Best I Ever Seen: Quarterbacks

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Before and after the Super Bowl I was in debate with some and myself on who are the best players I have ever seen play the game of professional football. The outcome of the Saints win had me waging an internal war in where to rank Peyton Manning in my list of Best I Ever Seen quarterbacks. That brings us here to this new series of posts where I'll look back from the time I started watching football religously (1984) to now and list my top ten at each position of the Best I Ever Seen. We'll start with the quarterbacks.

Feel free to comment or start a debate with me or others on any of these series of posts that you may agree or disagree with. I won't list stats within my lists only explanations for their placement, but feel free to debate me on stat points if you feel it necessary.

Best Quarterbacks I Ever Seen

John Elway (Denver Broncos)- On my list Elway not only ranks as the best, but definetly the best athlete of any of the other nine players I have in the Top 10. Elway could do it all, with a canon for an arm and athletic abiltiy that was rare for a quarterback that got him out of a lot of trouble when in the pocket. The beginning of his career the Broncos fortune were placed squarely on his shoulders where the team came up short, losing his first three Super Bowl appearances. Once the Broncos found Elway some help in the form of a running game he was able to lead his team to two consecutive NFL titles. One in which he was the MVP. There are some current signal callers on his tail for Best I Ever Seen title, but for now he holds the top spot.
Peyton Manning (Indianapolis Colts)- Captain Fivehead is at the crest of the birth for this series of posts. Before the loss in Super Bowl XLIV Manning was well on his way to the top spot on my list. Though the Colts loss can not be laid totally at the bed of Peyton, he was not good enough to take over the top spot just yet. He still has a good amount of life in his football career and I completely expect him to be as consistent as he has been over the past 9 years. He may even reach that top spot without another Super Bowl victory, but for the moment he will stay put until I see a bit more that forces me to change my mind.
Brett Favre (Green Bay, NY Jets, Minnesota)- It seems that since his Super Bowl victory in 1996 Favre turned from fun loving hillbilly to full on NFL diva. Even with that said Favre has continued to play the game with a smile on his face and what looked to be a true love and admiration for football itself. His amazing ability to stay healthy and on the field his whole career may never be matched in the league again. Unless of course some get their way and turn the NFL into touch football. Farve holds all the major passing records for the league right now that will surely get passed someday with the rules overprotecting the quarterback. Though most of my memories now are the diva Favre, his placement on this list is built on the foundation of the fun-loving, smiling, gun-slinger, hillbilly he was at the beginning of his career.
Dan Marino (Miami Dolphins)- By far the best pure passer of the group, Marino is only one of two players on this list not to win a Super Bowl. Much of this does not lie at the feet of the "tan one" who always got the short end of the stick when it came to building a decent team around him. His career was filled with team expectations riding on the golden, quick release of Marino. Never blessed with a great running game or very good defense Marino only managed one Super Bowl appearance that has him gripping tight to hold on to a top 5 spot.
Steve Young (Tampa Bay, San Francisco)- When you thought you had him Steve Young, his legs got him out of trouble. The best runner of the Top 10 quarterbacks Young spent the first half of his career stuck in Tamp Bay and then behind Joe Montana waiting his turn to become the starter. When that chance came it took him two years to get himself and his team a victory in the Super Bowl in 1994 where he was the game MVP. At times play didn't look pretty with Young under center, but he always found a way to get the job done with either his legs or his left arm.
Tom Brady (New England Patriots)- Three Super Bowl championship is very, very, very impressive. Though I admire Brady for this accomplisments and the fact he dates and marries ultra hot women he still sits outside the Top 5 looking in. That's not to say he can't get into the top three or even the top spot. Playing in New England for the savant of football coaches he may win another championship or two and pair that with additional inpressive regular season stats I doubt this will be the final resting spot for Mr. Bunchen in my Best I Ever Seen list.
Joe Montana (San Francisco, Kansas City)- Montana one ups the guy right above him with 4 World titles and 3 game MVPs. Montana while great, I view a product more of the Bill Walsh system and the great talent around him. The 49ers by far were the team of the 80's and were built brillantly, which may never be matched again in the league. Right now there is one player that can catch Montana for Super Bowl victories which is Brady, but those victories alone should be able to keep him in my top 10 for awhile.
Kurt Warner (St. Louis, NY Giants, Arizona)- A trip that took him from Northern Iowa University, to an NFL cut list, to NFL Europe, to Arena League, to working at a grocery store and ending in a Super Bowl victory and a couple of league MVP's is Top 10 worthy just for the story. This to good to be true story embodies the best of America and keeps hopes alive for all those guys that were told they couldn't get the job done. After an a chance opportunity was given to Warner he took it and never looked back. The only unfortunate part of his career was the fact that since his meteoric rise the game broadcasts could never get enough of his wife Brenda and her Suan Powter hair do along with their holier than thou attitudes.
Troy Aikman (Dallas Cowboys)- Aikman didn't have the excellence throughout his whole career like most others in the Top 10, but he did have a five year period that brought Dallas two World Championships where he lead the way not only on the field, but off of it as his other teamamtes ran their mouths and routinely got into off the field trouble. His numbers will never match up against the greats of all time, but his leadership keeps him in the Top 10 for now.
Jim Kelly (Buffalo Bills)- Much like Aikman, Kelly's success was in a much smaller window, but the accomplishment of him and his team in getting to four straight Super Bowl may never be matched again. Though his team never won one of those games his production in that four year window matches some of the best ever and holds him in the Top 10.