Friday, April 4, 2008

Meh, Who Needs a QB?

A myth that has bothered me for some time now has been brought to the forefront in an article relating to "Myths of the NFL." I will attempt to debunk the rumor, and hopefully after this short article you will have changed your mind. That's if you were ever a believer of it.

Myth No. 1: Just manage the game. After Trent Dilfer led the Baltimore Ravens to a Super Bowl championship the idea that a team really didn't need a great quarterback to win it all started circulating. The myth said that a QB who could manage the game was good enough as long as the defense was above par. That myth caused a few teams to skip on quarterbacks like Drew Brees and Ben Roethlisberger.

Hopefully all of you reading this are aware it's 2008. Lets take a look back at the last 30 years worth of SuperBowl winning QB's and see if the Myth above really has any credibility.

2007 - Eli Manning .....Not a Pro Bowl yet, but SuperBowl MVP will do.
2006 - Peyton Manning....Future Hall of Famer
2005 - Ben Roethlisberger....Pro Bowler
2004 - Tom Brady......Future Hall of Famer
2003 - Tom Brady.......Future Hall of Famer
2002 - Brad Johnson.....Pro Bowler
2001 - Tom Brady.....Future Hall of Famer
2000 - Trent Dilfer......Pro Bowler(Hmmmmmm kind of takes credibility from the myth in itself)
1999 - Kurt Warner....Pro Bowler
1998 - John Elway.....Hall of Famer
1997 - John Elway.....Hall of Famer
1996 - Brett Favre.....Future Hall of Famer
1995 - Troy Aikman.....Hall of Famer
1994 - Steve Young......Hall of Famer
1993 - Troy Aikman.....Hall of Famer
1992 - Troy Aikman.....Hall of Famer
1991 - Mark Rypien.....Pro Bowler
1990 - Jeff Hostetler.....Pro Bowler
1989 - Joe Montana.....Hall of Famer
1988 - Joe Montana.....Hall of Famer
1987 - Doug Williams.....SuperBowl MVP
1986 - Phill Simms......Pro Bowler
1985 - Jim McMahan......Pro Bowler
1984 - Joe Montana.....Hall of Famer
1983 - Jim Plunkett.....Former SuperBowl MVP
1982 - Joe Theisman.....Hall of Famer
1981 - Joe Montana...... Hall of Famer
1980 - Jim Plunkett......SuperBowl MVP
1979 - Terry Bradshaw......Hall of Famer
1978 - Terry Bradshaw......Hall of Famer

Hardly looks like a list of "game managers" to me. Sure Jim McMahon, Trent Dilfer, Jeff Hostetler and Mark Rypien wouldn't be many fan's first choice, but you can't argue the fact that all of them are former Pro Bowlers. Of this list, only Jim Plunkett, Doug Williams and Eli Manning didn't play in a Pro Bowl. Yet each one played so well in their respective SuperBowl games, each one was awarded SuperBowl MVP honors. Now I ask you, after taking a nice long look at this list, do you want a game manager under center for your favorite team?
...ABuccsFan/JJC