Football is widely enjoyed by many Americans that it’s already been part of their homes. It takes one in a million to meet an American who can’t name a single NFL team; that’s how popular football is in the country.
An ESPN pool says that about 160 million people in the United States are NFL fans. This can be reflected by the average TV viewership of the Super Bowl 2020 (New England Patriots vs. Los Angeles Rams), estimated at 100.45 million. That’s also probably among the reasons why NFL sports betting continues to grow amongst US online gambling sites.
Nevertheless, the league will never be successful without the players who make each game remarkable. To name a few, here’s a list of the 10 best NFL Quarterback players:
Tom Brady
In every list of NFL’s one of the GOATs, Tom Brady can easily secure a top spot. He is the NFL’s most awarded player of all time, winning 7 Super Bowls, 5 Super Bowl MVPs, as well as 3 MVPs in the regular season.
While Brady’s championship record alone has already helped him establish GOAT status, his 581 touchdown passes, which are all-time most, aren’t something to be skipped about. He also overthrew Drew Brees for most passing yards entering the 2021 season with 84,520, leaving Brees by 4,162 yards.
Drew Brees
Drew Brees played as QB for 20 seasons before he retired following the 2020 season and achieved one of the most impressive NFL careers in history. He ended his career as the all-time passing yards leader (80,358) and 2nd place on the all-time passing touchdown leaders after Tom Brady with 571.
Drew Brees also has among the best career completion percentage of 67.7 on all non-active QBs.
Johnny Unitas
Johnny Unitas may not have the highest numbers like most QBs, he was a trailblazer for today’s quarterbacks. During his first of three MVP seasons, he led the league in 2,899 passing yards, 32 touchdowns, and 193 completions.
Terry Bradshaw
Terry Bradshaw is the only player in NFL history to go on 4 Super Bowl late game-winning drives and is one of the only 2 players (the other is Joe Montana) to win 4 Super Bowls.
Bradshaw set many passing records throughout his career, including 932 passing yards and 9 touchdowns in 4 Super Bowls. He also had 3,833 passing yards in the postseason.
Joe Montana
Joe Montana is a Hall of Fame quarterback who was hailed as the second-most Super Bowl rings by a quarterback with 4 and went 4-0 on his appearances in the game. He tied with Terry Bradshaw for the position.
His 15-year career set his record of 117-47 and 16-7 postseason record, which is the 2nd best winning percentage next to Brady. He also tied with Aaron Rodgers for his 45 postseason touchdown passes.
Joe Namath
Joe Namath retired with a career record of 27,663 yards, 220 interceptions, 173 touchdowns, and a 65.5 passer rating. His high interception rate of 5.8% became one of the reasons why he’s always among the best quarterback players.
Namath was deemed to have a cannon for an arm, which made him the first pro quarterback that hit 4K yards in a season.
John Elway
John Elway, a Denver Broncos quarterback, was a Pro Bowler for 9 times and 1987 MVP, who also ranked 10th and 12th all-time in career passing yards and career touchdowns, respectively. He’s also among the most clutch QBs of all time.
John Elway is popular for his late game-winning drives. He led the Broncos in 5 Super Bowls, where although they lost on three, he salvaged his legacy by winning the other two.
Steve Young
Steve Young is perhaps one of the most underrated quarterbacks as his career didn’t go quite well until he’s 30.
Young was a three-time All-Pro in a career and won 2 MVPs. He has passing records and had 4 straight seasons, leading the league in passer rating (over 100 in each season). Throughout his career, he rushed 43 touchdowns. An unthinkable number for a QB.
Roger Staubach
Like John Elway, Roger Staubach is also known for his ability to shift the air in late games. Captain Comeback had a remarkable 23 game-winning drives in the 4th quarter.
His 74.6 winning percentage was hard for anyone to reach. It’s also worth noting that he was a rookie at 27 years old for serving in the military from previous years.
Aaron Rodgers
Aaron Rodgers’ NFL career continues to flourish, which is evident in his 2020 MVP season. The season may also be his best statistical season, ending with 48 TDs and a completion percentage of 70.7.
Rodgers may also be among the best with his 3,271 rushing yards, as well as 31 rushing touchdowns on top of his 412 passing TDs.
That makes the list of the 10 best NFL QBs. While the players on the list are undoubtedly among the bests, there’s no statistical basis that numerically ranks them; hence, this article doesn’t necessarily mean they are the best of the bests. Still, their career records made them among the bests.
