Best Quarterbacks In NFL History: Green Bay Packers
Favre is only one of several greats on this list.
Certainly, this is another subjective list, but it’s hard to argue with the Green Bay Packers as the franchise with the best quarterbacks in NFL history.
The important thing to note here is quarterbacks is plural, so this isn’t a Johnny Unitas vs. Joe Montana argument. NFL.com’s Dave Dameshek recently took a look at every NFL franchises’ top five quarterbacks and pitted the top franchises against each other in an NFL-style playoff.
The Packers, with [intlink id="41" type="category"]Brett Favre[/intlink], [intlink id="25" type="category"]Aaron Rodgers[/intlink], [intlink id="327" type="category"]Bart Starr[/intlink], Lynn Dickey, and Don Majkowski, defeated the [intlink id="196" type="category"]Indianapolis Colts[/intlink] top five of Johnny Unitas, Peyton Manning, Bert Jones, Earl Morrall and Jim Harbaugh.
From top to bottom, the Packers are nearly untouchable. The list features a Hall of Famer, a future Hall of Famer, a potential Hall of Famer and two guys who threw for over 4,000 yards in a season. It also excludes another Hall of Famer.
It’s interesting Dameshek, who obviously isn’t a student of history, included Majkowski and Dickey over Hall of Famer [intlink id="1450" type="category"]Arnie Herber[/intlink], the Packers signal caller from 1930-40.
Earlier this year, NFL.com’s Adam Best made his list of the top quarterbacks in Packers’ history. His list, in order: Starr, Herber, Favre, Rodgers, Dickey, Majkowski.
The other playoff teams and their quarterbacks were:
[intlink id="140" type="category"]Dallas Cowboys[/intlink] (Troy Aikman, Roger Staubach, Tony Romo, Danny White, Don Meredith)
Washington Redskins (Sammy Baugh, Sonny Jurgensen, Joe Theismann, Mark Rypien, Billy Kilmer)
[intlink id="35" type="category"]Minnesota Vikings[/intlink] (Fran Tarkenton, Daunte Culpepper, Tommy Kramer, Brett Favre, Randall Cunningham)
[intlink id="234" type="category"]New Orleans Saints[/intlink] (Drew Brees, Archie Manning, Bobby Hebert, Aaron Brooks, Jim Everett)
[intlink id="89" type="category"]San Francisco 49ers[/intlink] (Joe Montana, Steve Young, John Brodie, Jeff Garcia, Y.A. Tittle)
Miami Dolphins (Dan Marino, Bob Griese, Jay Fiedler, David Woodley, Earl Morrall)
New England Patriots (Tom Brady, Drew Bledsoe, Steve Grogan, Tony Eason, Babe Parilli)
[intlink id="386" type="category"]Pittsburgh Steelers[/intlink] (Ben Roethlisberger, Terry Bradshaw, Neil O’Donnell, Kordell Stewart, Bobby Layne)
[intlink id="756" type="category"]San Diego Chargers[/intlink] (Dan Fouts, Phil Rivers, John Hadl, Drew Brees, Stan Humphries)
[intlink id="29" type="category"]Oakland Raiders[/intlink] (Kenny Stabler, Jim Plunkett, Rich Gannon, Daryle Lamonica, Tom Flores)
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- Don Majkowski is Literally Falling Apart
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- Greg Jennings and Brett Favre Colluding on Minnesota
06/05/2011 - 1:54 pm
Since Bart Starr took over in 1958, the Packers have only suffered with 2 years of Randy Wright and a QB by committee from 71-75.
Majkowski was actually not that bad and Lynn Dickey was far better than the teams he played on. Put him on a competitive team and he could have been a regular pro-bowl player.
Also forgotten is Tobin Rote, who had some great seasons on the awful Packer teams of the 50′s.
06/05/2011 - 2:46 pm
How about Cecil Isbel, they guy who replaced Herber at the end of his career (late 30s, early 40s)? The chant soon was changed from Herber to Hutson to Isbel to Hutson.
The guy was phenomenal. He played with a chain tied to his left wrist so that he could not raise that arm more that shoulder height. He had some kind of chronic, banged up left-side shoulder problem that raising his arm too high would exacerbatek, dangerously.
Luckily, for the Packers, he was right handed.
His battles with Sid Luckman of the Bears were classic.
06/05/2011 - 3:12 pm
I am the original Majik Man fan, but Arnie Herber has to be 4th on this list with Dickey 5th. The Majik Man was great for a season and a half. That isn’t good enough to make him better than someone in the Hall of Fame.
So, give me Favre, Starr, Rodgers, Herber and Dickey, and we have a better argument. Otherwise, I think the Colts, Cowboys and 49ers are head-and-shoulders above everyone else on this list. Sure, I would take the Packers’ Top 3 over just about anyone else’s, but Danny White, Don Meredith, YA Title and Earl Morrell are in a different league than Dickey and Majkowski. Again, give me Herber and it is a closer argument.
Frankly, the Steelers, Vikings, Saints and Raiders have no business being on this list. If the horse shit Kordell Stewart is among your top 5 QBs, then enough said.
06/06/2011 - 9:33 am
Arnie Herber is in the Hall of Fame! How can you leave him off?