Chiefs’ Mahomes or Bucs’ Brady? The NFL’s GOAT? Tracking the league’s long QB lineage
Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady is considered the greatest quarterback of all time — and he has the accolades to back that up. Brady, 43, is playing in his record 10th Super Bowl, bringing his storied career from New England to Tampa Bay.
Brady will match up against Patrick Mahomes, the 25-year-old Chiefs phenom who could one day threaten Brady’s crown atop the NFL mountain. Mahomes is off to the hottest start to a career in NFL history, the youngest player to put a league and Super Bowl MVP on his resume.
It’s still just a couple years into Mahomes’ career, but Sunday’s game could have long-term GOAT implications.
A Bucs win would deliver Brady his seventh Super Bowl ring. And perhaps an important stat down the line: A 2-0 record over Mahomes in the postseason. A Chiefs win would mean back-to-back Super Bowl wins for Mahomes, his second ring and a postseason victory over Brady.
Come Super Bowl LV, Mahomes vs. Brady has all the generational narratives behind it. But before them, a legacy of quarterbacks have made their impact on the league.
Here’s a chronological list of the full NFL lineage of the greatest quarterback of all time or generation.
Sammy Baugh, 1937-1952
Notables: 2-time NFL Champ, 7-time first-team All-Pro, 2-time NFL Player of the Year. 21,886 yards passing and 187 touchdown passes. Inducted into Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963. Played for Washington.
Back in the days when players played both sides of the ball, Baugh was a quarterback, defensive back and punter. He was a capable passer, leading the league in completion percentage eight times and passer rating six times. In 1943, he led the league in yards per punt along with 11 interceptions.
Otto Graham, 1946-1955
Notables: 3-time NFL champ, 3-time NFL MVP, 5-time Pro Bowl selection. 13,499 yards passing and 174 touchdown passes. Inducted into Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965. Played for the Browns.
Graham was considered one of the most dominant players to play in the NFL. He led the Browns to league championship games every year from 1946-1955, winning seven of them. He has one of the highest winning percentages of all time at .810.
Johnny Unitas, 1956-1973
Notables: 3-time NFL champ, Super Bowl V champ, 3-time NFL MVP, 10-time Pro Bowl selection. 40,239 yards passing and 290 touchdown passes. Inducted into Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979. Played for the Baltimore Colts and San Diego Chargers.
Unitas, nicknamed “Johnny U” and “the Golden Arm,” had great fanfare and personality during his playing days. Passing games weren’t nearly as sophisticated back then, but Unitas served as a sort of prototype for the gunslinging quarterbacks of today.
Roger Staubach, 1969-1979
Notables: 2-time Super Bowl champ, 1-time Super Bowl MVP, 6-time Pro Bowl selection. 22,700 yards passing and 153 touchdown passes. Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985. Played for the Cowboys.
The passing totals aren’t gaudy, but part of that is because of style of play in the 1970s being dominated by running backs. Staubach is considered one of the best of his generation, leading the Cowboys to four Super Bowls as a starter.
Joe Montana, 1979-1994
Notables: 4-time Super Bowl champ, 3-time Super Bowl MVP, 2-time NFL MVP, 8-time Pro Bowl selection. 40,551 yards passing and 273 touchdown passes. Inducted into Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000. Played for the 49ers and Chiefs.
Montana had a stellar career with the 49ers before finishing up with the Chiefs in his final two seasons. Montana linked up with Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice, who many consider to be the greatest wide receiver of all time. He has plenty of highlights, too, including “The Catch” and the 92-yard drive to beat the Bengals in Super Bowl XXIII.
John Elway, 1983-1998
Notables: 2-time Super Bowl champ, 1-time Super Bowl MVP, 1987 NFL MVP, 9-time Pro Bowl selection. 51,475 yards passing and 300 touchdown passes. Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2004. Played for the Broncos.
Elway was dangerous with his arm, but so was he with his feet. He led the Broncos to five Super Bowl trips, but he makes the list for the end of his career, when he won back-to-back titles. He led “The Drive,” a 98-yard game-tying touchdown drive against the Browns that went down into NFL lore. For the younger fans, his name should sound familiar as he leads the Broncos as president of football operations.
Dan Marino, 1983-1999
Notables: 1984 NFL MVP, 9-time Pro Bowl selection. 61,361 yards passing and 420 touchdown passes. Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2005. Played for the Dolphins.
Marino broke the mold when it came to the quarterback position. He broke out in 1984, throwing for more than 5,000 yards for the first in NFL history. It took until 2008 for another quarterback to break that same mark. The blemish on Marino’s career is the lack of a Super Bowl ring.
Brett Favre, 1991-2010
Notables: Super Bowl XXXI champ, 3-time NFL MVP, 11-time Pro Bowl selection. 71,838 yards passing and 508 touchdown passes. Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016. Played for the Falcons, Packers, Jets and Vikings.
Favre spent the majority of his years with the Packers, before returning from his first retirement to finish out his career with the Jets and Vikings. The gunslinger was an ironman, holding the NFL record for making 321 straight starts (including the playoffs). He only won one Super Bowl with Green Bay, but was one of the best to ever do it.
Peyton Manning, 1998-2015
Notables: 2-time Super Bowl champ, Super Bowl XLI MVP, 5-time NFL MVP, 14-time Pro Bowl selection. 71,940 yards passing and 539 touchdown passes. Played for the Colts and Broncos.
Manning was a consistent rival against Brady and the Patriots over the AFC, which translated over to Manning’s time with the Broncos. He won two Super Bowls (one with the Colts, one with the Broncos) and retired after winning Super Bowl 50. Manning holds the record for most passing touchdowns (55) and passing yards (5,477) in a season.
Tom Brady, 2000-present
Notables: 6-time Super Bowl champ, 4-time Super Bowl MVP, 3-time NFL MVP, 14-time Pro Bowl selection. Second all-time with 79,204 yards passing. First all-time with 581 touchdown passes. Played for the Patriots; plays currently for the Bucs.
Considered by many to be the greatest quarterback of all time. Still going strong in his 21st season, he won the NFC for the first time with the Bucs after spending his entire career with the AFC’s Patriots. He threw for 4,633 yards, 40 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 2020.
Patrick Mahomes, 2017-present
Notables: Super Bowl LIV champ, Super Bowl LIV MVP, 2018 NFL MVP, three-time Pro Bowl selection. 14,152 yards passing and 114 touchdown passes. Plays for the Chiefs.
Dual-threat quarterbacks have been popping up for decades, but Mahomes is one-of-a-kind with his skills. He’s a gifted passer and can pick apart a defense. He’s not the fastest player on the field, but his playmaking skills are superb. At just 25, he’s eyeing his second Super Bowl ring in his third season starting. The future’s bright for the Chiefs with the best quarterback in the game — and maybe ever once he hangs it up.