So I made the decision to not include pre-TV QBs. Apologies to Otto Graham, Sammy Baugh, Sid Luckman, Norm Van Brocklin, and others. Anyway, here's my top-30:
30. Rich Gannon, had an MVP and a Super Bowl appearance (may have been 2 if Siragusa hadn't belly flopped on him, or 3 if the tuck rule thing hadn't happened) and played well in high pressure games, excluding the TB Super Bowl where Gruden admitted TB knew the plays.
29. Sonny Jurgensen, won 5 passing titles, 2 with Philly and 3 with Washington, though I think of him as a Redskin first. Some of the best numbers of his era, but never started a playoff game.
28. Joe Namath, can't tell the story of the NFL without him and Super Bowl 3. Namath won an MVP and 3 passing titles. His late career was pretty rough, but he had 3 top-3 seasons and a rookie of the year in his 1st 5 years.
27. Earl Morrall, won an MVP award, was a highly used backup on 2 championship teams, including the undefeated 72 Dolphins, where he started more games than Griese.
26. Kurt Warner, 2 MVP's and 1 ring, but also a 5 year stretch of nothingness before a bit of a rebirth in Arizona. Without the Arizona run, his career was somewhat like Namath's.
25. Roger Staubach, on the one hand he had arguably the best stats of the 70s, at least from a passer rating standpoint, on the other, he was on a loaded team, and tended to underachieve in big games. Did win 2 titles, but never had that season where he was the best player in the league.
24. Ben Roethlisberger, 2 rings and maybe the best throw in Super Bowl history in 2008. Only thing keeping him this low, is he was never even an MVP candidate.
23. Philip Rivers, extremely efficient QB, who was unfortunately stuck on some pretty dreck teams during his prime, that he basically willed to .500 seasons.
22. Terry Bradshaw, 4 rings, and an MVP, but can't really shake the feeling the Steelers carried him, and not the other way around. Still can only have him so low.
21. John Hadl, 1 ring and 3 passing titles. Was part of one of the best QB-WR combos in history (Hadl-Alworth), and had an MVP caliber comeback season with the Rams late in his career.
20. Patrick Mahomes, move him up 3 spots if KC beats the Eagles Sunday Night. 2 MVPs and a ring so far. Its very possible/likely we haven't seen his peak yet, and he'll eventually be a top-5 guy, as he's only 27.
19. Troy Aikman, I would have had him lower off the top of my head but looking more at his career. I think he could have done a lot more if he needed to. His playoff performances from 92-95 were as good as any QB ever.
18. Warren Moon, some could/would argue he was a compiler, but he won 2 passing titles, and was never the reason his team lost on the playoffs. Also broke down a lot of doors for black QBs, he wasn't the first, but I think he was the biggest.
17. Daryle Lamonica, best Raiders QB of all-time in my opinion, and honestly by a wide margin. 2 MVP's and was a very good playoff performer. Also had an all-time great nickname as the Mad Bomber. Would likely have had multiple rings if he had anywhere near the supporting cast Stabler or especially Plunkett had.
16. Russell Wilson, I feel like he's become grossly underrated career wise of late. Up until his finger injury in 2021, Wilson was a top-5 QB for the entirety of his career, as well as an exceptionally clutch player in the playoffs, famous endzone INT notwithstanding (and more on Carroll than Wilson) still 1 ring, and only 2 non-playoff seasons out of 11, is damn impressive. Also, probably the 2nd best (combining rushing and passing) scrambling QB of all-time.
15. Bart Starr, in many ways he's 60s Aikman, though Starr has an MVP. 5 rings, and strong performances from him in those games, keeps him up here, but its worth noting he was rarely asked to do that much, still he was highly efficient when he was.
14. Fran Tarkenton, 0 rings, but 3 Super Bowl appearances, and an MVP award. He also retired as the career leader in every major passing stat. Always wonder what would have been had he never been traded to NYG, because the 69 Vikings were probably their best team, everywhere but QB.
13. John Elway, 1 MVP and 2 rings. I always felt Elway got too much credit when things were good, and not enough blame when things were bad. Despite his career narrative he was never carrying bad teams to Super Bowls. Denver always had good defenses during his run, and honestly, I give Shanahan a lot of credit for "fixing" Elway and getting him to play less recklessly which led to both rings.
12. Jack Kemp, this is probably my worst ranking, but this is a sentimental one, as my Grandpa introduced me to football when I was a kid in the late 80s. and he got me a VHS series about the AFL, and whenever Kemp came on, he would always have a story about what a great passer and leader he was, despite not even being a Bills fan. To Kemp's credit, he won 2 rings and an MVP, but his numbers are pretty rough to look at.
11. Len Dawson, the AFL's best passer in my opinion. 2 rings, and some excellent rate stats. His 82.6 career passer rating is very impressive considering he retired in 1975.
10. Bob Griese, another in the Aikman/Starr category, where if asked to do more I'm certain he could have. Best QB of the 70s in my opinion. 3 straight SBs, winning 2, including an undefeated season, though Morrall started more than half of it.
9. Dan Marino, I bet a lot of people would have lost money betting that 1984 Marino would be both his best season, and only SB appearance. I'm not sure either of those are Marino's fault, as I feel the game sort of passed Don Shula by during the late 80s and early 90s, and Marino was carrying some pretty mediocre teams. Marino's 84 passing records stood for 20 years.
8. Steve Young, there is a part of me that wonders if Young would have taken over a couple year earlier if he'd be in the top-3 of this list. Young didn't get the SF starting job until he was 30 years old. Part of me thinks SF still wins the 89 SB with Young instead of Montana, and perhaps more. Best scrambling QB of all-time in my eyes. Had an Aaron Rodgers like efficiency as a passer, really the only knock is his longevity, and the fact that he inherited a Super Bowl contender, and only won 1, though 2 MVPs, and he had Seifert and not Walsh. His 1994 might be the best QB season of all-time counting playoffs.
7. Drew Brees, seems wrong to have him ahead of Young, but he basically doubles every career stat. 1 ring, and 7 passing titles, I still have no idea how he didn't win the 2009 MVP. Could also argue he saved football in NO, but some bad defenses prevented further success.
6. Joe Montana, 4 rings, 2 MVPs (why he won in 90 I don't know) and incredibly clutch (Joe Cool) in the playoffs. Also had an all-time great SNL sketch. Stats be damned, Montana-Rice is the gold standard of QB-WR combos, and I refuse to accept any argument otherwise. Also almost willed a pretty average KC team to the Super Bowl in 93 after a career threatening arm injury.
5. Brett Favre, 1 ring, 3 MVPs, 5 retirement waffles, and a sullied reputation after leaving GB, especially this past year. On field, he was maybe the most joyful player to watch of all time. Nobody seemed like they enjoyed playing more than him. He was typically a great clutch QB, which made the few flameouts that much more memorable, and retired with every major passing record.
4. Aaron Rodgers, 1 ring, 4 MVPs, 2 retirement waffles, and a lack of understanding between vaccinated and immunized. With rumors of the Jets wanting Rodgers, let's hope he doesn't follow in Favre's off-field footsteps at least. Rodgers combined elite efficiency with clutch performance (and amazing hail mary luck) and could still add to his career, though I think the top-3 are pretty untouchable for me.
3. Johnny Unitas, "there's a haircut you can set your watch by" 3 rings, 3 MVP's, and passing numbers from the 50s and 60s that wouldn't have looked out of place in the early 90s. The biggest contribution from Unitas was simply his style of passing and his mechanics. You watch any highlights of Unitas and you'll see a similar style and gait to Kurt Warner. He was kinda the 1st real true downfield pocket passing QB, everyone else looked out of place a little by today's standards. Unitas looks like he could play in 2023.
2. Peyton Manning, I really want to put him first. I really do, and I probably would have 3 years ago. Its really Brady's TB run (doing it without Belichick) that sealed the deal for me. 2 rings, 4 SB appearances, record 5 MVPs, the best single season ever (and an argument as to which season that is) and frankly the most impressive thing to me is the 2011 Colts. They were pretty much the same team as 2010 only without Manning and they went from playoff team to #1 overall pick. I'm not sure there has ever been a player more important to his team. Went to Denver after a major neck injury and had 2.75 MVP caliber seasons. He's my favorite player of all-time.
1. Tom Brady, how can you argue against 3 MVPs and 7 rings. I was stubbornly doing it as recently as 2020. I was very much Belichick>Brady. I still think there is some validity to it, but Brady won without him, he's yet to do much without Brady. Even this past season, I thought Brady was still pretty good with a bad OL, and no running game to support him. I'll miss him being in the NFL, and playing at his level until his mid 40s, may have been more impressive than his prime was.
