Top QBs of All-Time

[HarveyWallbangers]

Otto Graham played in the late 40s and 50s. He played 10 years, his team made the championship game in all 10 years and won the title 7 times.

During an astounding career in which the Browns compiled a 105-17-4 record.

In his final year of play, Graham won the Hickok Belt as top professional athlete of the year, and ten years later, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In 1999, he was ranked number 7 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.

Otto Graham is considered by many historians to be one of the greatest winners in the history of professional sports. Graham played six seasons in the NFL and took the Cleveland Browns to the NFL Championship Game all six seasons, winning three NFL titles. Including four seasons in which his team captured four AAFC titles, Graham played ten total seasons of professional football and made the league championship game all ten seasons, winning seven league titles.

In his 10 years in the NFL and AAFC, he was his league's MVP 5 times.

[4and12to12and4]

Otto Graham played in the late 40s and 50s. He played 10 years, his team made the championship game in all 10 years and won the title 7 times.

During an astounding career in which the Browns compiled a 105-17-4 record.

In his final year of play, Graham won the Hickok Belt as top professional athlete of the year, and ten years later, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In 1999, he was ranked number 7 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.

Otto Graham is considered by many historians to be one of the greatest winners in the history of professional sports. Graham played six seasons in the NFL and took the Cleveland Browns to the NFL Championship Game all six seasons, winning three NFL titles. Including four seasons in which his team captured four AAFC titles, Graham played ten total seasons of professional football and made the league championship game all ten seasons, winning seven league titles.

In his 10 years in the NFL and AAFC, he was his league's MVP 5 times.

Yeah, and there were like 10 teams in the league at the time and seven of them were as bad as Notre Dame is this year. Big deal.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Yeah, and there were like 10 teams in the league at the time and seven of them were as bad as Notre Dame is this year. Big deal.

10 teams (actually 12-14 teams) means 2 out of every 3 players in the league today wouldn't make it. Mark Tauscher? Wouldn't start. Willis McGahee? Wouldn't start. If you want to go by that, then we might as well give back 11 of our 12 championships.

I can't wait until you're 50, and some 20-something talks about how shitty the league was back in your day. That Brett Favre couldn't hold a candle to the best QBs of the modern era.

The athletic ability of those guys weren't as far off from today as you think. You ever see Gale Sayers or Jim Brown run? How about James Lofton? In his younger days, that guy was comparable to the Randy Moss' of the league. Phenomenal athlete. World class.

[4and12to12and4]

Yeah, and there were like 10 teams in the league at the time and seven of them were as bad as Notre Dame is this year. Big deal.

10 teams (actually 12-14 teams) means 2 out of every 3 players in the league today wouldn't make it. Mark Tauscher? Wouldn't start. Willis McGahee? Wouldn't start. If you want to go by that, then we might as well give back 11 of our 12 championships.

I can't wait until you're 50, and some 20-something talks about how shitty the league was back in your day. That Brett Favre couldn't hold a candle to the best QBs of the modern era.

The athletic ability of those guys weren't as far off from today as you think. You ever see Gale Sayers or Jim Brown run? How about James Lofton? In his younger days, that guy was comparable to the Randy Moss' of the league. Phenomenal athlete. World class.

I agree that some skill players like Sayers, Lofton, Brown may have been able to hold their own and maybe even be probowlers, but the lineman were so small in comparison to today. The backers were smaller and slower. There is way more strength, size and speed all over the field to keep these skill players in check as they weren't when they played. Plus, Lofton, Sayers, you're getting into the late 70's, 80's, I'm talking the 40's and 50's. Smaller, slower guys that played football parttime, while they worked at the mill all week. I mean come on. Guys like TO would score 10 touchdowns a game against those guys. The size, speed, agility, knowledge of a huge playbook would make the games a laugher. If you put a Lombardi team against a Brett Favre team this Sunday, we would destroy the Lombardi team, and embarass them off the field. Can you imagine Lombardi's o-line trying to keep our d-line off Bart? We'd kill him. Brett would be slinging 10 touchdown passes at will against that team. Our average offensive and defensive lineman are 300 lbs. and agile. It would be a masacre.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Depends on how you want to compare them. The best you can do is view their dominance in their respective eras. That's the way I judge them, and I think most fair-minded people would judge them that way. Jim Brown was the most dominant RB in NFL history in my book (and he is a guy that could play today). Babe Ruth and Willie Mays were the most dominant baseball players, IMHO. Don Hutson and Jerry Rice were the most dominant WRs. Carl Lewis was the most dominant track star in his era.

[motife]

I think Sonny Jurgenson has to rank in the Top 20.

[Maxie the Taxi]

Bart Starr had approximately 9 more touchdown passes than interceptions. Check those numbers against Bretts touchdowns vs. interceptions. Was Start going against better defenses? Yeah right. If Starr had to go against teams like the Chargers and Bears, he would be eaten alive.

You just don't get it.

Yes, any of today's hurdlers could smoke Jesse Owens. Modern decatheletes would eat Jim Thorpe alive. Albert Einstein would make Isaac Newton look like a kindergarten student. Does this diminish the greatness of these historical men?

Every conversation I've ever been in comparing one generation to the other degenerates into " those old guys couldn't hold a candle to modern guys." If you're gonna say that then why even have the discussion in the first place?

Obviously, we can't compare Bobby Jones and Tiger Woods in the exact same environment and time frame. But we can compare and contrast the two with respect to their competitiveness and dominance within their respective eras!

[The Shadow]

Since I never was able to see Graham or Baugh, my rankings are based only on quarterbacks I've observed :

1 Johnny Unitas
2 Bart Starr
3 Joe Montana
4 John Elway
5 Tom Brady
6 Peyton Manning
7 Brett Favre
8 Dan Marino
9 Fran Tarkenton
10 Roger Staubach
11 Terry Bradshaw
12 Sonny Jurgenson
13 Steve Young
14 Dan Fouts
15 Troy Aikman

[Maxie the Taxi]

Since I never was able to see Graham or Baugh, my rankings are based only on quarterbacks I've observed :

1 Johnny Unitas
2 Bart Starr
3 Joe Montana
4 John Elway
5 Tom Brady
6 Peyton Manning
7 Brett Favre
8 Dan Marino
9 Fran Tarkenton
10 Roger Staubach
11 Terry Bradshaw
12 Sonny Jurgenson
13 Steve Young
14 Dan Fouts
15 Troy Aikman

Shadow, I could quibble but it's a good list. I've seen them all play too. I know why you topped the list with Unitas. He was the better passer; Starr the better field general. Unitas played with probably five or six Hall of Famers. Speaking of which, Raymond Berry was perhaps the best wide receiver I've ever seen play (apologies to Jerry Rice).

[The Shadow]

Since I never was able to see Graham or Baugh, my rankings are based only on quarterbacks I've observed :

1 Johnny Unitas
2 Bart Starr
3 Joe Montana
4 John Elway
5 Tom Brady
6 Peyton Manning
7 Brett Favre
8 Dan Marino
9 Fran Tarkenton
10 Roger Staubach
11 Terry Bradshaw
12 Sonny Jurgenson
13 Steve Young
14 Dan Fouts
15 Troy Aikman

Shadow, I could quibble but it's a good list. I've seen them all play too. I know why you topped the list with Unitas. He was the better passer; Starr the better field general. Unitas played with probably five or six Hall of Famers. Speaking of which, Raymond Berry was perhaps the best wide receiver I've ever seen play (apologies to Jerry Rice).

What made Berry so special was the fact that he was a short, slow glasses-wearing fellow that MADE himself, thru incredible diligence, into the most precise route-runner of all time.
No one will ever run the 'out' as well.

[MadtownPacker]

Sammy Baugh has to be in any all-time 15. He had as good an arm as player on this list. He won the rings to match his talent and was an effective QB for 16 years and played for 17 seasons.

I dont know nada about any QBs before Montana but awhile back I was watching NFL Network and they had an NFL Films special talking about QBs. They showed Sammy Baugh who's name I had heard before. It was cool, showed how he was one of the first QBs to use the pass a lot at least by that times standards. They interviewed him and he talked about how he would have loved to play today game. It was interesting when he talked about the game back then. Was his nickname Slinging Sammy, right?

[KYPack]

Sammy Baugh has to be in any all-time 15. He had as good an arm as player on this list. He won the rings to match his talent and was an effective QB for 16 years and played for 17 seasons.

I dont know nada about any QBs before Montana but awhile back I was watching NFL Network and they had an NFL Films special talking about QBs. They showed Sammy Baugh who's name I had heard before. It was cool, showed how he was one of the first QBs to use the pass a lot at least by that times standards. They interviewed him and he talked about how he would have loved to play today game. It was interesting when he talked about the game back then. Was his nickname Slinging Sammy, right?

He was arguably the first modern QB. Baugh made teams swiich to the "T" formation. If you watch the films, Baugh had a funny throwing motion (hence the Slingin Sam nickname) but he could throw long accurate spirals all over the field.

Sam would've been a atar in any era.

He was pretty Favre like and him and the gunslinger could have a beer and bullshit about the position easily.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Re: Top QBs of All-Time

Right now, it stands:
1 Montana
2 Marino
3 Elway
4 Unitas
5 Favre
6 Bradshaw
7 Young (Steve Friggin' Young?)
8 Starr
9 Aikman
10 Staubach
11 Brady
12 Namath (overrated, had more interceptions than TDs in his career)
13 Manning
14 Tarkenton
15 Kelly
16 Fouts
17 Graham
18 Moon
19 Baugh
20 Griese

I think the voting should be limitted to people over 50. Or maybe 70.

Most people voting in this thing think Montana is an old-timer who played in era with funny helmets that didn't have radio recievers in them. Back when they stole defensive signals just by sneaking a peak.

[4and12to12and4]

I regress and will admit I have been arguing this in the manner of who would beat who if matched up now. That is unfair. In terms of greatness, when speaking in terms of how good an athlete is in its own era, then, Unitas wins hands down. Nobody was even close to as good as him in his era. After that, Montana, Marino, Elway, heck even Boomer Esiason if given a good team around him were all excellent QB's but none of them STOOD head and shoulders above the other. Some may argue that. Montana had a cast and coaching staff that made him "appear" better than he really was. Not saying he wasn't one of the most calm, cerebral, accurate throwers of all time. But, he had weaknesses.

I just think that with Brett breaking all these records, being the toughest QB easily of all those, and his streak, and all the winning seasons, there is just so much he has done, he, to me stands out at #1 regardless of era. If he can win another SB, the balloting is closed.

[motife]

Modern QB's in Hall of Fame :

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
Y.A. Tittle 1948-1964
Johnny Unitas 1956-1973
Norm Van Brocklin 1949-1960
Bob Waterfield 1945-1952
Steve Young 1985-1999