So the news of Brett Favre’s retirement yesterday seemed to shock most of the sports world. I’ll admit, on the heels of his finest season in recent memory and with the Pack ending the ’07 season one throw away from a Super Bowl berth, I didn’t see this coming. And I wouldn’t be surprised to see Favre go all Michael Jordan / Roger Clemens / Junior Seau on us an “un-retire” come training camp. But, for now, he says he’s retired. Which begs the question of where Favre ranks among the all-time greats.
Off the top of my head, here are the top 10 quarterbacks of all-time, in my opinion. This whole thing is subjective, of course. You have to consider the numbers; you have to consider the era a QB played in; you have to consider Super Bowls. Anyway, here are my Top 10, in no particular order:
Favre
Elway
Montana
Marino
P. Manning
Brady
Unitas
Bradshaw
Tarkenton
Starr
Working with that list, if I had to rank the top 5, here’s what I come up with:
- Montana – Career numbers are there, but of course, it’s all about the Super Bowls with Montana. Hard to argue with Montana at the top spot.
- Brady – I think he could surpass Montana before it’s all said and done. In the consciousness of many fans, he probably already has. If not for the flop against the Giants, I’d probably rank him #1.
- Unitas – This is tough, since I never saw him play, but a lot of old timers call him not only the greatest QB of all-time, but the best player ever. That and 3 championships have to count for something.
- Favre – I know he holds all the passing records. And he did get that Super Bowl ring. But his gunglinging mentality hurts him a bit here in my book. Greeny said it best on Mike and Mike this morning. He may not be the best QB of all time, but he’s probably the most entertaining. He’s just as likely to throw 4 picks as he is to throw 4 TDs.
- Marino – I know he never won the big one. But you simply cannot ignore the numbers.
If I’m going purely on guys I saw play, then I’d have to take Unitas off the list and I’d add Elway. That’d put Favre as the 3rd best QB I’ve ever seen play. And I can’t believe I’m not putting Peyton in there somewhere.
Your thoughts? Where do you rank Favre all-time?
already & not yet 
I always thought Staubach was usually considered more highly than Tarkenton, but I may be wrong. Maybe “That’s Incredible” tainted my memories of him :)I think I’d have to put Elway in the top 5.Not sure if Troy Aikman should be in the top 10, but I’d think he’d be close.
To answer the question of where does Favre rank? He’ll undoubtedly be a first ballot hall of famer. However, I don’t think he ranks in the top 5. If he had to go in the top 5, he’d be at #5 behind Brady, Montana, Marino, and Unitas (my dad talked about him alot)
Greg, you may be right about Staubach vs. Tarkenton. If you put Elway in the top 5, who do you take out?I think Aikman would be top 15, but probably not in my top 10. I think he was more the product of being in the right place at the right time. But he’s still an all-time great.
Lane,The only thing is, he’s the all-time record holder in a ton of QB categories. I think on the basis of those stats alone, he’d have to be top 5.
When Peyton is finished he will probably be a close parallel of Favre – huge numbers, extremely durable, one super bowl victory (hopefully more for PM, but for now just one). I agree Aikman is not top 10, but he was soooooo accurate.
That makes me laugh. I haven’t thought about him in years.
I’m the only one in America NOT on the Brady Bandwagon. The reason I put Tom Brady outside or at the bottom of my top 5 is because I think you can put nearly any quarterback in his spot and they would be almost as successful as he is.I know, I know. I said “almost”, but the point is, it’s hard to be anything other than a great QB when your team is made up of players with unbelievable talent. If he were on any other team, I don’t think he’d be nearly as good.I’ve said since he’s been playing that if you can put ANY pressure on him, he can’t play, because he’s never played with anything other than the best offensive line in the league. That is just what the Giants did, and they won.Now, I know what you’re going to say, Jason. No. I don’t think Favre should be #1. The biggest reason? His only poor record: most INTs. However, I think the most underappreciated record he holds is the one that WON’T be broken: consecutive starts. In my opinion, that record is the most impressive of them all.In my opinion, being “the best quarterback” transcends statistics. It’s a certain mystique about a player when you watch them or hear their name. Just as it is with Montana, Unitas, or Elway, so it is with Favre.He’s not my best quarterback of all time, but he’s my favorite.
BTW, you CANNOT rank Marino ahead of Favre for three reasons. Favre won a Super Bowl. He never had a great supporting offensive cast either. He had good receivers, just not great ones. And, finally, he broke all of Marino’s records in the same time as Marino, and technically less since he didn’t get decent playing time until his 2nd season in the NFL.
Jake, I didn’t rank Marino ahead of Favre. For the reasons you mentioned.But I do disagree with you on Brady. Here’s why.First of all, we can all agree that just about every QB is less efficient when he’s pressured. That’s a given. So I don’t see that as a knock against Brady. It’s like saying Michael Jordan isn’t as good when you defend him well. Second, even if your argument WERE true that Brady’s always had world class talent around him (which I disagree with), the same argument could be used to downplay Montana, which almost no one does. Jerry Rice, Roger Craig, Tom Rathman, John Taylor, Dwight Clark…those are some pretty gifted players Montana suited up with, and nobody ever knocks him for being a product of Walsh’s system. He’s simply hailed as the greatest ever for his performance on the field. But I would disagree that Brady’s always had incredible talent around him. For starters, he won 3 Super Bowls without a dominant running game. I know Corey Dillon was decent for a couple of years there, but come on. And before this season, the most celebrated wideout Brady had to throw to was…Troy Brown? Deion Branch? Bethel Johnson? Sure he had Moss this year, but prior to this season, the corps of receivers Brady’s had has been a bunch of bums in my opinion. I just don’t think any of those arguments hold water. Brady’s going to go down as this generation’s Montana.
This is interesting. ESPN.com asked the SportsNation to rank the best QBs of all time. Here’s their top 10:1. Montana2. Favre3. Marino4. Elway5. Brady6. P. Manning7. Unitas8. Bradshaw9. Young10. Starr
What, no Dan Fouts? Just kidding.Montana is the easy #1. Then I’d go Elway, Brady, Favre, and Marino to round out the top five. All those guys are so good, you could put them in almost any order.
These are interchangeable parts. The only beef I have with the Sports Nation top 5 is the high ranking afforded Marino. I weigh Super Bowls more heavily than individual records, so I’d have to put Brady ahead of Marino. But I’ve already made that argument.
Jake: agree you cannot put Marino over Favre he does have almost all the important records (BTW: that includes INT’s in which he has around 50 more than Marino). Like how you guys have Marino high (as a Dolphin fan I’d put him above Brady as of now, but maybe not in a few years).
i think you’d have to go by championships in the nfl. There are a lot of intangibles that are needed, not just stats.1 montana2 brady he’s still in his prime and has a great chance of winning 4th or 5th champioship, also look at the turn around he made on the patriots from the bledsoe days.3 bradshaw4 elway. i know there are qb’s who won more superbowls, but he reached it without any memorable players 3 times5 starr.6 aikman.7 unitas.8. favre9. p manning10. young
no question Joe Montana is the best QB ever !!!!and im a Gaint fan !!!