Who is the best quarterback ever?

Of course there is no universally agreed upon way to measure who is best, but the NFL has a widely accepted statistic called “passer rating” that ought to serve as a pretty good proxy. It is a measure of the efficiency of a quarterback after accounting for the rate of touchdowns, yards, and interceptions per attempt.

Who do you think has the highest passer rating over their career? Here are some options:

Steve Young
Peyton Manning
Tom Brady
Joe Montana
Drew Brees
Dan Marino
Brett Favre
Jim Kelly
Roger Staubach
Troy Aikman
Bart Starr
Dan Fouts
John Elway
Johnny Unitas

If you said none of the above, you would be correct. Here are the ranks of the above quarterbacks on the all-time list:

2. Steve Young
5. Peyton Manning
7. Tom Brady
8. Joe Montana
10. Drew Brees
17. Dan Marino
18. Brett Favre
25. Jim Kelly
29. Roger Staubach
42. Troy Aikman
50. Bart Starr
57. Dan Fouts
58. John Elway
68. Johnny Unitas

Who’s number 1, you ask? He reigns from Decatur, Alabama, he was recruited out of high school as a tight end, he played his college ball in Raleigh, North Carolina (where I watched him closely for four years), (his dad was the coach at my high school), and he currently resides in San Diego, California, where he is on pace to shatter the single season passing record without a starting receiver on the active roster. His name is Philip Rivers.

Here is the complete list.

Given our culture’s infatuation with greatness, it is amazing that he has managed to maintain his presence in the “pretty good” press bucket for this long. I am starting to see a few articles whisper the word “special”, but it still pales in comparison to the lovefest I observe for other quarterbacks.

It is also amazing that this is the first post on this blog about him. I pay more attention to Philip Rivers than probably any other human I don’t personally know. I am not proud of it, but it’s true. It is my guilty pleasure on Sundays (and most other days of the week, for that matter).

It is unlikely that he will ever be put in the “best ever” category, but at least for right now, in the prime of his career, that is what the statistics are saying. No doubt part of his statistical greatness can be attributed to the emergence of the passing game as an offensive force. This is evidenced by the fact that 7 of the top 10 quarterbacks on the list are still active, and 3 of the top 5 (Rivers, Romo, and Rodgers) are under 30. But I have little doubt that Philip Rivers will be remembered as “among the best” and that he will eventually be immortalized in Canton. (The Pro Football Hall of Fame, for you non-football people.)

And maybe someday I will finally publish a big long post about my own lovefest for #17.