Posted on 10/05/2012 11:05:09 AM PDT by nhwingut
The quarterbacks don't play against each other, not technically at least, but when the Denver Broncos play the New England Patriots on Sunday, it will be impossible to separate the two, their shared history, their rivalry and their greatness. Peyton Manning versus Tom Brady, maybe for the final time.
Enjoy it. Savor it. Watch every play. This could be it, a final farewell to the best matchup of the past decade, one the National Football League recognized and fostered and treated us to for 10 seasons, just because it could. Every regular season since 2003. Three postseasons. Two AFC title games. The four-time MVP versus the two-time MVP. Seven Super Bowl appearances between them. Four Lombardi Trophies. A combined 269 wins, 714 touchdown passes and 97,196 passing yards. When the time comes, the Pro Football Hall of Fame will have its doors wide open.
Talk about two football lives forever linked, arm in arm, bound together by their success, different as they might be. Quarterbacks. Leaders. Pitch men. The two biggest stars in this country's most popular sport. One more time.
(Excerpt) Read more at espn.go.com ...
Why? Is Brady retiring?
I am a big Manning fan. He is in my mind one of the 5 all time best QBs. The drop off the Colts had last year while Manning was hurt was very telling. Manning was the offensive coordinator. He kept a very suspect team in the hunt for 3 yrs. Losing him last year exposed the Colts.
Off the field these two are very good friends. I think it’s just hard to say how much longer Manning will want to continue playing or when the Pats and the Broncos might meet again. But the way things look right now another game between the two might happen in as early as January.
Johnny Unitas IS and forever will be the greatest quarterback.
When Drew Breese breaks his record of 47 consecutive TD passes this weekend, it should go down in the record books with a big asterisk designating Before and After ‘skirted’ quarterbacks.
These days a rusher can’t even scrape a fingernail on a quarterback without seeing a yellow flag.
Modern era quarterbacks are a more protected species than the spotted owl.
One could argue that Unitas, Montana, Marino, and Peyton Manning could all lay claim to the title of all time greatest. Then there is a significant drop when you get to the rest of the top 10 which I have as Aikman, Staubach, Namath, Bradshaw, Young, and Kelly. Unitas would be a great QB in todays league. He ushered in the age of the modern QB.
The guys on my list are there because they were and in Mannings case are true leaders on the football field. Each one of these guys found ways to win when it seemed impossible. They were all tough mentaly and physicaly.
Damn, I forgot to add Elway to my list. He would be tied with Kelly for the 10th spot.
But no Brady on your list, ha ha ha
I don’t have Brady on my list for a number of reasons. I think the NFL does everything in their power to protect him. A defensive player can touch his helmet with a pinky finger and he will get the roughing call. Every time Brady gets hit he is looking for a flag. Brady is a good QB but my list is my list. Everyone has their own bias when it comes to rating players and for me it comes down to the fact that I just plain don’t like him. Is it a crappy reason? Yeah, I admit it is.
Can’t argue with anything you said, and the guys on your list.
Leadership sets them above all others.
I’m just saying the game has changed since the days of Unitas, Butkus, Starr, etc. The players may be bigger these days, but they are playing with the Marquess of Queensbury rules
Yeah, I know it’s a boxing metaphor, but you get the idea.
Really, and the same rules don’t apply to Manning? Please, you certainly have the right to not like Brady, but in the same era when one QB surpasses the other (Brady over Manning in SB wins, TDs and yards) you can’t rule out the other objectively.
It’s more accurate to state that there are some QBs who are/were physically superior like Manning, Elway, Marino, Aikman vs those who were more tactical like Brady, Montana, Simms and Staubach.
But guess what, using your rules, I don’t/didn’t like Elway, Manning, Marino, Kelly, Aikman, ect., so therefore they were not great QBs.
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