Rodgers vs. Brady. Who is better?

I have had this debate many times over the last 50 years; only with Bart Starr vs.______ (fill-in the blank).

It's not player stats, or championships won. Its not the quality of the defenses they played with or the relative strengths and weaknesses of the players around them, because they all play with varying levels of each. It's not injuries, because they all have and play with injuries at different times in their careers.

It really comes down to opinions based on watching the players in many, many different situations. How did they perform in those situations?

Bart Starr - having watched him play through out his career, one thing was very clear. No matter what the situation or conditions, no matter what had happened earlier, no matter who he was playing with or against, with the game on the line he was usually at his best. With the game on the line, he found ways to win more often than not. With the most miserable conditions that one could imagine, with the comfort of knowing he already had 4 championships in his pocket, with his team trailing by 3 he found a way to drive the field and score the game-winning TD, not the game-tieing FG.

Team mates have said that no one they ever played with wanted to win more than Bart Starr. I hear much the same about Tom Brady, and have seen the results.

For some players, odd things happen in clutch situations and they win. For others, odd things happen and they lose. Some become better players when the situation becomes tougher; for some, those "odd" things happen and they lose.

Faced with a final drive to win a game, with the pick of any QB I wanted, I would still pick Bart Starr. The drive to win the Ice Bowl was the norm for him. I always "knew" what would happen in those situations. Starr found ways to win, regardless.

My second choice very likely would be Tom Brady, or Joe Montana, or Johnny U.

Rodgers is a great QB. Peyton Manning is a great QB. However, neither has developed a reputation for being "clutch" in the most demanding situations. Have they engineered great comebacks? Of course they have, but they have also been on the field for more than their share of those "odd" situations that resulted in failures. I don't think it is a coincidence.

Oh, and in my opinion, Brett Favre deserves to be grouped with Manning and Rodgers in spite of the great wins he had during the season. I was never comfortable with my thoughts of how he would perform in the playoffs, until he became a Viking. Then I was very comfortable!