Quote:
Originally Posted by jsarno
Not a bad list.
Here is mine:
1- Steve Young
2- Brett Favre
3- Joe Montana
4- Dan Marino
5- Otto Graham
6- Johnny Unitas
7- Roger Staubach
8- Jim Kelly
9- Fran Tarkenton
10- Peyton Manning
I have Peyton Manning 10th cause if he were to retire tomorrow, that's where he'd be in my book...possibly higher. I could easily see Manning as #1 by the time his career is over, and I'm sure Brady would make it too, but if he retired tomorrow he would not be in the top 10.
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If Peyton retired tomorrow, he'd be no. 3 on my list.
I just chose to exclude him for the reason you explained at the top of the thread...he's probably going higher than that by the time he retires.
I'm not penalizing Young for the time he spent in San Francisco as a backup, and also in Tampa Bay. For the time he started for the 49ers, he did things that simply were never matched again, even by Marino who had better "tools" from the pocket.
Likewise, I wouldn't punish Peyton for only playing ten years. The only hurdles that Peyton has left en route to topping my list is to prove that he can still perform at a high level into his mid thirties and with coaching turnover.
And that he can outperform Tom Brady over the next few years.
We already know that Manning peaked at a higher level than any QB in history, he simply has to decline gracefully, as opposed to abruptly. No player in NFL history has been more valuable to his team over a 4 year span than Peyton Manning was to the Colts between 2003-2006.