1. Joe Montana - He was Mr. Clutch when I was growing up and as far as I'm concerned there is no one that I believe would be better in big game situations than him.
2. Peyton Manning - The guy is just flat out brilliant. I'm not sure I've ever seen a QB who just awed me more with his flat out, God given, ability to throw the ball so perfectly.
3. Roger Staubach - Captain Comeback. This is the only guy I even consider in the same breath as Joe Cool when it comes to big game, big play, come from behind situations. I know other guys might have done it more often than him but I'd take him over anyone not named Joe Montana in those situations.
4. Otto Graham - There is certainly a case to be made that the guy should be #1 based of Championships and appearances alone but those, to me, are team accomplishments and not just on him. The guy also happened to have one of the best running backs playing at that time with him in Motley so it's not like he did it all on his own or anything. Though there isn't a player who ever does it all on his own anyway.
5. John Elway - He was amazing long before they finally put enough pieces around him to actually win a couple Superbowls. Those just put the final validation on an absolutely amazing career.
6. Johnny Unitas - The guy could flat play. What did he have something like 47 straight games with a TD pass? Think about that folks. He holds the record for most games with a TD pass even when todays NFL is more pass happy they don't come close to this guys record. Pretty dang impressive.
7. Brett Favre - I could probably very easily make a case for him being even higher on the list but anywhere in the top 10 is an appropriate place for this guy. He's just flat been amazing.
8. Tom Brady - He's done as much with as little, around him offensively that is, as any big time QB IMO. He's a great player. He throws the ball great, he's smart, and he has proven, numerous times, that he can be very clutch when they need him to be. I like Tom a whole lot. Great QB.
9. Dan Marino - This guy could easily be higher on the list, I know that, cause of what he was able to do from the QB perspective. My only issue was that he just didn't seem as clutch in the bigger situations. He was very clutch in regular season games and stuff and you never felt it was over in the regular season with him. But when it came to post season I just never got the same feeling that he could lead comebacks the way other QBs could. Still an amazing QB without a doubt.
10. Troy Aikman - Maybe it's a bit of a homer pick on my part. I do believe I can make the case that he's top 10 but there are about a half dozen other guys who I believe I could make strong cases for at this spot as well. Aikman was everything you wanted in a QB though. Big, strong arm, tough, great leader, could be very clutch when needed, extremely smart, and without any doubt, at all, the most accurate QB I've ever had the priveledge of watching play the game.
Some guys who I think just missed the top 10, but you could easily make a case for (Or at least I could):
Terry Bradshaw - The guy is often forgotten cause of all the great players he had around him but the guy could just flat get it done if they needed him too. I liked him. He was a winner.
Bart Starr - I personally probably under-rate him given the era, the way the Packers played football, and all that but if you watch the guy play and you listen to the players who were able to play with him you know that he was the guy who drove that Packer Engine. He was the guy who got it done for them so I could see people putting him in the top 10.
Fran Tarkenton - The guy was the heart and soul, IMO, of the Vikes during his time there. It's a shame the poor guy never got a ring with them cause he was an impressive player.
Sammy Baugh - I am actually surprised that absolutely no one else even mentioned this guy, unless I just happened to over look it. This guy was an amazing player. He was certainly a darn good QB back then and just think of all he did when he played. I'm impressed the most by the fact that one year he led the league in TD passes and also led the league in INTs that same year.
And for those who don't understand that I don't mean he threw the most INT's I mean he actually PICKED OFF the most passes in the league that year playing both ways. Thats so impressive to me. I could make a case for him in the top 10 for sure.
