Who is the greatest quarterback of all time?

[The Duke]

For ym mooney, the one guy I'd want in a big game as my quarterback is John Elway.  He wasn't one very good teams in the early years, but he still won the AFC titles.  "The drive" and "the dive" define Elway for me.  He had maybe the greatest physical gifts of any QB, and the heart of a Lion.  Not a Detroit Lion, but a real lion, you know?

[qwerty]

Terry Bradshaw - a great quarterback, a great Republican.

[Akno21]

Jim Kelly and Phil Simms don't belong on the same list as Montana and Unitas.

[The Duke]

Jim Kelly and Phil Simms don't belong on the same list as Montana and Unitas.

I didn't wnat to be accused leaving anyone off, so I included everyone who could reasonably be called a great QB.

[David S]

From your list I'd pick Elway. But My all time favorite is Ken Stabler. At that time the Raiders had a habit of not waking up until half way through the 4th quarter and then coming back to win. It made for some very exciting games.

Tom Brady (ex quarterback of the Michigan Wolverines) may well be the best quarterback ever, some day. But He's too young for that now.

[Wakie]

Hometown pride forces me to point out that 5 of those listed here were born and raised in Pittsburgh (Unitas, Namath, Marino, Montana, and Kelly).

It's hard to put guys like Unitas on a list with "modern" players.  Johnny U had to call his own plays and the DB's in his era were allowed to mug receivers.  For my money he's the greatest of the "early days" of the game and Joe Montana is the best QB of the current era (at least he was the best I've ever actually seen in a game).

[nclib]

Namath.

[??????????]

Unitas, hands down.

[TeePee4Prez]

Write-in: Donovan McNabb. F-U-C-K YOU RUSH LIMBAUGH!!!!

[Sam Spade]

Write-in: Donovan McNabb. F-U-C-K YOU RUSH LIMBAUGH!!!!

Until he can prove that the best thing he can do is lose NFC Championship, I would respectfully reply, "no".

[Keystone Phil]

Write-in: Donovan McNabb. F-U-C-K YOU RUSH LIMBAUGH!!!!

Sorry but I have to disagree. Donovan has improved this year but he isn't a great QB and certainly not near the Greatest QB of all time status.

[Bugs]

Y. A.  Tittle should be on this list, but you won't ever satisfy everyone.  Some of those QBs were good in their day, but not year after year after year like Tittle, Staubach, Elway and Marino.  Montana was good, and I was a big Bradshaw fan, but Unitas was the best ever.

[MHS2002]

Unitas. Still holds the record for most consecutive games with a TD pass I believe.

[TeePee4Prez]

Write-in: Donovan McNabb. F-U-C-K YOU RUSH LIMBAUGH!!!!

Sorry but I have to disagree. Donovan has improved this year but he isn't a great QB and certainly not near the Greatest QB of all time status.

I went with Unitas, but I just wanted to see the reaction.

[Akno21]

Joe Namath is vastly overrated. He had a few good years, and Super Bowl III. He killed himself off the field. He could have been great, but he got hurt and didn't take care of himself.

[Blue Rectangle]

From your list I'd pick Elway. But My all time favorite is Ken Stabler. At that time the Raiders had a habit of not waking up until half way through the 4th quarter and then coming back to win. It made for some very exciting games.

Tom Brady (ex quarterback of the Michigan Wolverines) may well be the best quarterback ever, some day. But He's too young for that now.

Potential is a tricky thing.  Remember a few years back when Bledsoe was the brightest young star at QB?  He didn't even make this list!

The answer is Elway because he managed to do so much by himself.  And because no other QB with such running ability has been as good at the passing game.

If Marino had won a pair of Superbowls, he could be the answer.  If Montana had not had Rice to throw to, but had done as much, he could be the answer.

Throwing Unitas into the mix makes it hard.  It's like comparing Ruth to Clemens--you just can't compare the two.  (Or like comparing Jim Brown to Barry Sanders, if you want to stay in the same sport)

[J-Mann]

My cousin Peyton, of course

[Nym90]

Marino. The Dolphins always had a terrible running game every year. Defenses knew that Marino was going to pass all the time, and they still couldn't stop him. Most of the other QBs on this list had good running back for at least a decent portion of their careers.

Elway is a close second. He also usually had a bad running game behind him, and when he finally got a decent back, Terrell Davis, he won 2 Super Bowls. I don't think the Super Bowl titles should put Elway ahead of Marino because Marino would have won championships too with a running game. Marino's numbers were more impressive overall than Elway's.

[The Duke]

While I said Elway, the most overlooked two factors for choosing a QB are release time and ball velocity.  No one ever examines these things (which is why its so hard to darft QBs), but Marino had the best release time ever.  The ball was out in a hurry.  Brett Favre had the best ball velocity.  I'm surprised no one picked Marino in the poll, and that Favre has only one vote.

[Smash255]

I went with Marino, but really couldn't picck between him & Elway  While he was on a good team, he never had an excellent team the way Montana, Unitas did.  He never won a Super Bowl, but they never really had much of a running game & in order to really win you need to have both (Elway had Terell Davis).




In 10 years its going to be Peyton Manning, what this guy has done is just amazing.  He is going to break ever record their is, could have s ring this year & if the Colts D improves he will see a ton of rings in his future.  He is BY FAR the best QB in the game right now.

If ElI becomes 1/2 as good as his brother I will br real happy

[The Duke]

I went with Marino, but really couldn't picck between him & Elway  While he was on a good team, he never had an excellent team the way Montana, Unitas did.  He never won a Super Bowl, but they never really had much of a running game & in order to really win you need to have both (Elway had Terell Davis).

In 10 years its going to be Peyton Manning, what this guy has done is just amazing.  He is going to break ever record their is, could have s ring this year & if the Colts D improves he will see a ton of rings in his future.  He is BY FAR the best QB in the game right now.

If ElI becomes 1/2 as good as his brother I will br real happy

Eli's biggest obstacle is the NY media.  Its a far cry from Oxford Miss up there.

[12th Doctor]

Terry Bradshaw.

Solid, consistant, tough.  All fine qualities in a QB

[CARLHAYDEN]

Bart Starr

[DaleC76]

Montana and Unitas

[minionofmidas]

A-hem.
Let's bring the subject of debate to real FOOTball.

Uwe Bindewald.
















Alright, so he was a defender, not a quarterback. And alright, he never had great technique. But in his younger years he was considered the fastest defender in the Bundesliga, and he started playing professional football with Eintracht Frankfurt during the 1988/1989 season, when I started supporting them, and stuck to the club through thick and thin, first and second division, right until the summer of 2004, when the b*stards didn't renew his contract. He's with fourth division promotion candidates Eschborn now.