Sunday, January 15, 2006

Re: The greatest quarterback of all time

Discuss

22 comments:

Tom said...

I know that Barra is really smart--he told us so--but by his own criteria, championships and yards per throw, Bart Starr isn't the best quarterback. Otto Graham won seven championships in eleven seasons (three in six NFL seasons), and he averaged 8.98 yards per attempt, 8.63 for just the NFL, which is the league record.

Not that it matters to Barra, probably because Starr isn't in the top twenty, but Graham also had a higher career passer rating. Oh, and he played defense, too.

Cute article, though.

Tom said...

I should note that I really like Bart Starr. Roger Staubach doesn't get enough credit either. But neither one of them is the greatest quarterback ever.

Anonymous said...

a much more entertaining conversation topic would be 'worst quarterback of all time' (minimum # of seasons required, though; maybe 5?).

Stephen said...

What about worst name? Bubby Brister.

Stephen said...

What the crap? I was going to make jokes about Bubby Brister. I looked him up. HE IS STILL PLAYING!! Backup in KC. Who knew?

Stephen said...

Update. What to believe? One ESPN page has him as a backup qb. Wikipedia has him retiring in 2001. Clearly I need to look into this.

Stephen said...

I'm confused: http://football.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=0231

Anonymous said...

Don't blow a gasket on this one, Tootle.

Pretty much any Heisman winner will do.

Anonymous said...

Ugliest QB: Mark Rypien

Tom said...

Bubby Brister retired, and he wasn't that bad. Rick Mirer was terrible but stuck around forever because he was a first round pick. I seem to remember that Mark Malone was one of the worst I've ever seen.

Anonymous said...

Mark Malone was bad...but was anyone more of a flop than Todd Blackledge? I know this is about worst QB rather than draft flops but Blackledge didn't even hang on as a 3rd string notebook holder.

Honorable Mention for worst QB: Dieter Brock of the LA Rams

Anonymous said...

Jeff George. Did anyone do less with as much skill??

J.D. said...

Doesn't Ryan Leaf have this market cornered?

Anonymous said...

Akieli Smith.

Tom said...

I was using the five year minimum rule, which excludes Leaf and Akili. Jeff George was a pompous ass and a terrible teammate, but he did produce as a quarterback. I certainly wouldn't call him the worst.

Stephen said...

Just a reminder: I was talking about worst name.

J.D. said...

My choices in all the categories covered thus far, and a few new ones (five year rule applies in all, though some of these served as backups or occasional starters)

1. Best QB Ever: Joe Montana
2. Worst QB Ever:(tie) Billy Joe Tolliver, Ty Detmer
3. Worst QB Name: Frank Reich (Means "France" in German)Honorable Mention: Eric Hipple
Greatest QB Name: Vince Ferragamo
5. Ugliest QB: Mark Rypien
6. Most Underrated QB: Bernie Kosar

Stephen said...

J.D.,
I like where your head is at. I am mulling over the Montana/Graham comparison. Back home we call him Jose Montoya. I don't know why.

Tom said...

It's funny--I'm inclined to like Ty Detmer, but he really is a bad professional quarterback who has gotten a ton of chances to prove himself.

Y.A. Tittle is a great quarterback name. Fran Tarkenton is not.

There was a period when the quarterbacks in the AFC Central were named Bubby, Boomer, Bernie, and Warren, and Warren was the black guy. I wonder what the authors of Freakonomics would make of that.

By the way, Warren is a no-doubt first ballot Hall of Famer--I can't believe there is any argument about this.

Mark Rypien is not an attractive man, but Casey Clausen might give him a run for his money before all is said and done.

dcat said...

Someone has to say it: We are not far from Tom Brady being on any list of all-time bests. 10-1 all time as a starter in the playoffs, three Super Bowls. in the era with the most complex defenses and the best athletes in the history of history. (I prefer quarterbacks to have played in eras with widespread black d-backs - there were entire teams that were not even integrated in the 1950s - and with 300 pound d-linemen who run a 4.5) I am not certain I buy yards-per-pass as a matrix.
Troy Aikman was underrated. Elway was never even used right for the bulk of his career. Marino was awesome but never won the big one if that is one of our standards. Montana still is my choice, but if Brady wins another title and throws for 4000 yards a couple more times, I put money on him.

Stephen said...

I would agree that Aikman was underrated. I would also agree that Warren Moon should be in the HOF, first ballot. Brady should be in the top 15 without much discussion--probably top 10 (with discussion). Between Elway and Marino I would take Marino.

Y.A. Tittle? Why not?

Stephen said...

How many bad quarterbacks have been starters for five seasons?