Posted on 01/23/2008 8:16:51 PM PST by fkabuckeyesrule
As a Giants fan I never hated the 49ers the way I hated many of their other rivals (Philadelphia in particular) — mainly because: (1) I had to admit that the 49ers were a great team (and their amazing offensive talent really obscured the fact that they were an awesome defensive team, too); (2) they had a lot of players who weren’t just talented, but had a lot of class; and (3) for some reason the Giants were pretty successful against them in the playoffs during the height of the 49ers’ dominance (from 1984-1990 the Giants were 3-1 against them in the playoffs, outscoring them by a combined 91-40 margin).
I’m sorry, I thought it was four.
Quarterbacks such as Bart Starr and Johnny Unitas were more important as they were basically coaches on the field. They called the plays on the field and then carried them out. I do know Bart Starr was named MVP in both of the first two Super bowls.
Roger Staubach was the most incredible competitor I have ever seen except for maybe Brett Favre.
I would personally rank Bart Starr as the best.
I think Namath was left off the top of the list because he didn’t throw any touchdown passes in Super Bowl III. The media hype surrounding his guarantee of a Jets victory may have stolen the spotlight from his actual performance, too. He had a good game, but not a great one.
Sorta like ranking Refrigerator Perry among the top running backs in Super Bowl history, eh?
:-)
Or Fran Tarkenton for best receiver ever, for catching his own pass that was batted back to him.
Fran must have the most backfield yardage.
NOBODY pitched a more exciting football game...
Brady doesn't have 5 yet.
It seems to me you could easily have a perfect passer rating (157. something) and still lose the game.
You have to look at the performance in relation to the game, the score and the conditions to make a judgment.
Also keep in mind that until the 80s with the rule changes, winning teams were far more run orientated than today and the short pass to backs was the exception rather than the rule. When guys like Starr, Bradshaw or Stauback thew the ball, it was most often 20 yards down field to wide outs, not dumps or shovel passes to a running back or slot receiver as is common today.
The game has changed and it isn't fair to judge players from one era against others.
The rules of the game simply allow more yards in both passing and rushing than were possible 20 or 30 years ago. It makes for better TV watching than a mud bowl grind it out game of the past.
Best QB ever? John Unitas. Never got a Super Bowl ring, but if the guy were 25 years old today with today's rules Tom Teriffic, both Manningsand all the other "super star" QBs would be sucking wind trying to keep up with the guy in the high tops.
Yes, he was that good.
(last pic, #8) Who did Dubya play for?
Phil Simms is either #2 or #3. Missed only 3 passes. Not even Montana or Young did that.
Terry Bradshaw was the last QB to call his own plays. Sometimes, he really pissed Chuck Knoll off with his calls, but he also got 4 SB rings by doing so. ;~))
And yes, with today's communication technology, it makes sense to call the plays from the sidelines (or the sky box) but back then, the QB actually had the best view of the game and the time to deal with it as he saw it. That is what made guys like Unitas, Starr, and Bradshaw very much different than the QBs today who have earphones in their helmets. The old guys were out there on their own and listening to what their recievers, linemen and running backs told them, not getting instruction from some guy sitting in a warm dry sky box. That wasn't possible back then, so give the old guys extra credit. They did it the hard way.
BSPN ranked Horseface Elway and Len Dawson (!) ahead of Stabler?? Who wrote this thing, Tom Jackson and Mark Schlereth?
BUMP!
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