Who is the greatest quarterback of all time?

[J-Mann]

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.

Uh, sorry...you just bastardized this whole thread.   There's no way that Footsie McPornflick can hold a candle to any of the great quarterbacks listed in the poll.

[Nation]

Getting back to the subject of AMERICAN football -- Elway takes the cake for me, though Unitas is also great.

[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.

Uh, sorry...you just bastardized this whole thread.   There's no way that Footsie McPornflick can hold a candle to any of the great quarterbacks listed in the poll.

Now, now...he probably could have beaten them at FOOTball easily. But yes, of course, he's not really up there in the greatness scale, except as an outstanding model of loyalty.

[Blue Rectangle]

Another point in favor of Elway in the Elway/Marino debate:
The Broncos went to all those Super Bowls with Elway because he could play north of Mason-Dixon outdoors in winter.  The Dolphins always faded in December because they couldn't win in Pittsburg, Buffalo, Denver, etc.

Peyton needs to prove himself outside the dome before he can be truely great.  If he somehow wins in Pitt and N.E. this year, he'll have my respect.

[12th Doctor]

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.

Uh, sorry...you just bastardized this whole thread.   There's no way that Footsie McPornflick can hold a candle to any of the great quarterbacks listed in the poll.

Soccer sucks, vote Soulty.

[Keystone Phil]

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I'm a fan of both footballs though watching soccer is painful (I love playing it. Played for 11 years).

[12th Doctor]

I like football and rugby.

[Bugs]

Another point in favor of Elway in the Elway/Marino debate:
The Broncos went to all those Super Bowls with Elway because he could play north of Mason-Dixon outdoors in winter.  The Dolphins always faded in December because they couldn't win in Pittsburg, Buffalo, Denver, etc.

Peyton needs to prove himself outside the dome before he can be truely great.  If he somehow wins in Pitt and N.E. this year, he'll have my respect.

I always wondered how Marino would have done if he would have played for someone like the Bills or Steelers.

[Nym90]

Soccer is awesome!

So is American football.

[Nym90]

Another point in favor of Elway in the Elway/Marino debate:
The Broncos went to all those Super Bowls with Elway because he could play north of Mason-Dixon outdoors in winter.  The Dolphins always faded in December because they couldn't win in Pittsburg, Buffalo, Denver, etc.

Peyton needs to prove himself outside the dome before he can be truely great.  If he somehow wins in Pitt and N.E. this year, he'll have my respect.

I always wondered how Marino would have done if he would have played for someone like the Bills or Steelers.

Well, Marino was from Pittsburgh originally, so I doubt he had a strong aversion to snow. It would be interesting to see if the Dolphins failures to win up north had to do with Marino's worse performance, or if it was something else like the defense.

The Dolphins generally had a bad running game, and in the snow, you usually need a good running game to win. They generally had a bad defense, too.

[Nym90]

Terry Bradshaw.

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

Bradshaw was great, but his stats come nowhere near some of the others listed here. Not to mention his supporting cast was much better.

Not to knock him, great player, and the qualities you list are all important and correct in his case, but greatest QB ever? Hardly.

[Nym90]

Another guy that I'm surprised to see hasn't gotten any support is Tarkenton. He was the all time leader in passing yards until Marino came along, and did it back in the 70's when the rules were a lot friendlier for pass defenses and less so for pass offenses. He could scramble and run quite well, too. Took the Vikings to 3 Super Bowls.

[Gabu]

Football is for sissies.  Go play badminton.

[Blerpiez]

Otto Graham, who's not even on the list.  In ten seasons, he led the Browns to 10 division titles, as well as three NFL championships and four AAFC championships

[DaleC76]

Another guy that no one ever thinks of as a great quarterback is Warren Moon.  He's third all-time in passing yardage and fifth all-time in touchdowns.

[MAS117]

i voted unitas, but elway or namath or many others could be the best

[The Duke]

Another point in favor of Elway in the Elway/Marino debate:
The Broncos went to all those Super Bowls with Elway because he could play north of Mason-Dixon outdoors in winter. The Dolphins always faded in December because they couldn't win in Pittsburg, Buffalo, Denver, etc.

Peyton needs to prove himself outside the dome before he can be truely great. If he somehow wins in Pitt and N.E. this year, he'll have my respect.

I always wondered how Marino would have done if he would have played for someone like the Bills or Steelers.

Well, Marino was from Pittsburgh originally, so I doubt he had a strong aversion to snow. It would be interesting to see if the Dolphins failures to win up north had to do with Marino's worse performance, or if it was something else like the defense.

The Dolphins generally had a bad running game, and in the snow, you usually need a good running game to win. They generally had a bad defense, too.

My experience with warm weather teams is that the speed players (wide recievers, defensive backs) have toruble staying loose in the cold.  Its more them than the Qbs in most cases, not sure about the fins specifically.

Another guy that I'm surprised to see hasn't gotten any support is Tarkenton. He was the all time leader in passing yards until Marino came along, and did it back in the 70's when the rules were a lot friendlier for pass defenses and less so for pass offenses. He could scramble and run quite well, too. Took the Vikings to 3 Super Bowls.

It's probably that he lost 3 Superbowls, and not all to superior teams.  He was a great player, but QBs always get blamed for team failures.

[Akno21]

Does anyone else think Brett Favre is overrated? On TV shows they only show where his agressiveness/stupidity gives Green Bay a Touchdown, but he has a lot of turnovers. He cost them the Eagles game (All right, the defense did too) with that INT in overtime.

[Akno21]

Another guy that no one ever thinks of as a great quarterback is Warren Moon.  He's third all-time in passing yardage and fifth all-time in touchdowns.

He didn't do enough in the postseason. He only got those stats because he stayed around forever.

[The Dowager Mod]

Staubach

[DaleC76]

Another guy that no one ever thinks of as a great quarterback is Warren Moon.  He's third all-time in passing yardage and fifth all-time in touchdowns.

He didn't do enough in the postseason. He only got those stats because he stayed around forever.

Moon's stats were put up in fewer games than anyone else ahead of him on the list.  In fact, of all the top ten quarterbacks in passing, completions,  and TDs, only Joe Montana played in fewer games than Warren Moon.

Remember, Moon spent six years of his prime in the CFL.  Of course, you can't count his stats there, but if you did, he would be far and away the top completion, yardage and TD guy of all time.  Even without those years, he's still in the top five in all those categories.

The post-season knock is made against a lot of quarterbacks, but I don't think it sticks as much against Moon.  He led the Edmonton Eskimos to five Grey Cup championships, proving he could get it done in the post-season.   Houston was the Indianapolis Colts of the late 80's/early 90's, with Moon puting up monster numbers, but never having the defense that could win a Super Bowl.

Last, but not least, Warren Moon was one of the first black quarterbacks in the league, and its first successful one.   With that came a lot of pressure and scrutiny that many others folded under.  He proved that a black man COULD be a NFL quarterback, and opened the door for many of today's stars like Vick, McNabb, and Cullpepper.

All things consider, I believe Warren Moon to be one of the top five or six quarterbacks of all time, certainly better than most of the guys on this list.  I think it's a real shame he doesn't get the recognition he deserves.

[Akno21]

Another guy that no one ever thinks of as a great quarterback is Warren Moon.  He's third all-time in passing yardage and fifth all-time in touchdowns.

He didn't do enough in the postseason. He only got those stats because he stayed around forever.

Moon's stats were put up in fewer games than anyone else ahead of him on the list.  In fact, of all the top ten quarterbacks in passing, completions,  and TDs, only Joe Montana played in fewer games than Warren Moon.

Remember, Moon spent six years of his prime in the CFL.  Of course, you can't count his stats there, but if you did, he would be far and away the top completion, yardage and TD guy of all time.  Even without those years, he's still in the top five in all those categories.

The post-season knock is made against a lot of quarterbacks, but I don't think it sticks as much against Moon.  He led the Edmonton Eskimos to five Grey Cup championships, proving he could get it done in the post-season.   Houston was the Indianapolis Colts of the late 80's/early 90's, with Moon puting up monster numbers, but never having the defense that could win a Super Bowl.

Last, but not least, Warren Moon was one of the first black quarterbacks in the league, and its first successful one.   With that came a lot of pressure and scrutiny that many others folded under.  He proved that a black man COULD be a NFL quarterback, and opened the door for many of today's stars like Vick, McNabb, and Cullpepper.

All things consider, I believe Warren Moon to be one of the top five or six quarterbacks of all time, certainly better than most of the guys on this list.  I think it's a real shame he doesn't get the recognition he deserves.

True, he has impeccable stats, and paved the way for Black Quarterbacks, but he didn't seem to single himself out, which could be the fault of his team.

He was a great QB, I'm not denying that, but he doesn't have that special extra gear that others like Montana and Unitas do.

[patrick1]

I vote Elway.  Quite a few close seconds.  I am a huge Jets fan and I dont know how Joe Willie Namath has 3 votes.  The Jets only had three winning seasons out of the 11 years he was there.  He was a good QB but I don't think he can be considered in any top 5 or even 10 list.  He was a bit overrated being in the largest media market and his flashy public persona.  Extra points off for wearing pantyhose and being on the Brady Bunch.

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

Favre and Mc(Terrible)Nabb and Vick will never be on this list.

[Blue Rectangle]

By decade:
'60s - Unitas
'70s - Tarkenton
'80s - Montana
'90s - Elway
'00s - TBD