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| Clockwise from top left: Joe Montana, Tom Brady, Johnny Unitas and "Slingin' Sammy" Baugh. |
The day after New England snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in Super Bowl 49, I proclaimed to my dozen or so Twitter followers that Tom Brady now had the best résumé of any quarterback in NFL history.
Note that I didn't say he was the best quarterback the league had ever seen, that debate is far too subjective and there have been so many great ones, but it seemed logical that Brady had now checked off every box on his career checklist.
Absurd regular season numbers and MVP awards? Check. Every relevant postseason passing record and a record-tying four Super Bowl wins in a record six appearances? Check. A record-tying three Super Bowl MVP awards? Check. Arguably the greatest quarterback season ever in 2007 (not to mention an absurd 2010)? Check. Winning record against the "other" great QB of his era, Peyton Manning? Check.
While you could make a case that a number of other quarterbacks are "better" (however you define that), it's hard to make the case that any of them had a better career than Brady.
Or did they?
While most of my followers, largely Pats fans, agreed wholeheartedly with my sentiment, there were a few others that claimed the résumé of Joe Montana, or some quarterback from the days of yore, was better (Keep in mind that I'm not a Patriots fan. I actually grew up rooting for the Steelers, and giving Tom Brady credit used to give me indigestion. But hey, we all learn to appreciate greatness, right?).
Well, what say I lay out my terms for what makes a complete quarterback résumé, and we compare the best QB careers in NFL history. I have ranked quarterbacks from 1 to 10 in four different categories, then totaled the numbers to give each quarterback's résumé a score. Obviously there is some subjective interpretation of stats across generations, among other things, but bear with me here as I grade players on these four factors-
Championship Factor (Rings): Did this guy win championships? Tom Brady, Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw will obviously get a 10/10 for being the only quarterbacks to win four Super Bowls, but perfect ratings could also be handed out to players like Bart Starr and Otto Graham for winning titles before the Super Bowl era (though Starr also won the first two Super Bowls). Quarterbacks who performed especially well in their championship games (Steve Young) will also get a bump, and making it to the back to the big game, even if you didn’t win it the next time around, will also give you some extra credit (Brett Favre, Peyton Manning).
Stats Factor (Stat): While winning is the ultimate goal, it’s also important to take into account a quarterback’s statistical effect on his team and the league as a whole. Peyton Manning and Brett Favre each only have a single championship, while Dan Marino has none, yet those three players have their names all over the NFL record book. Hard to say they don’t deserve recognition, especially if we want to consider football the consummate “team sport.”
This rating will obviously be impacted by era, as Johnny Unitas will likely get a high rating for being miles ahead of his peers statistically, but someone like Kerry Collins, who ranks among the most prolific quarterbacks in league history, but played in a more pass-friendly era, will not.
More with Less Factor (MWL): Was this quarterback simply the product of a dominant team or scheme, or did they truly raise the level of everyone’s play around them? This is obviously subjective and up for debate, but it’s hard to say that somebody like Troy Aikman is among the best ever simply because he won three championships on loaded Cowboys teams in the early 1990s.
Peak Factor (Peak): How good was this player at his best? This is where we say a guy like Kurt Warner, who was historically good at his best, is better than someone like Vinny Testaverde, who stuck around long enough to crack the NFL’s Top-10 for passing yardage, but was never really that good.
So, without further ado, here are the greatest quarterback résumés in NFL history.
Honorable Mentions: John Elway, Roger Staubach, Y.A. Tittle, Dan Fouts, Warren Moon, Terry Bradshaw, Fran Tarkenton
Elway was the first man out after a long and productive career that included a pair of titles and five big game appearances. Still, his stats aren't as good as you remember. Seriously, check them out. Plus, when he finally did win his championships, he was no longer "the guy" for the Broncos. Those teams were led by the dominant running of Terrell Davis.
Staubach's career was short due to military service, but he still won a pair of titles and was among the best signal callers of the 1970s, stretching defenses thin with his abilities as a passer and runner. Y.A. Tittle won a pair of MVP awards and was the first QB to show you could consistently win by throwing the ball, putting together the first consecutive 3,000 yard passing seasons in league history. Unfortunately for the trail blazing Tittle, he never won an NFL championship, losing the title game three consecutive times from 1961-63.
Fouts is one of the most prolific passers in NFL history and put the Chargers, as well as the "Air Coryell" offense on the map, leading the NFL in passing for five straight years. But again, never winning a championship is almost impossible to overcome. Moon is another historically prolific passer, but the notion that a black man could not be a successful NFL quarterback led to him going undrafted in 1978, even after winning the Rose Bowl MVP at Washington. He had to spend five years north of the border in the CFL, but eventually became a 9-time Pro Bowlers and Hall of Famer. Only a lack of postseason success keeps Moon out of the Top-10.
Bradshaw joins Brady and Montana as the only quarterbacks with four Super Bowl wins, and his stats are better than you think for a guy that played with a great defense and running game. Still, his propensity for turnovers (210 career INTS to 212 TDs), and the fact that he played with a Hall of Fame running back and pair of Hall of Fame receivers, all while taking snaps from a Hall of Fame center, makes it hard to believe he did "more with less" to win those championships. Tarkenton was one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in league history, but an 0-3 record in Super Bowls keeps him out of the discussion for the best QB résumés ever.
Not There Yet: Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger, Eli Manning, Tony Romo, Phillip Rivers
It's conceivable that with another championship Rodgers, Brees, Roethlisberger and Eli could all join the conversation. Rodgers probably will either way if he statistically continues at this rate for another 5-7 years, while the improved play of Roethlisberger could make him an interesting case should he win a third ring. Manning would need to improve his efficiency numbers and win another title, while Romo and Rivers would likely each need multiple titles at this point to join our legendary group.
Down the Road: Andrew Luck, Russell Wilson
Wilson already has a title, and another appearance, but Luck has the massive numbers and potential to be one of the best ever. It's far too early to project these young careers against the best to ever do it, but this pair is certainly off to a great start.
10. Steve Young
Rings: 3/10
Stat: 8/10
MWL: 4/10
Peak: 10/10
Total: 26/40
Young had one of the greatest championship performances ever when he passed for a record six touchdowns and zero interceptions in Super Bowl XXIX against San Diego. Young's stats are also often overlooked, especially his efficiency numbers and passer rating. Young led the league in passer rating a record six times, including four in a row from 91-94. That run of dominance included three straight All Pros, two MVP Awards, a Super Bowl championship, a Super Bowl MVP and a modern-era record 8.71 yards per attempt. Young was certainly among the best ever at his peak.
Holding Young back are the facts that he played on relatively loaded teams in San Francisco, and he spent the beginning of his career with the inept Bucs in Tampa. His late-career injuries also cut down on his ability to win another title and improve his overall numbers, but when he was healthy and in his prime, his running and throwing made him one of the most unstoppable quarterbacks in league history.
9. Bart Starr
Rings: 10/10
Stat: 7/10
MWL: 3/10
Peak: 7/10
Total: 27/40
Starr won five NFL championships in the 1960s, including the first two Super Bowls as the signal caller for Vince Lombardi's famed Packers. Statistically, Starr was a monster in the postseason, and played his best when the most was on the line. With a 9-1 postseason record, including five titles, including three in a row in the mid 60s, Starr was the consummate winner on the league's consummate team.
While that legendary team actually holds him back a bit for our purposes (them's the breaks), Starr did still elevate his team, leading the league in passer rating five times throughout his career and turning the ball over fewer than any other regular starter of the 1960s. If Lombardi's teams didn't run the Power Sweep so effectively, or defend in such a smothering fashion, Starr's efficient passing may be more revered, but he still ranks among the best to ever do it.
7(tie). Brett Favre
Rings: 3/10
Stat: 10/10
MWL: 6/10
Peak: 9/10
Total: 28/40
Another Packer quarterback that is destined to be remembered as one of the best ever, Favre sits at or near the top of every career passing list the NFL has to offer. A long and healthy career are partly responsible for that, but when Favre took the torch from Young in 1995 and won the MVP for a then-record three consecutive years, he proved that he was among the best ever at his peak. During those three years, Favre won a title and appeared in another Super Bowl, but he was never able to get back to the big game in the subsequent 13 seasons.
Also holding Favre back was the West Coast scheme that coach Mike Holmgren employed, while the Packers also surrounded him with star receivers and tight ends, along with a solid stable of backs that could both run and catch. Favre's Packer teams weren't as loaded as Starr's, or Young's Niners, but they had talent across the board, and a star-studded coaching staff that always had the Pack on the cutting edge.
7(tie). Dan Marino
Rings: 0/10
Stat: 10/10
MWL: 8/10
Peak: 10/10
Total: 28/40
Marino is the only quarterback to crack our Top-10 without a championship for two major reasons:
1. At his peak in 1984, you could argue no quarterback in league history was better, and
2. He did more with less throughout his career, constantly lacking a reliable running game or defense, yet still keeping Miami in the playoff picture for over a decade.
Marino's numbers in an era before our pass-happy current league are nothing short of astounding, and after Mark Duper and Mark Clayton retired, he did it throwing to the solid Irving Fryar, then guys like O.J. McDuffie, Troy Drayton and Oronde Gadsen… Yeah, I guess that's doing more with less.
A title is the only thing missing from Marino's résumé, but the man did everything else.
6. Otto Graham
Rings: 10/10
Stat: 8/10
MWL: 4/10
Peak: 7/10
Total: 29/40
Graham won four straight titles in the now-defunct AAFC, and went on to win another three championships when the AAFC folded and the Browns joined the more competitive NFL, including back-to-back titles in 1954-55. We'll give him credit for championships won in the lesser league because the Browns proved they could do it in the NFL as well, but I just can't give him a 10/10 for stats considering his numbers dropped a bit in the superior league.
He still had best yards per pass attempt in NFL history to that point, an absurd 8.63 yards every time he threw, but those dominant Browns teams bring him down in the "More with Less" category, especially since they steamrolled teams in the weaker AAFC for four years. Still, Graham is one of the few guys you really can't find a flaw with, he checks off every box.
5. Peyton Manning
Rings: 4/10
Stat: 10/10
MWL: 6/10
Peak: 10/10
Total: 30/40
For as much as people harp on Manning for not winning more, he still has a Super Bowl win and two other appearances. That, and the fact that he will likely retire with every relevant career passing record (if he comes back next season), and his peak may be the highest peak in league history (his 2004 and 2013 seasons are both in the discussion for best ever). It's hard to say he totally did more with less, as he always had weapons, but his defenses and running games have failed him at inopportune times throughout the years, and other than Tony Dungy, he really hasn't had a great head coach.
A second title would likely shoot Manning into the Top-2, as his career numbers, MVP awards and "peak performances" are impossible to argue with. Of course, he may retire this offseason, so…
3(tie). Sammy Baugh
Rings: 5/10
Stat: 8/10
MWL: 8/10
Peak: 10/10
Total: 31/40
The father of modern quarterbacking, "Slingin' Sammy" Baugh revolutionized the way the game is played, popularizing the forward pass, while remaining lethal on the ground. Baugh also channeled his inner-Eli Manning, winning a pair of titles, including a championship upset of the undefeated and seemingly invincible Chicago Bears in 1942.
While Baugh's career numbers don't jump off the page, let's compare him to his peers in the grind it out 40s. In 1945, Baugh completed over 70 percent of his passes, setting a completion percentage record that would stand until Ken Anderson broke it in 1989. But making that number even more impressive is just how far ahead of his peers he was. Who was number two in 1945? That would be Sid Luckman, who completed just 54 percent of his passes. Baugh's QB rating of 110 was also far and away the best, topping Luckman's 82.5 by an almost silly margin.
The point is, Baugh was among the best ever compared to his peers at his peak, and captured multiple titles. He may not have won the most ever or put up the most prolific numbers, but Baugh should be mentioned any time the best quarterbacks of all time are discussed.
3(tie). Johnny Unitas
Rings: 8/10
Stat: 8/10
MWL: 6/10
Peak: 9/10
Total: 31/40
Johnny U was another pioneer of modern quarterbacking and his numbers in an era of running give him major points for stats. The former Colts great also won three NFL championships, including one Super Bowl, and his Hall of Fame career included memorable moments in three different decades.
Hurting his case is a Baltimore team littered with Hall of Fame players and coaches, and the fact that the end of his career could have been better. Small blemishes aside, Unitas is an icon in the world of quarterbacks, and today's greats owe a ton to one of the league's true innovators.
2. Joe Montana
Rings: 10/10
Stat: 9/10
MWL: 4/10
Peak: 9/10
Total: 32/40
1. Tom Brady
Rings: 10/10
Stat: 9/10
MWL: 6/10
Peak: 9/10
Total: 34/40
And we get to the top where both of our quarterbacks have four Super Bowl wins (though Brady has two more appearances), each putting up absurd stats, even for his era, in both the regular and post season, and each owns two of the best passing seasons in NFL history (Montana in 1987 and 1989, Brady in 2007 and 2010).
So, where do we begin to split hairs?
The only category that can really separate the two is our "More with Less" factor, where Brady edges Joe Cool by a pair of points. Why, you say? Well, as good as Montana was, he played in the revolutionary West Coast offense under Bill Walsh, a system that nobody else was running, and was still "cutting edge" 10 years after he retired.
With Walsh's quick passing offense, along with the greatest receiver to ever play the game in Jerry Rice, and the most underrated complete back of all time Roger Craig (not to mention an explosive "role player" in John Taylor), Montana lit the world on fire by exploiting defenses that were built to stop the run and the deep pass. Nobody saw those short crossers and quick hitches coming.
It's also worth pointing out that Montana only played one season in the salary cap era of the NFL (his final year with the Chiefs), and his 49ers teams were able to hold onto Hall of Famers like Rice, Charles Haley and Ronnie Lott as long as they pleased. None of that is Montana's fault, and he was certainly one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, but what Brady has done over the course of his career is simply more impressive.
He's appeared in two more Super Bowls, done so with an ever-changing supporting cast, and really only had a "true No. 1" receiver in 2007 when he and Randy Moss were making history. Wes Welker, Julian Edelman, Troy Brown, Deion Branch and now Brandon LaFell have all had success with Brady throwing them the ball, but I doubt anyone will be comparing those guys to Rice or even Taylor any time soon.
The one truly lethal weapon Brady has had for multiple years is tight end Rob Gronkowski, and even he has dealt with injuries throughout his short but productive time with the Patriots.
As for supporting defenses, while Brady's career started playing with some amazing defenses under Belichick in the early-2000s, the Pats quickly morphed into an offensive team as Brady continued to improve.
In Brady's 13 seasons as New England's starter (not counting 2008, which he missed due to injury), the Patriots' defense has ranked everywhere from 1st (once) to 17th (twice) in scoring D. While New England has put together four different Top-5 defenses during Brady's tenure (two of them coming during the championship seasons of 2003 and 2004), they haven't done so for six seasons. In the last five years, Brady has taken the Patriots to the Super Bowl twice, winning one title, during a span where his defenses ranked 8th, 15th, 9th, 10th and 8th again… Basically, average to above-average.
The Patriots' average scoring defensive rank during Brady's time in Foxborough: A solid 8.
Compare that to Montana, who played with a defense that ranked Top-4 in scoring D during seven of his eight seasons as San Francisco's full-time starter (Montana had 1982 and 1986 shortened by injuries and missed 1991 completely, along with making just one appearance in 1992). The one year the Niners ranked outside the Top-4 in scoring defense with Montana at QB? They ranked 8th, or, in other words, what Tom Brady's average defense ranked. During Montana's four title seasons with the 49ers, his defenses ranked 2nd, 1st, 8th and 3rd.
Much like Brady, who had a Top-6 scoring defense in three of his four championship seasons, you could make a case that the defense had just as much to do with all but one of Montana's titles.
The 49ers' average scoring defensive rank during Montana's time in the Bay Area: An absurd 3.1.
I know it's splitting hairs, but Montana did it over a shorter period of time with significantly better defenses, a scheme nobody had ever seen before, and two of the greatest offensive weapons in NFL history at his disposal in Rice and Craig.
Brady has done it utilizing a variety of schemes for nearly a decade-and-a-half with a mixed bag of defenses, one great year of Randy Moss, a few non-injured Gronk stretches and a slew of average running backs. Seriously, who is the best running back of the Brady era? Corey Dillon in his 30s? One year of Stevan Ridley? BenJarvus Green-Ellis? Lest we forget that during Brady's historic 2007 season, his leading rusher was… Laurence Maroney? Yeah, that should put things into perspective.
In fact, go ahead and look back at that "loaded" 2007 offense. It was basically Moss playing at a historic level, Welker catching a bunch of balls underneath, and then total garbage. Donte' Stallworth? Are we really trying to talk ourselves into the fact that they were loaded because he caught 46 balls that year? Who else was catching passes from Brady in 2007? Jabar Gaffney? Ben Watson? Each of them caught 36 passes, then Maroney and Kevin Faulk were the only two other guys to have more than 100 yards receiving…
If that is somehow superior to having Jerry Rice, John Taylor, Roger Craig and future Pro Bowl tight end Brent Jones, then… Well, no, it's just not, and 2007 was the one year "Brady had weapons."
For doing more with less over a longer period of time, Brady's résumé is just a little bit stronger. You could still make a case that Montana was the better player, but the greatest quarterbacking career ever belongs to Mr. Brady.
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