I refuse to rank em. They are all too close to call.
Montana is the favorite because he won all those super bowls and was DOMINANT on the biggest stage. Against him though, you have to take into account he had Jerry Rice, Roger Craig, Taylor, a GREAT O-line and a top 5 defense in 8 of his 10 seasons with the team (the others they were 8th and 23rd, when they were 23rd ranked, the 49er's went 3-6 in 1982's strike season). Why does NO ONE mention the fact the 49er D was AWESOME, year in and year out for Joe? They were a top 4 Defense 8 out of 10 years for him there. TOP FOUR!
Also, you need to lessen the weight of SB trophies somewhat, not totally though, for it is a TEAM sport. You can be the greatest of all time (or considered one of them) and never win won, see: Dan Marino.
Breaking down Montana.
He threw for 30+ TD's one time. One. 31 td's in 1987. He threw for 20+ another 5 times. Ne NEVER threw for 4000 yds. he finsihed first in the NFL in passing td's 2 times (tied one of those) and never lead the league in passing yards.
I could go on about Roger Craig and Rice/Taylor/Clark but I won't.
I think Joe deserves one of the top spots of all-time great QB's. He had the intangibles and the intelligence and the coolness I can't say I've ever seen equaled by anyone on a football field.
Marino also deserves near-top billing on the all-time list. We all know why. Regardless of his lack of SB. I put that mostly on Miami ownership/management than on Danny boy. I don't really care for him, but talent is talent. And he had maybe more than anyone ever to play the game.
He had 2 40+ td seasons. Two more that were 30+ and 9 more that were 20+. That is 13 seasons of 20+ td's in his 17 year career. Over 5000 yds once and over 4000 5 other times. Amazing.
Elway was ferocious and driven. Refused to lose and put up decent numbers in Reeves lame system, though never for over 30 tds. Never. Not once. Put up 20+ td's 6 times in a 16 year career. Not even half the time did he toss 20+ td's. Over 4000 yards only 1 time. He threw more int's than td's 4 times in his career. Only won a SB once T-Davis got to town and dominated the league, though Elway got to many SB's, which is a testament to his drive and determination.
Favre was/is a football player. Period. Hard nosed, tough, crazy, eratic, instinctive, strong and unpredictable. he has been a joy to watch for the last 14 or so years. I have NOT missed a GB game he has started. Seriously. He has done it all. Amazed and confused, caused great great elation and great great bewilderment.
I think there is no-one who hands down is necessarily any better than him. Lets take a peak at some numbers, shall we? 8 seasons of 30+ td tosses. Eight. No one else is close to this. Another 4 of 20+. That is 12 years of 20+ td's tosses in his 15 years as a starter in GB. 4 years of 4000+ yds passing. 3 consecutive MVP awards. Never missed a start. Never. He has played in some games where other QB's sat. He played on an ankle in Chicago one year that he had to have either his shoe cut open wider or had a special shoe put on to accommidate how bad swollen his ankle was, could barely put any weight on it, essentially played in a cast and he still tossed 4 td's in that game. And that is only one of many games he played pretty hurt in.
He has had no other players play with him on offense that would even slightly be considered for the hall of fame. (unless you think the great sterling sharpe will be...someday. he was hof calibur, but only played with favre for 3 years.)
There are others, but I don't want to take the time...Kelly (just awesome, throw throw throw, 4 sb appearances, very smart QB with great arm), Moon (severly underrated, wish he wouldve played all years in the NFL, he might own some records himself then), Unitas put up numbers in the old days that would be pretty good today, Young (arguments saying he would have done just as good if not better than Joe on those later 49er teams can be made), Brady, Manning (might break all the records before his time is up. Having Harrison there every year hasnt hurt on bit though), Tarkenton (I hate the Vikes, but you gotta put him here. Great QB. Short of the top though, he was on great teams and never won $hit), Fouts.
One obvious missing name: Aikman. I consider him the best "game managing QB" ever. Just dont' screw it up. He was on a GREAT team. One of the best, if not the best teams of all time. I consider the o-line he was behind the best ever assembled. He and Emmitt benefitted so much, it isn't even funny.
(on a side note, that is why I consider Payton, Sayers, Brown, Sanders, Dickerson, Simpson and others I'm sure I'm forgetting better than Smith as a RB - imagine Barry Sanders on that team instead of Emmitt. Emmitt was usually 4 yards past the LOS before he even got hit...by a linebacker or safety, not a d-lineman. Oh, Barry might have gotten close to 3000 yards once or twice on that team).
Also missing: Bradshaw (gunslinger who shouldve tried to be more of a game manager, really not that great numbers, but was on a great team, one of the greatest of all time), Broadway Joe (if he wasn't a Jet, we wouldn't know him), Starr (game manager).
