100 Years of NFL: The Quarterbacks Quiz

Answer: A guarantee to win Super Bowl III.

When the Super Bowl was the meeting between the AFL champion and the NFL champion, the NFL was considered far stronger than the AFL. With the 1968 Baltimore Colts considered to be the strong favourite, Namath famously responded to a heckling reporter that the Jets would win the game. "We're going to win the game. I guarantee it." Incensed Baltimore fans vowed that the Colts would make Joe eat his words. However, Namath led the Jets' offence and the defence proved stalwart in a surprising 16-7 win. Namath was also named the game's MVP.

Namath led a very good career with the Jets, though his later years were plagued by injuries. The Jets, however, could not revisit their success of winning the Super Bowl and even struggled to make the playoffs most years. Namath was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985.

Answer: Terry Bradshaw

Terry Bradshaw may be prominent now on Fox NFL Sunday, but back in the 1970s, his Pittsburgh Steelers won four Super Bowls in six years! Bradshaw, the starting quarterback with an amazingly strong and accurate arm, was able to pick apart defences and find holes. His field vision was so incredible that he did his own play-calling. Of course, having two amazing backs that could both run for a thousand yards a season didn't hurt (Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier), and the 'Steel Curtain' defence was certainly another dominant factor.

Terry Bradshaw won Super Bowls IX, X, XIII, and XIV, while taking home the MVP in the latter two. He was chosen for three Pro Bowls, was the league's MVP in 1978, however, his number was never retired officially by the Steelers. Unofficially, though, they've declared that they won't reissue number 12 again. Terry Bradshaw was a truly great quarterback.

Answer: It was complete... to himself.

Down 17-0 in the first half against the Bucs, Favre was called in to replace Packers' QB Don Majkowski. Favre lined up behind scrimmage, stepped back, fired a pass... that was deflected right back to him. As an eligible receiver, he caught the ball but was immediately tackled for a seven-yard loss. So, a reception for a loss, and not to the intended receiver.

Brett Favre brought the Packers out of the slump they were mired in. Originally drafted by the Falcons, Ron Wolf had intended to draft Favre but was beaten to him. A season later, Wolf traded for Favre. However, the quarterback had been diagnosed with a degenerative hip condition, but Wolf wanted him anyway. It paid off.

Favre won three consecutive MVP awards 1995-96-97. The 1997 Super Bowl (for the 1996 season),was their first since their win in Super Bowl II. He was named to eleven Pro Bowl teams. He held many records when he retired such as passing yards, wins, pass attempts and more, though some have been broken since then.

Answer: Minnesota Vikings

Fran Tarkenton was a dual threat quarterback. He could throw accurately and had great field vision, but he was also not afraid to run with the football. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings, spent six seasons with them, five with the New York Giants, and then another seven seasons with the Vikings again. Entering the Super Bowl era, Tarkenton was able to lead the Vikings to three straight Super Bowls, the farthest the team would get in a long time.

As a player, Tarkenton was prone to interceptions, but, he was usually a very good passer. Also, he was able to scramble for big yards himself. He was named to nine Pro Bowls and also won the league MVP award in 1975.

Answer: None

When Jim Kelly was nearing the draft, he declared that he absolutely did not want to play anywhere cold. The lift definitely included Buffalo. However, when the Bills drafted him 14th, Kelly opted to sign with the Houston affiliate of the USFL. One of his most exciting games at Houston was a shootout with another quarterback great, Steve Young.

Jim Kelly made the Bills exciting and dynamic. His "K-Gun" no huddle offence confounded defences, especially since they were unable to prepare for it or to match up players that fast. He led the Bills to four straight Super Bowls, however, despite his good performances, he lost all of them; most famously was in the first loss, Super Bowl XXV against the New York Giants where kicker Scott Norwood missed a last-second field goal to lose the game. Nevertheless, Jim Kelly did what no other quarterback would do - lead his team to four consecutive Super Bowls, and lose them all. Jim Kelly was truly great as a quarterback, though no luck in the big game.
(the four straight losses were 1990-91-92-93)

Answer: San Diego Chargers

"Dan Fouts had a cool, steel-like nerve and courage... He took a lot of beatings, a lot of pounding, but continued to play, hurt or otherwise. He played more physical football than anybody on his team, including the linebackers" --Bill Walsh

Dan Fouts was the Chargers' starting quarterback starting in his rookie season in 1973 and all the way to 1987. Not a very mobile quarterback, Fouts was known for his arm and accuracy. He made his receivers successful while racking up offensive passing yards for himself. Though he never won the MVP award (famously losing to the first kicker that won the award), he was selected for the Pro Bowl six times and led the league in passing yards four times, consecutively.

Answer: Peyton Manning

While both Matt Hasselbeck and Carson Palmer have quarterback brothers, and Matt Simms has a quarterback father, Peyton Manning is the only one on this list who has both, and was amazing. If you're mentioned by Tom Brady as the greatest, then there's something there, right?

Peyton Manning had a career spanning 17 seasons (well, 18, but, for one of them he sat out the entire season due to an injury). In that time, not only did he set the pace for the league, but he also set records. As the quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts Peyton always had the starting role. In fact, from 1998 in his rookie year to 2010, he never missed a game, not one. In most seasons he led the league in one stat or another, and his teams dominated in the standings.

Peyton Manning missed the 2011 season due to a neck injury then needed vertebrae fusing. People thought he would not return, but he did, with style. Winning the first Super Bowl with the Colts was not nearly as difficult as his second win, Super Bowl 50, when he was in his final season. Even so, he never stopped working hard to achieve his goals, and in a humble and patient way. Peyton Manning was certainly one of the greats.
(Peyton was a son of Archie Manning and a brother of Eli Manning)

Answer: T-formation

George Halas brought back the T-formation (three running backs line up about 5 yards behind the QB) in the 1930s and taught it to Solly Sherman, who in turn taught it to Sid Luckman. Luckman used it very efficiently in his time with the Chicago Bears and managed to lead the Bears to NFL championships in 1940, 1941, 1943, and 1946 (remember, this was pre-Super Bowl, so the AFL had not even merged with the NFL at this point). In fact, in the 1940 title game against the Washington Redskins, Luckman and the Bears beat the Redskins so badly that the game was called "the most one-sided game in the history of the sport". The final score was 73-0.

During WWII, Sid Luckman volunteered his services to the US Merchant Marine but was given permission to join the Bears on game days. After the war was ended, Luckman resumed his duties with the Bears. Luckman was the first quarterback in professional football to throw for 400 yards in a single game and he set the record for touchdown percentage in 1943 at 13.9% while he had an amazing 107.5 passer rating for the season. He was one of the first to use the forward pass with effectiveness and he helped revolutionize football with it, so much, that he taught college football coaches how to utilize the forward pass.

Answer: Injuries.

Troy Aikman was one of the trio of players that propelled the 1990s Dallas Cowboys to be a dynasty, three Super Bowls within four years (1992, 1993 and 1995). Along with running back Emmitt Smith and wide receiver Michael Irvin, Aikman was always pushing the Cowboys' offence to be better. Nevertheless, he was quite injury-prone, and some reports have him suffering up to ten concussions throughout his career. At the end, however, it was persistent back pain due to injuries received that he claimed led him to retire.

If you only look at the stats, Aikman was not an exemplary quarterback. However, when you take into account all the intangibles that he added to the Cowboys, you can see what made him an outstanding play-caller and leader who made his teammates try to do better.

Answer: Montana

Joe Montana, perhaps the greatest quarterback of his generation, and perhaps of all time. He started with the 49ers out of Norte Dame fighting for the role of starter with Steve DeBerg. Though he played in all of the games in his rookie season in 1979, he only won the role in 1980.

In 1981, he led the 49ers to their first Super Bowl win. In the NFC Championship game against the Dallas Cowboys, Joe Cool had his first of many iconic plays, "The Catch" to Dwight Clark. After the second Super Bowl win, coach Bill Walsh said "Joe Montana is the greatest quarterback today, maybe the greatest quarterback of all time." He was not off the mark. Joe Montana would lead the 49ers to two more Super Bowl wins, and of those four, Montana was named the game MVP three times.

Due to a quarterback controversy, Joe Montana was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs, where he would have two more excellent seasons before retiring. In the end, Joe Montana held so many records, if Wikipedia had been around, they'd have needed an entire page just to list them.