Marino 8th on all-time QB list http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports/columnists/hyde/blog/2009/09/_a_magazine_did_a.html 1 Joe Montana 2. Johnny Unitas 3. John Elway 4. Terry Bradshaw 5. Bart Starr 6. Tom Brady 7. Peyton Manning 8. Dan Marino 9. Otto Graham 10. Brett Favre
Very amusing. I'll leave it at that. The best of the best say Dan was the best. Good enough for me. Best passer of all time.
Thanks for the link. I'm sorry but I can't agree with the list because of the placement of quite a few of those names.
don't agree at all. the list puts players that have significantly worse career statistics ahead of him because they won super bowls. since when does the number of super bowls determine how great of a football player one is? winning a superbowl is a team effort, not a singular achievement. i'm tired of that association. Trent effing Dilfer won a superbowl. why isn't he on that list?
Marino on that Patriots team = 19-0 I hate when one players career is based upon how many superbowls he won.
always a matter of opinion... here's the entire top 50: 1. Joe Montana 2. Johnny Unitas 3. John Elway 4. Terry Bradshaw 5. Bart Starr 6. Tom Brady 7. Peyton Manning 8. Dan Marino 9. Otto Graham 10. Brett Favre 11. Troy Aikman 12. Steve Young 13. Roger Staubach 14. Fran Tarkenton 15. Joe Namath 16. Sammy Baugh 17. Bobby Layne 18. Dan Fouts 19. Bob Griese 20. Jim Kelly 21. Len Dawson 22. Sonny Jurgensen 23. Y.A. Tittle 24. Warren Moon 25. Sid Luckman 26. Kenny Stabler 27. Donovan McNabb 28. Ben Roethlisberger 29. Bob Waterfield 30. Norm Van Brocklin 31. Drew Bledsoe 32. Boomer Esiason 33. Kurt Warner 34. Joe Theismann 35. John Hadl 36. Roman Gabriel 37. Ken Anderson 38. Randall Cunningham 39. John Brodie 40. George Blanda 41. Kerry Collins 42. Phil Simms 43. Jack Kemp 44. Steve McNair 45. Benny Friedman 46. Eli Manning 47. Jim Plunkett 48. Don Meredith 49. Jim Hart 50. Dave Krieg Obviously stats don't mean much in this list... Favre 10th, although I wonder how far he has dropped the last two years... Moon 24th... not where i would rank them.
I'm puzzled as to why Trent Dilfer isn't ahead of Marino as well? Based on their logic it doesn't make sense as to why he's not.
And yet Favre is somehow behind Marino, even though he's surpassed many of his records (and has a Super Bowl). Weird indeed.
It's really hard for me to be objective when talking about Dan Marino, because I am extremely biased. He was (and still is) my favorite Dolphin. Favorite football player really. I loved watching him play. Quickest release I ever saw. And, he was probably the best field general I ever saw too. Some people say he was too intense and too demonstrative with his fellow players, often when the game was on the line. But, I disagree. I say he was the ultimate competitor, and all he wanted was to win. Every time he took the field. And, all he expected out of those around him was what he expected out of himself...be the best you can be, and leave it all on the field. He led by example and by ability. Was he the best that ever played the position? Maybe, maybe not. The are others on that list that certainly deserve to be considered. But, since that's a very subjective thing to say "best QB", I'll just say he's the only guy I would want (if I could choose any QB that ever played the game) to have the ball when the game was on the line. You can have Elway, Brady and Farve. I'll take my chances with #13, thank you.
I'm sorry but I just don't see Montana at the top of that list. If I were starting a franchise, and had each of these 50 guys available in their prime, Montana would be somewhere below #25 for me...Heck, numbers 2 thru 10 on that list are guys that can or did carry their teams on their backs. Montana was an accessory on those 49er teams...
Hi, it's me the homer. LOL pfft on this list. Danny was and will always be the best QB ever! brady above him is an injustice and ludicrous. And bradshaw , what a joke. Ok, I'm homered out for the day. (maybe)
Looking at the list and then reading the many valid remarks and protests just serves as an illustration as to how futile it is to try and say who is "the best". It's just way too subjective to try and do. Namath at #15? ....a life time career QB rating of 65.5 Eli Manning? He shouldn't even be mentioned. He's played a mere 4 years and has a QB rating of 76.1 Bradshaw with his QB rating of 70.9 seems.........more than just a tad high to me. If Bradshaw is going to be listed at 4, shouldn't Jim Kelly be 4B? I have no clue how the writer came up with his rankings...dart board?
I was going to post the same thing He wasnt even a great qb..more or less a game manager. Montana= Most over rated QB of all time
Lol, that's weird. Last night, I was looking up the stats of the top QBs of all time. IMO, Favre and Marino should be higher. Steve Young, too. But, In the end, Manning will be the best QB of all time. Posted via Mobile Device
Marino will always be #1 to me but I'm biased. A few problems with lists like these are the drastic difference in game rules over the years and the variation of who each guy had to throw too and or pass protection and or a run game to open the field. Too many differences. Top # lists often baffle me. I often wonder what the hell was the writer thinking.
I was not a Dolphins fan during the Marino years, but to me, even back in the days when I lived in Dallas and Troy Aikman was my hero, I always respected Marino as the best QB in the game. Same for the years i lived in Denver and Elway was my hero, I still felt Marino was a better QB. (aside from the fact Elway is an egotistical a**hole) Favre is only superior to Marino in STATS, and ONLY because he 1. played more games, and 2. had a better supporting cast. Look at the # of stupid interceptions Favre threw. And now he's just making himself look selfish. Marino is the purest passer to ever throw the football, he was a true field general in every sense, he just never had the supporting cast. That list is a joke. JMHO.
Heres The Surferosa top 10, and Ive spent some time thinking about this over the years (though my opinion is still just that). Of course this list is biased towards my own sentiments (see Steve Young) but thats what makes these discussions fun. Rip away. 1) Johnny Unitas - Redefined the position and inspired the term "field general". Won several championships and also broke every passing record there ever was. An easy choice as the number one QB of all time. 2) Steve Young - The consensus is that Montana was the best QB of our generation, but of all the modern guys, Young was the most talented and had the best skillset. He could throw with accuracy, could move around the pocket and was extremely cerebral. He actually ran the SF offense better than Montana. He was stuck behind Montana the same way Barry Sanders was stuck behind Thurman Thomas at Oklahoma State. One may have more accolades, but it doesnt make them better. 3) Peyton Manning - He played the position as well as anyone Ive ever seen for a decade. Probably the smartest QB at the line of scrimmage. Very happy he won a Championship to quiet all the naysayers. 4) Sammy Baugh - Would Baugh's skillset translate into the modern game? Not Sure. But that shouldnt diminish his massive impact on the game as an accurate downfield passer in the age of smashmouth football in the 40's and 50's. In addition to revolutionizing the vertical passing game, he led the league in passing seven times, and completed a whopping 70% of his passes 40 years before the WCO and the Spread. 5) Dan Marino - Quite simply the best pure passer Ive ever seen. Marino was the Eddie Van Halen of QB's given his ability to do things noone else could do. Now the Rolling Stones may have accomplished more as a BAND than Van Halen, but noone will argue that Keith Richards was better than Eddie. Championships be damned, Danny was a better QB than both Montana and Elway. 6) Otto Graham - A nine time pro bowler, Graham was the greatest champion in the history of pro football, winning seven titles with the Browns in the 40's and 50's. More importantly, his play directly influenced the decision to complete the original "merger" between the NFL and the AAFC in the 50's. His pure passing skills were not as refined as Baugh's (who played before him) or Unitas (who played after), and that knocks him down my list. But theres no denying his success and his penchant for playing his best in big games. 7) Joe Montana - He was the face of the great 49 dynasties and was the motor behind the west coast offense, which redefined the modern passing game as we know it. Probably gets a bit too much credit for those teams successes but was still a great champion that played best in the clutch. 8) Brett Favre - For a period of four years, Favre was arguably the best ever. His arm strength was enormous and he could make throws most could only dream of. Won an NFL Title and three MVP's. He now holds all the records but somehow when I reminisce about his legacy he falls below that of Montana and Marino, his two closest peers. Just a personal opinion, I cant explain it. 9) Tom Brady - His story is still being written so its kind of hard to rank him. As an NFL Champion, his record speaks for itself although like Montana, he often gets too much credit for his teams truimphs (e.g., he didnt play all that well in the first two Super Bowls). Now, as a downfield passer, he is rewriting the record books. He will climb up the ranks if hes able to replicate his performance in 2007. 10) John Elway - Terribly overrated in my opinion. Won two superbowls at the end of his career on the coat-tails of a record breaking running game and a wonderful defense. And this was after years of disappointment. Moreover, he was almost benched at what should have been the peak of his career for consistently mediocre play. Finally, the Broncos won the AFC four times in the 80's when the conference was arguably as weak top to bottom as any time in the last 40 yrs. On the plus size, he was an all-time athlete at QB who played a long time and had an amazing (if not completely accurate) arm.
How soon they forget. Montana and Elway, maybe a 3-way tie with Marino, but only because they had legs. Nobody else on that list. I'm old. I saw them all play. I loved Unitas. I respected Bradshaw and Starr hugely. But no one else could do what Marino could do with a football. Certainly not Brady and certainly not Peyton, as much as I respect Peyton (I don't respect that a-hole Brady). Here's your proof. If you have to zip a ball 40 yards downfield into triple coverage where only the receiver can catch it with 30 seconds to go and five points down, who ya gonna call? How many times did we see him hit Duper or Clayton in stride in a situation like that, with no running game and the entire game on his back? Pure quarterback? Gimme Dan the Man. Keep the rest.
Bravo my man. Easily heads and shoulders above the Shmuck list originally posted (No reflection of the poster obviously) I would like to point out, I dont think Elway belongs in the top 20 for the exact reasons you mentioned. He was and always will be Johnny Overthrow. Growing up, I saw MANY MANY MANY of his games, and saw countless times where he would under or over throw his recievers, and he has some really good recievers. His defense constantly bailed his A$$ out, and he fell short until T-Davis entered the picture..... Somehow, even though he is indeed a Grade-A A$$hole, the media clamoured aboard his jockstrap and always made him out to be some incredible specimen. JMHO of course... EDIT: Did Peyton retire this morning???? Just kidding
Here's my list, for what its worth, of those I've seen play the game: Best passers: 1A. Dan Marino 1B. Fran Torkenton and 1C. Johnny Unitas each in his time took the QB position to a new level. Best Game managers: 2A. Otto Graham 2B. Bart Starr 2C. Bob Griese each QB was the leader of a very talented team and won champonships without putting up high personal stats. Gun Slingers: 3A. Don Meredith 3B. Sammy Baugh 3C. Brett Farve Brett isn't the original here, in fact in my mind, he's not even close. The next guy to go into the 1's list will be Payton Manning IMHO barring injury, as for Tom Brady, please, I throw him in with Terry Bradshaw. He's not even good enough to lace up Payton's shoes. As for his 50 TD's beating Payton's 49, yeah right, given that Payton took a full game off and played less than a full game in at least 3 others and ALL of this because of his respect for Danny. My guess is that if Payton had wanted to that year he could/should have thrown for 60 TD's and hit 51 - 5200 yards doing it.
thanks mate. The obsession with Elway really is strange. There are many, many people that consider him the best of all time. Its completely bizarre. At no time in his career was he ever the best QB in the league, so how does he get so much love?
Best *passer* of all time. Better QB than Elway, or Bradshaw. Didn't see Johnny U or Bart Starr in their prime so I can't compare, and Otto Graham is just a name I've heard. Montana was a GREAT QB, all around, which entails more than just passing. Even being a homer, I'd have to say Montana was a better QB. As far as total package, the complete QB, Brady and Dan are neck and neck, though Dan is obviously the superior passer.
I have a different perspective for that list. Of all of those quarterbacks on that list, how many of them did the opposing teams fear more than Dan Marino because of skills and abilities? I believe Dan Marino would top that list easily. Most of those quarterbacks had great supporting casts, Marino had good teams but never great teams around him. What was it Walsh said about Marino? Other quarterbacks are system quarterbacks but Marino is the system, or something to that effect. Opposing teams feared Dan Marino!
Walsh said, "Joe Montana was the product of a system, Dan Marino WAS a system." Amazing how good Dan Marino was. IMO, Peyton Manning is our modern day Dan Marino, and Tom Brady is our modern day Joe Montana. Brady has more rings, but I think that Peyton Manning is a better player than Brady.
I would guess that if Peyton had Randy Moss to compliment his other good receivers Brady would not have even gotten close to Peyton's numbers. If Marino had a solid team and todays passing rules I know he'd have multiple rings. He did often have good guys around him but never really a complete solid team on both O and D. He often, as said by others here, carried the Dolphins on his back. Dan's ability to thread laser beams right though multple defenders was pure magic. And the 2 minute drill to win the game... amazing and so much fun to watch him do it.
I don't think so at all, more rings means you were on a better team, doesn't mean you were the better QB. I find it funny how they rank people based on superbowl wins considering winning the big game is a total team effort, not just one players effort. I mean if Trent Dilfer can win one with a good team around him, that should be all the evidence you need. Bottom line, it's not the QB it's the total team package. And to slight someone cause their team was not as good, even though that one person was prob the best that position has ever seen. Is pure blindness.
I think this "Marino never won a ring" label has affected how the media has addressed Dan Marino and his standing when they make a "best quarterback list". The fact Marino didn't win a superbowl and get a ring has been repeated ad nauseam. Its sad that it seems to be referred to more than Marino's amazing skills and abilities even though he did it on bad knees. If Marino could have traded places with Montana, Aikman or many of the other quarterbacks listed above him those teams would have had even more Superbowl wins and those quarterbacks probably wouldn't have had as much success as they did. I wonder how good the 72 and 73 Dolphins could have been with Marino at quarterback.