%), most seasons leading the league in touchdown passes (4), and is second all-time with 20 consecutive passes completed. Young will also be well remembered for his exceptional footwork, which allowed him to make some of the most electrifying runs by a quarterback in NFL history. Troy Aikman: After being drafted number one in the NFL draft by the Cowboys in 1989, Aikman led the cowboys to Super Bowl championships in Super Bowls XXVII, XXVIII, and XXX. Aikman led teams played in four consecutive NFC championships from 1992-1995, won six NFC east titles, including five consecutive, and he was the 10th rated lifetime passer going into the 2000 season. His 61.6% lifetime passing percentage going into the 2000 season was the third highest in NFL history, and in the 1990’s he became the winningest quarterback in any decade ever. Jim Kelly: He was put in charge of a hurry-up, no-huddle offense in which the quarterback calls the plays after sizing up the defensive alignment. That offense, and Kelly's skill at running it, took the Bills to four consecutive AFC championships, from 1990 through 1993. However, Buffalo lost in all four Super Bowls. Kelly led the NFL with a 63.3 completion percentage and a rating of 101.2 in 1990 and he had a league-leading 33 touchdown passes in 1991. A very tough competitor who often played despite injury, Kelly missed a handful of games with a chronic knee problem. He completed 2879 of 4779 passes for 35,467 yards, with 237 touchdowns and 175 interceptions. Kelly also rushed 304 times for 1,049 yards and 7 touchdowns. Dan Marino: Gifted with a strong arm and an amazingly quick release, Marino was very difficult to sack, although he lacked mobility. During a period from 1988 to 1989, Marino threw 759 consecutive passes without being trapped for a loss. Marino was awarded the Bert Bell Trophy as the NFL player of the year in 1984, when he completed 362 of 564 passes for 5,084 yards and 48 touchdowns. He was the first quarterback to pass for more than 5,000 yards in a season and he shattered the old record of 36 touchdown passes. In a 38-16 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XIX after that season, Marino completed 29 of 50 passes, both records at the time. Named to the Pro Bowl nine times, Marino holds virtually all of the NFL's important career passing records: Most attempts, 8358; most completions, 4967; most yards, 61,361; most touchdown passes, 420; most games with 400 or more passing yards, 13; most games with 300 or more passing yards, 60; and most games with four or more touchdown passes, 21. John Unitas: Led Baltimore Colts to 2 NFL titles (1958-59) and a Super Bowl win (1971); All-Pro 5 times; 3-time MVP (1959,64,67); passed for 40,239 career yards and 290 TDs. In my opinion he is not the best overall, but the most important. With out Unitas there maybe no NFL today, he made the league into the sports empire it is today. Roger Staubach: In 1969 the Dallas Cowboys selected Roger Staubach out of New Mexico Military Institute. It wasn’t until 1971 that the 1963 Heisman Trophy Winner received the starting role for the Cowboys, and thus began his legendary career. Stuabach in a sense was ahead of his time as he was successful at both throwing and running the ball. His career passing totals of 1,685 completions for 22,700 yards and 153 touchdowns are accompanied by 2,264 rushing yards and 20 rushing touchdowns. Staubach retired with an 83.4 passing rating, which was the best by an NFL passer up to that time. Joe Namath: Joe Namath is maybe best known for guaranteeing a win for the Jets over the heavily favored Colts in Super Bowl three then he is for his great 13 year career. The Jets won the game and Namath was a legend ever since. 1968 he became the first quarterback to pass for more than 4,000 yards in one season, and was thus selected as a All-Pro and named MVP of the Super Bowl. Namath was plagued by injuries for most of his career, so while his stats do hold their own against the other NFL Legends, its hard to say what he could have accomplished. Still he completed 1,886 passes for 27,663 yards and 173 touchdowns in 12 seasons. Namath earned all league accolades four times in his career and was named to the all time AFL honor team. Edited March 31, 2006 by TheGrunt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kpholmes Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 Where's Favre? He gets my vote. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meat Face Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 this list is ghey without Favre on it, even though I don't think he's #1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outshined Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 Where is Fran Tarkenton? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGrunt Posted March 31, 2006 Author Share Posted March 31, 2006 Where's Favre? He gets my vote. 1396236[/snapback] Farve very much should be on the list and deserves a spot at a later time but the only reason I didn't put him on there is because he is not yet in the Pro Football Hall of Fame (even though he is already gauranteed a spot). I know, I know... this may sound ridiculous but there are also many other QB's who deserve a spot as well who are already in the hall of fame; the entire list of QB's enshrined are as follows: Sammy Baugh (QB) 1937-1952 Earl (Dutch) Clark (QB) 1931-1932, 1934-1938 Jimmy Conzelman (QB) # 1920-1929 John (Paddy) Driscoll (QB) 1920-1929 Arnie Herber (QB) 1930-1940, 1944-1945 Sid Luckman (QB) 1939-1950 Clarence (Ace) Parker (QB) 1937-141, 1945-1946 Troy Aikman 1989-2000 George Blanda (Also PK) 1949-1958, 1960-1975 Terry Bradshaw 1970-1983 Len Dawson 1957-1975 John Elway 1983-1998 Dan Fouts 1973-1987 Otto Graham 1946-1955 Bob Griese 1967-1980 Sonny Jurgensen 1957-1974 Jim Kelly 1986-1996 Bobby Layne 1948-1962 Dan Marino 1983-1999 Joe Montana 1979-1994 Warren Moon 1984-2000 Joe Namath 1965-1977 Bart Starr 1956-1971 Roger Staubach 1969-1979 Fran Tarkenton 1961-1978 <---- For Outshined Y.A. Tittle 1948-1964 Johnny Unitas 1956-1973 Norm Van Brocklin 1949-1960 Bob Waterfield 1945-1952 Steve Young 1985-1999 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGrunt Posted March 31, 2006 Author Share Posted March 31, 2006 But to add a memento in the name of Brett Farve here are his career highlights: * 595 Passing Attempts in 1999 * 363 Passing Completions in 1994 * 4413 Passing Yards in 1995 * 39 Passing Touchdowns in 1996 for the greenbay packers * 58 Rushing Attempts in 1993 and 1997 * 216 Rushing Yards in 1993 * Passed for 246 Yards and 2 Touchdowns in 1996 Super Bowl against New England for the greenbay packers * Passed for 256 Yards and 3 Touchdowns in 1997 Super Bowl against Denver * Led NFL in Passing Attempts in 1999 while playing for the Greenbay packers * Led NFL in Passing Completions in 1998 * Led NFL in Passing Yards in 1995 and 1998 * Led NFL in Passing Touchdowns in 1995, 1996, and 1997 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darin3 Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 Steve young: As the starting quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, Young retired as the highest-rated QB in NFL history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Front Row Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 Where's Favre? He gets my vote. +1 :Homer: Y.A. Tittie :Very old Homer: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MojoMan Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 These things are fun to talk about but, IMO, are overly biased by what you choose to remember about the player or what people have told you than what that player actually did. For instance, some commentator said that John Elway is overrated as a great QB since many people cite his large number of 4th quarter comebacks. This guy's argument was that, as a general rule, to have all those 4th quarter comebacks, Elway played poorly in the first 3 quarters of many of those games. It made sense to me; I remember it. However, real football experts say otherwise so this is probably the wrong conclusion. BTW Joe Montana was the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigTen Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 Gotta go with Johnny U followed closly by Elway. My man called all his own plays and the coach often times asked him what plays they should run. No O-Coodinator and he was tough as nails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 Montana. No one was as focused and cool under pressure. He wasn't the most talented but I think the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gdawg Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 (edited) Gotta go with Johnny U followed closly by Elway. My man called all his own plays and the coach often times asked him what plays they should run. No O-Coodinator and he was tough as nails. 1396326[/snapback] +1 here. Also dont forget that during the era in which Unitas played, DBs were basically allowed to mug receivers on every play. The rules, of course, are now much different. Edited March 31, 2006 by Gdawg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NAUgrad Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 (edited) These things are fun to talk about but, IMO, are overly biased by what you choose to remember about the player or what people have told you than what that player actually did. For instance, some commentator said that John Elway is overrated as a great QB since many people cite his large number of 4th quarter comebacks. This guy's argument was that, as a general rule, to have all those 4th quarter comebacks, Elway played poorly in the first 3 quarters of many of those games. It made sense to me; I remember it. However, real football experts say otherwise so this is probably the wrong conclusion. BTW Joe Montana was the best. 1396319[/snapback] Or Elway was following Reeves' booring game plan which led them to be down almost all the time and Reeves was forced to turn Elway loose in the 4th. No doubt Montana was great, and I'm not old enough to have watched Unitas, but no QB did more with less talent around him than Elway! Edited March 31, 2006 by NAUgrad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylive5 Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 While Montana (whom I voted for) is probably the 'best' QB of all-time.... Slingin' Sammy Baugh was the 'greatest' QB of them all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Men In Tights Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 When we revisit this list in about 20-years I will vote for Michael Vick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easy n Dirty Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 Diehard Jets fan, but including Namath on this list is a little silly IMO. His career completion percentage of 50.1% is low, even given the era in which he played (e.g., Staubach at 57.0%, Bob Griese at 56.2%, Tarkenton at 57.0% - although Bradshaw was also low at 51.7%). His career TDs of 173 versus 220 interceptions is an eyesore. He was a mobile QB at Alabama before he hurt his knee the first time, and certainly there's something to be said for what he might have done had he not been injured so much, but at the end of the day you gotta' judge a guy based on what he actually did do. I voted for Elway - I agree with a previous poster that he did more with less than Montana. But what do I know, I think Emmit Smith was better than Barry Sanders too. :runsforcover: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junebugz Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 Diehard Jets fan, but including Namath on this list is a little silly IMO. His career completion percentage of 50.1% is low, even given the era in which he played (e.g., Staubach at 57.0%, Bob Griese at 56.2%, Tarkenton at 57.0% - although Bradshaw was also low at 51.7%). His career TDs of 173 versus 220 interceptions is an eyesore. He was a mobile QB at Alabama before he hurt his knee the first time, and certainly there's something to be said for what he might have done had he not been injured so much, but at the end of the day you gotta' judge a guy based on what he actually did do. I voted for Elway - I agree with a previous poster that he did more with less than Montana. But what do I know, I think Emmit Smith was better than Barry Sanders too. :runsforcover: 1396633[/snapback] well at least your wrong on both counts and not just one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Swerski Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 (edited) It's difficult to compare the older QBs like Unitas and Otto Graham with the modern players because of the way that the game has changed, so I'm going to focus on people who played in the '70s and after... Marino is the most prolific passer in league history, despite rarely having the support of a halfway decent running game or a strong defenses to hold a lead. He did absolutely everything that was asked of him, but his teams were never complete enough to win it all. Montana was a fantastic leader with intangibles out the wazoo, but was also in the best possible situation to succeed. Walsh's WCO was years ahead of opposing defensive coordinators. The Niners teams of '82, '84, and '87-'91 would've probably made the playoffs on defense alone. Joe is one of the greatest ever, but if he and Steve Young had switched places in history, we'd be talking about #8 as the greatest of all time. How Namath and Bradshaw got on the poll, but Tarkenton and Fouts didn't is beyond me. Edited March 31, 2006 by Bill Swerski Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MustOfBeenDrunk Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 Tarkenton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGrunt Posted March 31, 2006 Author Share Posted March 31, 2006 Joe is one of the greatest ever, but if he and Steve Young had switched places in history, we'd be talking about #8 as the greatest of all time. 1396659[/snapback] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOO Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 (edited) Marino - easy. Edited March 31, 2006 by BOO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kryptonite Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 (edited) Where is Fran? +1 Edited March 31, 2006 by kryptonite Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azazello1313 Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 i think you can make a very strong case for montana, elway, unitas, and marino. i really don't think you can make a strong enough case for any of the other contenders to leapfrog all of those guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savage Beatings Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 Where's Ted Bruschi? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junebugz Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 How Namath and Bradshaw got on the poll, but Tarkenton and Fouts didn't is beyond me. 1396659[/snapback] Forget Tark and Fouts .... how could someone put together this list and leave off Peyton Manning and Tom Brady? That is just plain irresponsible. Their names should be added at once. :quietlyexitsstageleft: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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