Who is the greatest quarterback of all time?

[Nym90]

Marino. The Dolphins always had a terrible running game every year. Defenses knew that Marino was going to pass all the time, and they still couldn't stop him. Most of the other QBs on this list had good running back for at least a decent portion of their careers.

Elway is a close second. He also usually had a bad running game behind him, and when he finally got a decent back, Terrell Davis, he won 2 Super Bowls. I don't think the Super Bowl titles should put Elway ahead of Marino because Marino would have won championships too with a running game. Marino's numbers were more impressive overall than Elway's.

[Nym90]

Soccer is awesome!

So is American football.

[Nym90]

Another point in favor of Elway in the Elway/Marino debate:
The Broncos went to all those Super Bowls with Elway because he could play north of Mason-Dixon outdoors in winter.  The Dolphins always faded in December because they couldn't win in Pittsburg, Buffalo, Denver, etc.

Peyton needs to prove himself outside the dome before he can be truely great.  If he somehow wins in Pitt and N.E. this year, he'll have my respect.

I always wondered how Marino would have done if he would have played for someone like the Bills or Steelers.

Well, Marino was from Pittsburgh originally, so I doubt he had a strong aversion to snow. It would be interesting to see if the Dolphins failures to win up north had to do with Marino's worse performance, or if it was something else like the defense.

The Dolphins generally had a bad running game, and in the snow, you usually need a good running game to win. They generally had a bad defense, too.

[Nym90]

Terry Bradshaw.

Solid, consistant, tough. All fine qualities in a QB

Bradshaw was great, but his stats come nowhere near some of the others listed here. Not to mention his supporting cast was much better.

Not to knock him, great player, and the qualities you list are all important and correct in his case, but greatest QB ever? Hardly.

[Nym90]

Another guy that I'm surprised to see hasn't gotten any support is Tarkenton. He was the all time leader in passing yards until Marino came along, and did it back in the 70's when the rules were a lot friendlier for pass defenses and less so for pass offenses. He could scramble and run quite well, too. Took the Vikings to 3 Super Bowls.