The news became official yesterday and hit me like a ton of bricks. Brett Favre will no longer be the quarterback of the Green Bay Packers. After flirting with decision after the past few seasons, Favre surprisingly decided to announce his retirement bringing to an end a 17 year career that was nothing short of simply amazing. I can't say enough about the greatness of Brett Favre, but here is a link to a video that aired back on Thanksgiving which I feel puts it into perspective nicely.

Favre was actually coming off of one of the best seasons in his illustrious career finishing second in the voting for NFL MVP. That is what probably makes this decision more unexpected as well as the fact that the Packers are poised to make a run at the NFC title again this season. I think Packers GM Ted Thompson put it well when he said, "The uniqueness of Brett Favre, his personality, charisma and love of the game- undoubtedly will leave him as one of the enduring figures in NFL history."

In my very biased opinion, he is the greatest quarterback (and greatest football players) to play the game in my generation. Back in my January 8^th issue, I gave you my Top 10 Wide Receivers of my generation. I thought it only fitting on this occasion to give you a similar list for the Quarterback position. For the purposes of this list, I will use the years from 1980 to the present as my basis. This leaves all time greats like Johnny Unitas, Bart Starr, Roger Staubach, Otto Graham, Sammy Baugh, Fran Tarkenton and even Terry Bradshaw off of this list. So without further ado, here is OLD SCHOOL'S TOP 10 GREATEST NFL QUARTERBACKS (1980-present):
Honorable Mention. Troy Aikman and Jim Kelly - Both players were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and deservingly so for what they helped their teams accomplish. Combined they appeared in 7 Super Bowls with Aikman winning all 3 of his appearances and Kelly losing all 4 of his. The reason they do not make my Top 10 is that I feel that their success was more a function of the team around them than their quarterback skill. Don't get me wrong, both were outstanding leaders and still fantastic QBs and were crucial contributors to their teams' ultimate success. I admire both of their accomplishments very much, but they just fall short of making this particular list and that is why I wanted to at least give them honorable mention.
10. Randall Cunningham (1985-2001) - He played most of the meaningful portion of his career for the Philadelphia Eagles and Minnesota Vikings. Though he never enjoyed nearly the team success that Aikman or Kelly did, I feel that Cunningham revolutionized the quarterback position by proving that they can also be a weapon running the ball. Retired as the all time leading rusher from the QB position with 4,928 yards and 35 touchdowns. He lead the 2nd highest scoring offense in history (1st until New England topped them this year) when the 1998 Vikings scored 556 points with Cunningham under center. He not only opened doors for African Americans to play the quarterback position, but also opened the door for less traditional and more athletic types to play the position.
9. Dan Fouts (1973-1987) - Though he played a good portion of his career before 1980, some of his most prolific seasons came after that. Fouts led the NFL in passing yards for four consecutive seasons 1979-1983 and he is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Fouts was the leader of the San Diego Chargers and one of my favorite offensive teams of all time. He never played in a Super Bowl, but made it to the AFC Championship game twice. At the time, he was just the third quarterback ever to eclipse 40,000 passing yards in his career and the first ever to throw for 4000 yards in back to back seasons. He passed for 254 touchdowns in his career and Fouts is just one of seven QBs ever to throw 30 touchdowns in back to back seasons.
8. Warren Moon (1984-2000) - Moon played the majority of his 17 year NFL career with the Houston Oilers, but prior to that he won 5 consecutive Grey Cup titles playing for Edmonton in the Canadian Football League (CFL). Combining his NFL and CFL results, Moon's statistics are almost unbelievable completing 5,357 passes for 70,553 yards and 435 touchdowns (with over 49,000 yards and 291 touchdowns coming from the NFL portion). He unfortunately never won a Super Bowl, but was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Along with Cunningham, he also played a big role in opening up opportunities for African Americans to play the quarterback position.
7. John Elway (1983-1998) - Many people would rank Elway much higher on the list, but I am one who feels he is a little overrated. Playing his entire career for the Denver Broncos, he is second (to Favre) with 148 career victories. Elway appeared in five Super Bowls and won two consecutive in the last two seasons of his career. He carried his teams to the Super Bowls in the late 80s, but I felt the opposite to be true in his final seasons when an outstanding offensive line, Terrell Davis at running back and an attacking defense allowed Elway to go out on top. He had an excellent career and is a deserving member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but just gets a little too much credit as fas as I am concerned.
6. Steve Young (1985-1999) - Young began his career in the USFL, then with Tampa Bay before moving to San Francisco to be the understudy to Joe Montana. He did not even become the starting QB for the 49ers until 1991, but then he never looked back. He has three Super Bowl rings, but only one was earned as the starting quarterback in 1994. That year he was also named the Super Bowl MVP after throwing a record 6 touchdowns in the game. Young is a two time NFL MVP and has the highest career passer rating for all QBs with at least 1500 pass attempts. His career rushing yards (4,239) are second most by a QB only to Randall Cunningham. He did have the incredible luxury of throwing to Jerry Rice, the greatest wide receiver to ever play. Concussions seemed to cut Young's career short, but he was still deservingly inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
5. Dan Marino (1983-1999) - He played his entire career for the Miami Dolphins and owned many of the career passing records until Favre broke them all. In 1984, he would have one of the greatest seasons in history by a quarterback -5084 yards and 48 touchdowns- win the NFL MVP award and lead his team to the Super Bowl, though they lost. This would be the only Super Bowl appearance in Marino's career because the Dolphins were never able to surround him with enough talent and defense to get there again. He did lead the Dolphins to 147 victories in his career which is 3rd all time behind Elway and Favre. Marino's career statistics are mind blowing with 4,967 completions for 61,361 yards and 420 touchdowns. Another obvious member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, if he would have won at least one championship, he would definitely be up in my top 3.
4. Peyton Manning (1998-present) - It might be a little soon to rank Manning this high after just 10 seasons all with the Colts, but what he has accomplished in that amount of time cannot be denied. He holds the record for most seasons in a career with 4000 or more passing yards (8) and most consecutive seasons with at least 25 touchdown passes (10). His 160 consecutive games started is the most to open a career at the QB position, though he ranks well behind Favre for the overall record. He does have a Super Bowl championship and will always be in the running to win another title. He already has 306 touchdown passes and nearly 42,000 career passing yards while leading the Colts to 105 wins. He held the record for most touchdowns in a season (49) until Tom Brady broke that record this past year. Manning is a sure fire first ballot hall of famer when he retires, but I don't expect that to be for many more seasons.
3. Tom Brady (2000-present) - Brady has only played 8 seasons, but has already took the New England Patriots to three Super Bowl titles with almost a fourth won this past year. He led his team to a perfect 16-0 record while winning the NFL MVP award this season while also tossing 50 touchdowns to break the single season record. He has already won 86 regular season games with the Patriots with an additional 14 post season wins as well. His overall numbers might not be quite as prolific as some of the guys ranked lower, but he has many seasons ahead of him and the 3 Super Bowl rings are a major boost. If he wins a couple more, Brady could be considered the best ever.
2. Joe Montana (1979-1994) - Montana is best known for his years with the San Francisco 49ers where he spent 14 seasons and won a remarkable 4 Super Bowl titles. He was a 2 time NFL MVP (1989 & 1990) and 3 time Super Bowl MVP and obviously now a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His career totals of 40,551 passing yards and 273 touchdowns are impressive, but it was his leadership qualities and clutch performances under pressure that really made Montana special. He, like Steve Young after him, had the spectacular Jerry Rice to throw the ball to.  Unfortunately, he had to finish the last two seasons of his career with another team (Kansas City) because the 49ers wanted to make the switch to Young. Regardless, Montana is commonly considered the best quarterback of this or possibly any generation.
1. Brett Favre (1991-2007) - Favre is the only 3 time NFL MVP and has appeared in two Super Bowls winning one in 1996. He started every single game since becoming the Packers quarterback in 1992 for an incredible NFL record 253 games in a row (275 if you include the playoffs). He holds all of the major career passing records including yards (61,655) and touchdowns (442), though his gunslinger style of play also caused him to get the career record for interceptions thrown (288). He also holds the record for most career victories for a QB with 160, but what I find to be even more impressive is that during his 16 seasons with the Packers his team had the best winning percentage of any team in the league during that time (160-93). His performance in the Monday Night Football game (December 22, 2003) the day after his father passed away, throwing for 399 yards and 4 touchdowns on the way to a 41-7 victory, is one of the best sports moments in my memory. Probably the most admirable quality that Favre displayed was how he played football with pure joy almost like a little kid would and reminding us that after all it is still a game. In five years, he will be a first ballot hall of famer without a doubt.

There is my top 10, so let me know what you think. This topic is debated often and there are no clear cut criteria to judge the players on, but this is the way I see it. There is a website called "Cold Hard Football Facts" which claims to be able to objectively rank these players. I admit my bias, but I still feel Favre has earned his spot at the top of my list. He is beloved by most football fans, not just Packers fans. He will be sorely missed and, as much as he is loved by fans, he will be appreciated even more after he is gone.

That's going to wrap up this issue of Kickin' it Old School. This was my 50^th article since we started.  Yeah!  Thanks as always for reading and please click on the Archive buttons in the upper left hand column to make sure you have not missed a single issue. We will be getting back to some 80s topics very soon, so check back for that soon. Peace and much love.

Check this out: Here is a link to a Brett Favre tribute video set to the Green Day song also recommended below.

Quote of the day: "A thing of beauty is a joy forever: its loveliness increases, it will never pass into nothingness." -John Keats

Download this: "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" by Green Day