The Golden Era Of NFL Quarterbacks
By Jeff Henning
The Golden Age Of Quarterbacks Is Slowly Fading Into The Setting Sun
Last Sunday, in Super Bowl 50, an NFL legend won his coveted 2nd Super Bowl title in what was possibly the last game of his illustrious career. Since being drafted #1 overall in the 1998 NFL Draft, all Peyton Manning has done is become one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks of all time. Even though his body has begun to show the expected signs of wear and tear of a nearly 2 decade career, Manning battled to be able to play in last Sunday’s season finale, and what is thought to be the last game of his storied career.
For the past 16 years, NFL fans have been gifted with the greatest collection of quarterbacks to ever come through the league. From the gunslinger Brett Favre to the 6th round Michigan Wolverine who became Tom Brady, it’s been a spoil of talented arms. It’s been an easy inevitability to become desensitized to the greatness of these QB’s from week to week, month to month, and season to season. While tonight will certainly be a celebration, it will also mark the beginning of the end of a golden era. It would be easy to write countless editorials on the greatness of soon to be HOF QB’s Manning and Brady. Even Favre, who will be inducted into the HOF in Canton this April, would be an easy sell. What makes this ‘golden era’ so great isn’t the top tier of aforementioned names, its the 2nd and 3rd tier that gives this period in time its extra sparkle.
The year is 2006. The New Orleans Saints were entering the new year with an exacerbated amount of hope and momentum for a team that just came off of a 3-13 season. Newcomers Sean Payton and quarterback Drew Brees brought excitement back to a franchise that had been dormant since making the playoffs in 2000. The city of New Orleans was also reeling from the damages of Hurricane Katrina. At the time, Brees’ injury history made him a big risk. Little did Payton or Brees realize how important they would become. That season, football and life itself was injected with a fervor of excitement in New Orleans. The Saints would go 10-6 that season winning the NFC South. 3 years later, Brees and company would win Super Bowl XLIV against Peyton Manning’s Colts. In terms of passing totals, Brees has been nothing short of prolific. In terms of single season passing yard records, Brees owns 3 out of the top 5. Expanding the list a little more, Brees holds 6 of the top 14 passing seasons of all time.
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Just 2 seasons prior to Brees’ Super Bowl heroics, Western Pennsylvania was getting a glimpse of their next franchise quarterback. In the 2004 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers used their 11th overall pick to select the 3rd quarterback behind previously taken QB’s Eli Manning and Philip Rivers. Ben Roethlisberger was a big bodied quarterback who posted solid numbers at the University of Miami (OH) in the MAC conference. ‘Big Ben’ started 13 games in his rookie season, winning all of them while also throwing for 17 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, and a QB rating of 98.1. The Steelers would go on to win 1 of their 2 Super Bowl titles the very next season. With those aforementioned rings, Roethlisberger finds himself surrounded by an explosive offense as he enters the twilight of his career.
In Roethlisberger’s 2nd Super Bowl appearance, he was able to defeat Kurt Warner and the Cardinals in one of the best NFL games in the past 2 decades. Although 2016 won’t be the year for Warner’s Hall of Fame induction, there’s no doubt that he belongs on this list. 2-time MVP, Super Bowl MVP, and 4 time Pro-Bowl QB, Warner was the cornerstone of the St. Louis Rams team deemed “the greatest show on turf.” In 2001, Warner led the NFL in Passing Yards with 4,830. Before the 2013 season, those totals were good enough for a spot in the top-10 of best seasons of all time in terms of yardage. Warner had a triumphant career amidst unreasonable amounts of doubt. To date, Warner is the 3rd most accurate passer ever with a career completion percentage of 65.5%.
It’s also hard to forget quarterbacks Eli Manning and Philip Rivers, not only because of their success but because of their draft day dealings that should forever keep them entwined. Entering the 2004 NFL Draft, the San Diego Chargers held the 1st overall pick, and it was clear that the Chargers were going to use that pick on Ole Miss QB Eli Manning. However, Manning channeled his inner John Elway and informed the Chargers that he had no desire to play for them and would not sign if the team drafted him. Ignoring the young QB’s threats, the Chargers went ahead and drafted Manning anyway. Luckily, things would work out for both Eli and the Chargers as they were able to swing a deal with the New York Giants who held the 4th overall pick and drafted QB Philip Rivers.
Even though Eli has always taken the back seat to big brother Peyton, his career numbers are nothing to mock. Not only does Eli have 2 Super Bowl rings, he also currently ranks #11 in terms of career passing yards, and by the end of next season he will be in the top 10 of that list. Aside from the Super Bowl rings, Philip Rivers and Eli have had very similar careers. Rivers is just behind Eli in total passing yards and while Manning ranks #8 in terms of career TD’s with 294, Rivers is right on his tail with 281. Don’t let Rivers playoff misfortunes fool you, for he is one of the most competitive and fun to watch QBs who have ever come through the NFL.
Although he’s the youngest QB on this list, he has the chance to go down as the greatest QB to ever play the game. At just 32 years of age, Aaron Rodgers has already racked up 257 career passing TDs. That’s a staggering number given that he’s only 49 off of Peyton Manning’s career pace, which by the way is the all time record. Through Manning’s age 32 season, he had collected 306 total passing touchdowns in 11 full seasons. Rodgers career totals are through 8 full seasons. Rodgers can also boast that he is a Super Bowl champion and MVP, beating the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl 45. Rodgers still has a long way to go in terms of passing yardage, he also has the benefit of youth and still in the prime of his career, Rodgers has the chance to take success at the quarterback position to a whole new, Gruden-head-exploding, echelon.
So, who’s next? Excluding Rodgers from this cluster of setting suns, who leads the NFL into the next era? At just 30 years of age, Falcons QB Matt Ryan ranks inside the top 40 on the career passing TD list. Matty Ice could be an interesting case because he currently sits ahead of Aaron Rodgers in career passing yard totals. Ryan suffers from a lack of playoff success but his career numbers cannot be argued. Do 28 year old Matthew Stafford and Andy Dalton have a chance to speak in this conversation? What about Super Bowl winning Joe Flacco? Is he really as elite as his contract depicts? Same goes for Russell Wilson who went from North Carolina State to Wisconsin to Seattle and has now been to 2 Super Bowls, winning 1 of them.
Even younger still are 26 year olds Cam Newton and Andrew Luck. Both drafted with the #1 overall selection in their respective drafts, these 2 have the chance to take the flame with they hit their early 30’s. Newton, who is a physical specimen that the NFL has yet to see at the QB position, just lost his first Super Bowl game but was the focal point of an offense that went 15-1 in the 2015 regular season. Through 5 full NFL seasons, Newton is already the career leader is rushing touchdowns by a QB, an amazing stat. Unlike Newton, however, Andrew Luck has been the NFL’s next chosen one, after being drafted #1 by the Indianapolis Colts in 2012. The former Stanford QB has both the physical and mental abilities to draw comparisons to the last Colt’s legend. Although he has yet to make it to a Super Bowl, Luck figures to be a constant threat to take his team to the pinnacle of the sport, so long as the team around him improves a little more.
In 5 years, the landscape of the NFL will be entirely different. On a more micro level first, the Broncos were able to defeat the Panthers and win Super Bowl 50 because of an excellent defense. For all the talk on the importance of a franchise quarterback, the Broncos proved that you can win it all in spite of a ‘franchise’ play-caller. 2015-2016 was a special year for Peyton Manning, the Broncos, and the NFL in general. In roughly 5 years, someone not named Brady, Manning, or Roethlisberger will have to win the AFC. As long as football continues through the decades, some name may change. Some records broken. Be grateful that you saw the greatest of all time compete against each other, in their primes.