Written by Tyler Pastorius
With the National Football League regular season slated to start next week, the feeling of football is in the air. After each season and going into the season there is always a question of “is X quarterback going to be able to perform?” Or “is X quarterback going to finally have a breakout year?” Looking forward to the new season is great, but let’s look my list of the 10 Quarterbacks in NFL History.
- Peyton Manning – University of Tennessee/Indianapolis Colts/Denver Broncos
Manning has had a storied career in the NFL. Some of his numerous awards and accomplishments of his are being voted to the NFL Pro Bowl 14 times, winning the NFL Most Valuable Player award five times and being a two-time Super Bowl Champion.
He holds the NFL record for passing yards in both a career and a season, along with passing touchdowns in a career with 539 and a season with 55. With impressive accolades such as these to his name, Manning deserves to be in the conversation of the Top 10 Quarterbacks in NFL History.
He is one of the most respected quarterbacks that have played in the league and is a total football guy. But, he had some hiccups during his years such as in 2011, when he missed the whole season due to neck surgery. This injury led to his exit in Indianapolis and joining the Denver Broncos. Although Manning was a cerebral and lethal quarterback, teams of his in Indianapolis had a lack of postseason success due to collapses or an average to below level defense. If there’s one thing every teams need to win a Super Bowl, it’s a defense and for many years, Manning did not have a reliable or great defense. Because of that, I have Manning ranked at this spot.
- Aaron Rodgers – University of California/Green Bay Packers
No one thought the goofy looking guy backing up Brett Favre would turn into a two-time NFL MVP, a Super Bowl Champion and Super Bowl MVP, six-time Pro Bowler and arguably, the best quarterback in the league today. If you’re looking for a quarterback who can take control of the game, throw bombs down the field, all while being one of the most accurate quarterbacks in the league, then Rodgers is your guy.
Currently, in his career, he has 313 touchdowns against 78 interceptions with a career passer rating of 103.8, which is not only is impressive but is the best career passer rating in NFL history. It’s one thing to be an accurate quarterback when you complete check downs but it’s another thing when you can throw a ball, on the move, 60-70 yards down the field and it lands perfectly in your receiver’s hands. That’s what Rodgers provides to the Packers and why he is a constant headache for NFL defensive coordinators.
As he’s still in the league, I think he will move up my list of Top 10 Quarterbacks as I think that before his career ends the Packers will have at least one more Super Bowl appearance and perhaps, another championship.
- Troy Aikman – University of Oklahoma/UCLA/Dallas Cowboys
The former quarterback of “America’s Team” definitely has earned a spot on this list in my eyes. With back-to-back Super Bowl victories in the 1992 and 1993 NFL seasons, along with another in Super Bowl victory 1995 and three straight seasons of throwing for over 3,000 yards, not many can say they have accomplished what Aikman accomplished.
Looking at Aikman’s overall body of work, he had great years but also a good number of rocky years. But his great years were so great statistically and were played at a high level, I think it outweighs the down years. Having played in the 1990s, health issues took a toll on several players including Aikman. Dealing with concussions and back issues, this eventually led to the him retiring. When looking back at Dallas Cowboy great players and teams, Aikman played a huge and at times, underrated role in the careers and success of players like wide receiver Michael Irvin and running back Emmitt Smith.
- Roger Staubach – Navy/Dallas Cowboys
The 1963 Heisman Trophy winner, leading the Cowboys to four Super Bowls appearances with two victories and playing all 11 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, Staubach is viewed as one of the best (if not the best) quarterbacks in Cowboys history. A cool piece of trivia to note about Staubach is that he was the first of four NFL players to win not only the Heisman but also the Super Bowl MVP.
Some people may say that the great coaching of Tom Landry was a major reason for Staubach’s success and while partly true, Staubach was the one who truly led the team. He was fantastic at comeback victories and gained the nickname “Captain Comeback” because of his ma y comeback victories. In 23 different games, he led the Cowboys to game-winning drives with 17 of them being in the final two minutes of the game, or in overtime. If you’ve got that comeback or “clutch” gene as a quarterback, it’s more than likely you played a big role in your teams’ success.
- Brett Favre – University of Southern Mississippi/Atlanta Falcons/Green Bay Packers/New York Jet/Minnesota Vikings
My personal favorite quarterback of all time to watch, is the gunslinger known as Brett Favre. There was something about watching a guy who played football with a childlike enthusiasm and a reckless abandonment like he was in his backyard with friends. Whether it be after completing a short check down pass, or throwing a deep bomb for a touchdown, he always celebrated with great enthusiasm.
There are several stories from former teammates, like former Packers wide receiver Greg Jennings, about how fast and hard Favre would throw the ball to his receivers. Sometimes to the point where he would break or bruise teammates’ fingers when they would try to catch the ball.
The Mississippi native played with Atlanta, Green Bay, the Jets a hated rival of the Packers, the Vikings but he is known for his time in Green Bay. He only had one Super Bowl victory during his time in the league but was voted to the Pro Bowl 11 times and was a three-time league MVP. Perhaps most impressively though, he holds the NFL record for most consecutive starts by any player with 298.
There is no doubt Favre was a great player but he was called a “gunslinger” for a reason. He holds the NFL record for most career interceptions thrown with 336. If you truly want to relive the magic that Brett Favre provided, re-watch the Monday Night Football game in 2003 against the Oakland Raiders, a day after his father passed. He passed for four touchdowns in the first half and 399 yards in the game, you will see the greatness of Brett Favre in action.
- John Elway – University of Stanford/Denver Broncos
Elway had an accomplished playing career and is having success as the General Manager and Executive of Football Operations for the Denver Broncos. Elway has accomplished a great deal as a player, being a two-time Super Bowl champions, Super Bowl MVP and a nine-time Pro Bowler. As well as being named to the 1990’s All Decade team. He played in the league for 16 years, all with the Broncos and in his last season in 1998, he won his second Super Bowl before retiring on top.
Elway may have several records and accomplishments, but the thing that got him this top five ranking are his performance in crunch time situations. Situations such as “The Drive.”
“The Drive” is roughly a five minute drive that spanned 98 yards, led by Elway to tie the game against the Cleveland Browns in the AFC Championship Game. The game went into overtime and Denver was able to get the win. Thereby securing a trip to the Super Bowl. In regards to clutch performances, that drive is a textbook version of clutch performances.
With 51,475 career passing yards, 3,407 career rushing yards and 300 touchdowns during his career, Elway was a well-rounded player who really changed the view of how a quarterback is looked at in the NFL. In my opinion, he was instrumental in the evolution of quarterbacks and how they play.
- Dan Marino – University of Pittsburgh/Miami Dolphins
During his playing career, Marino was arguably the most dominant quarterback oh his time. He played a completely different style of quarterback then most of his peers did at the time and that style of play helped revolutionize the game and the quarterback position. Though Marino was and NFL MVP, voted to the Pro Bowl nine times and a combined seven-time All-Pro, he never won a Super Bowl. He played in one Super Bowl his second year in the NFL but lost to the historically dominant San Francisco 49ers.
When Marino retired, he held every major passing record a quarterback could have. The majority of his records were broken by Brett Favre and later, Peyton Manning. It’s surprising that Marino only played in one Super Bowl given his talent, but most of that can be attributed to not having a great defense and playing against other dominant teams in the conference. Marino also had few playoff games where he underperformed.
You can’t judge someone’s entire career based just off of championships, which is why Marino lands at number four on my list. Had he won a few championships, he would be in the discussion for the best quarterback ever.
- Johnny Unitas – University of Louisville/Baltimore Colts and San Diego Chargers
With a 17-year career in the early days of the NFL, “The Golden Arm” has always been thought of as an NFL great. He was a three-time NFL Champion, a Super Bowl Champion and was a 10-time Pro Bowler. To be nominated amongst your peers as a Pro Bowler is special, but to have that done 10 times is very special. In 1958, Unitas played in the first overtime game in the NFL against the New York Giants in the NFL Championship Game. Due to the overall stakes, it being the first overtime game and that it created a great deal of interest and brought in new fans, this game has been dubbed as “The Greatest Game Ever Played.”
Unitas was the greatest quarterback of his era and set many of the records that quarterbacks such as Favre, Manning and Marino would break. He set the standard of how to play the quarterback position. Being a record-setting quarterback and one of the greats is always special, no matter what sport you may play. in There are always great players who are instrumental to the growth and success off a sport and Unitas was one of those players for the NFL.
- Joe Montana – Notre Dame/San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs
Arguably the greatest quarterback of all time, Joe Montana has played in four Super Bowls and won all four. In three of those games, Montana was named the Super Bowl MVP. Just like John Elway, Montana was a part of an All-Decade team except his was during the 1980s. The 49ers have a total of five Super Bowl victories and the fact that Montana was part of four of those teams is impressive. What’s even more impressive is the fact that all four of them came during the 1980s. Imagine that, in just one decade, one team won almost half of the Super Bowls. On top of that, he was a first-ballot NFL Hall of Famer in 2000. Montana was a dominant player who took control of the game and his team, a winner, a record holder and a Hall of Famer, but there is one guy who tops that.
- Tom Brady – University of Michigan/New England Patriots
Love him or hate him, the nicest “bad boy” of the NFL, Tom Brady is the GOAT (greatest of all time) o quarterbacks. As a five-time Super Bowl Champion and four-time Super Bowl MVP, why wouldn’t Brady be dubbed as the GOAT? Some people argue that because he has appeared in eight Super Bowls and lost three, he should not be the GOAT but that is a ridiculous argument to be made against Brady. There are not too many players who can say that they’ve played in eight Super Bowls.
Over the course of Brady’s 18 seasons in the NFL, and heading into his 19th, there have been a staggering number of players who have come and gone in New England during his and head coach Bill Belichick’s tenures. Several of them were talented, undrafted wide receivers such as Wes Welker, Danny Amendola and Chris Hogan who were able to fit in perfectly with the type of offense New England runs. To be as successful as Brady has been with several different players around him is extremely impressive. There are not that many quarterbacks who are able to this. Rodgers perhaps may be the closest to him in this respect.
Every team and player have one goal heading into each season, to win the Super Bowl. Brady and the Patriots are consistently one of the teams in the mix and usually are the overwhelming favorite to come out of the AFC. Even though Brady is now 41 years old, that has not changed one bit. He’s arguably playing at a higher level than he ever has and still has the skills and leadership to lead the Patriots back to the Super Bowl. By the time his career is over, Brady could have potentially played in 10 Super Bowls, and I expect him to with the way he’s playing. Brady was drafted in the 6th round of the NFL Draft and is arguably, the greatest quarterback of all-time. That’s a pretty incredible story from where he started, to where he is now.
The NFL has seen great quarterbacks come and go and these quarterbacks are the Top 10 that I believe are the best. Many more will come and try to take these spots but, I think it will be at least 5-10 years before we could see any major shakeups on this list. Who are your Top 10 Quarterbacks of all time?
