By: Chad Ruter
I know Justin and I are planning our Super Bowl predictions and banter tomorrow, but while the subject is hot, I figure it needs to be discussed. Warning to Justin: “Joe Montana” and “Bill Walsh’s system” will appear in the same post together. Just thought I’d warn you pal.
With the Super Bowl just days away, and the presence of a truly great quarterback in Tom Brady participating in the contest, the question that is debated by anyone with a pair of eyes and an opinion has reared its head again. Who is the greatest quarterback of all-time? The question was debated today in an article on espn.com written by Mike Sando. He talked with many former NFL masterminds, including legends such as Marv Levy and Art Rooney Jr. There final decision put Tom Brady third behind greats Johnny Unitas and Joe Montana – but at the end of the article left the topic open to interpretation based on era.
The answer to this question is alarmingly simple. All three quarterbacks are the greatest – of their time. Its silly to compare Johnny Unitas to Tom Brady because as cliche as it may sounds, it’s comparing apples to oranges. Johnny U, as great as he may have been, would get torn up in the NFL if he were to jump into Dr. Evil’s time machine, find Austin Powers’ mojo, and play a game in Peyton Manning’s shoes. The game was played at a tortoise’s pace compared to the speed, agility, and precision that it’s executed at now. Not to degrade those finely tuned athletic machines who played in the early days of football, but they know just as well as anyone they couldn’t make it in the league today. The results would be similar to putting Steve Prefontaine up against the worlds top runner today. He would be absolutely destroyed. The training is better. The science is better. The dedication is accepted and encouraged.
To properly dissect the best QB in NFL history, you have to break the league into stages. Since the game has evolved from a sport where it was illegal to make a forward pass, to one where the pass is the most lethal part of the game, you have to find relative breaking points and stick with them. And those points in history may not even coincide with what’s happening on the gridiron.
PRE-NFL ERA (Beginning of time-1971): I should re-name it the Pre-NFL Without the AFL Era, but that’s just way too damn long. It’s the time period where players had the coolest nicknames. Dick “Night Train” Lane, Harold Edward “Red” Grange, and OJ “If I Did It” Simpson. Alright…OJ really wasn’t a pre-1970 star…but I really wanted to throw him in here somewhere. The NFL was a running game at this time, except for the golden arm of one man that could sling it better than anyone on the planet at the time: Johnny U. Although I never had the honor of watching him play, I’ve seen tapes…and the man could thread the needle. What made him so unique was he dominated a position that, at the time, wasn’t necessarily the most important position on the team. You may argue against that point, but there were very few quarterbacks relied upon to chuck it up more than 15-20 times a game. But Unitas was decades ahead of his time, won a title, and is hands down, no questions asked the best of the era.
THE LT ERA (1971-1993): I dare anyone to argue with me about the name of this time-frame. And for those of you that don’t know who the original LT was, then either play Tecmo Super Bowl on the NES or find some old game film of the New York Giants. LT may have only played during the last 12 years of this era, but he defines it. Defenses became incredibly big and incredibly fast. Linemen erupted into massive walls of muscle. And the only answer to defeat these monsters was the revolution of a new way to play offense. If you haven’t read the book The Blind Side, I suggest you go pick it up tomorrow. The book focuses on a young man’s struggle to find his place in society (that young man will now be a first round draft pick in the NFL here in three months), but it also filters through the history of how football has evolved. In particular, how the backside tackle position (left tackle for righty QB’s and vice versa) has become nearly as imperative as the position the man protects. The one guy that forced the this revolution was none other than Lawrence Taylor. And the system that picked him apart was orchestrated by the best quarterback of the era: Joe Montana, and coached to precision by the late Bill Walsh. The West Coast Offense was created to isolate and eliminate a player from the game, and its results were devasating. The 49ers dominated, and the system spread and evolved into the game we see today. The precision passing, the stretch runs, everything we see in the NFL that is great today can be derived from Bill Walsh and Joe Montana. He won three Super Bowls and was the greatest of that era – no doubt.
THE SALARY CAP ERA (1993-Present)- The game changed off the field when the powers that be decided parity and the allmighty dollar were the most important things in the world. Some great QB’s have played during this time (Favre, Aikmen, Elway, Young, Warner, Testaverde…kidding), but none can compare to the success of Tom Brady. Three Super Bowl rings while playing with receiving cores and running backs that have changed yearly. Prime example: Only four players remain from the Patriots 2002 title team. FOUR! That is less than 8% of the team! Thats like replacing everyone from the 2007 Red Sox except for Big Papi and Josh Beckett. Great players, yes, but they can’t do it on their own. It’s a testament to Brady’s greatness. It doesn’t matter what the name reads on the back of the other 10 guys out there with him, they all say Patriots. And if you think Brady’s alone in this escapade, your sorely mistaken. Scott Pioli, director of Patriots players and personnel can be thanked just as much, if not more than Brady himself. The reason why the 90’s Cowboys and 49er teams fell off the earth for awhile was because they failed to control their salaries, and they fell into cap penalty hell. The Patriots realized immediately the love for a player is no reason to keep him if the price isn’t right. So as great as Tom Brady is, throwing hard and accurate with perfect mechanics, dodging sack artists with a shoulder dip, and leading his team on a game-winning drive, he’s nothing without the personnel Pioli and coach Bill Belichick provide. But there is no doubt he’s the best of the era.
