I’ve been thinking a lot about the amount Rushmore of QBs, as there will be 4 QB slots for 100th anniversary team. I’ve been studying up a lot on older eras and quarterbacks accomplishments, including stats relative to era. Here is what I have:
Tom Brady
Otto Graham
Joe Montana
Johnny Unitas / Bart Starr
Can’t decide which one between Unitas and Starr, as it is so close; contrary to popular opinion, Starr had great stats for his era and wasn’t just carried by his team. Unitas transformed the position, but Earl Morrall won an MVP coming in as his backup for a year (so Unitas also has a very talented cast around him.)
You almost need to have Unitas on the list, but there’s no way that Brady, Montana, or Graham can get bumped, and Starr is pretty much deserving in every way. Starr was a lot like Brady, very clutch and someone who always came through with the game on the line. Graham is the only QB who you can truly argue GOAT over Brady if you count his AAFL years, roughly half his career. His dominance approaches Ruthian levels, but it’s pre-expansion era without multiple elimination games to win a championship.
If the voters put Manning on, it will be a travesty. Historically, he’s a 10-15 all-time QB who won MVP more times than he should have. It’s funny reading about these quarterbacks...many of them called their own plays. Manning was truly a media created illusion. I’m 1000% convinced that there’s at least 20 QBs throughout history that would consistently outperform him in elimination games. He wasn’t even “the smartest” QB of his era.
