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Favre vs. Elway vs. Marino

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Mizzougrad96, Oct 29, 2010.

  1. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    This is my spinoff thread from the NFL's top 100.

    Rank em and explain your stance, or don't... All three are within a few rankings on the NFL's top 100 list and I think it's pretty fair to compare them to each other.
     
  2. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    1. Elway - Overachieved with a bad team for most of his career and went out on top, which almost nobody does. Also beat Favre head to head in a Super Bowl when Favre was in his prime and Elway was in the twilight of his career.

    2. Marino - This is really close between him and Favre. Favre has all the records, but played with much better players than Marino did.

    3. Favre - Has almost all the records, but I would argue underachieved for his career. I remember covering the Packers-Pats Super Bowl and turning to another writer and saying, how many in a row does this team win? We both agreed that they would win three in a row. I know he has the ring that Marino lacks, but how many times did Marino choke away a playoff game?
     
  3. nmmetsfan

    nmmetsfan Active Member

    I agree with your ranking but think Marino-Elway is a pretty good debate because Marino never had Terrell Davis and the accompanied zone blocking scheme to help him get over the top.
    Favre is a distant third in this race because of one factor — interceptions
     
  4. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    I think anybody can justify any of these three being better/worse than the other, which essentially means, they're all incredible players.
     
  5. Marino was a better pure passer than Elway and worked with less talent surrounding him most of his career.
    Both belong in the conversation as one of the best QBs ever.

    I, personally, would have a hard time arguing for Favre in the top 10 all time, maybe even the top 15.

    Of course, I hate the Packers, so there is that.
     
  6. Mark2010

    Mark2010 Active Member

    1) Elway, did more with an inferior supporting cast for much of his career (before Terrell Davis arrived). Few were ever better at late-game heroics with their team trailing.

    2) Favre, early-career interceptions aside, great numbers on mostly mediocre to slightly-above-average teams.

    3) Marino, great numbers, had the benefit of better receivers than Elway or Favre. Took advantage of a system built around his talents. Never won the big one, largely due to very poor defensive teams.

    Makes one wonder what each of these would have done with the supporting cast that Troy Aikman or Jim Kelly had.
     
  7. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    I'd rank them Elway-Marino-Favre (points deducted for everything after 2004 for Brett). However, I would take any one of the three on my team as quarterback, you could have anybody else, and I'd live with the results when our teams played. Mizzou is right. All three were wonderful players.
     
  8. Kato

    Kato Well-Known Member

    One interesting note about Favre (and maybe a reason why he has the me-first attitude he has now) ...

    He has now played for seven different head coaches (Glanville, Holmgren, Rhodes, Sherman, McCarthy, Mangini, Childress). Marino had just two (Shula and Johnson) and Elway had three (Reeves, Phillips and Shanahan).

    During his time in Green Bay he had four coaches, three GMs and two team presidents. Does that make a difference in his play over the years, playing in slightly different systems/philosophies over his career? What if Holmgren stays longer, even becomes the GM there? And even Ron Wolf still says his biggest regret was not acquiring more weapons for Favre.

    Over his career, Favre won one Super Bowl, lost one and played in five conference championship games. He has had just one losing season as a starter. And I think the streak alone has to be taken into consideration.

    That said, I'd have to put Favre over Marino but would probably have to give Elway the edge over Favre based on Super Bowls won, total Super Bowls and maybe Favre's INTs.
     
  9. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    He's better than that. Favre could have been the best QB of all-time, but the Packers made a couple shitty coaching hires (Rhodes and Sherman) that ruined him. I would argue that the Packers underachieved for all but 3-4 seasons that he was in Green Bay.
     
  10. Piotr Rasputin

    Piotr Rasputin New Member

    Elway. Did more with less, more mobile than either Favre or Marino, never made a habit of singlehandedly costing his team games. Did make a habit of singlehandedly driving a mediocre offense to victory. Only Montana challenges him in my short lifetime.

    Favre. In his prime, was a winner who put up obscene numbers. Extra points for putting up insane passing numbers in that climate. Points off for denying his own mortality and becoming The Guy Who Will Throw The Key Interception (as opposed to The Guy Who Will Throw The Winning Score) over the last decade or so.

    Marino. The master of throwing into quadruple coverage, then bitching out his receiver - on the field - for not catching the ball. The team catered to his whims for his entire career, and has exactly nothing to show for it. Had Jimmy Johnson been able to trade him when he came to Miami, he might have gotten a haul that allowed a rebuild, similar to what he did in Dallas. But alas, you cannot loose King Marino from the Dolphins.
     
  11. Elliotte Friedman

    Elliotte Friedman Moderator Staff Member

    I'd put Elway first. Won twice. Struck me more as a team-first guy, in the sense that as he got older, he recognized the need for help to win. Didn't resist it.

    Marino second. Quick release. Didn't get sacked. But, even if Piotr is right about Marino's attitude, no way is it as corrosive as Favre's.

    Favre, to me, is just destroying his legacy. Never mind the Sterger stuff. On-field, he's going to be hated in all three of the cities he played. That's really something, considering the heroic position he held in each one. He has a chance to change that in Minnesota, but I doubt it.
     
  12. BYH

    BYH Active Member

    I was trying to come up with a way to say exactly this. Elway's transformation is pretty incredible considering he was the poster boy for the spoiled brat athlete when he entered the league and immediately declared he'd never play for the Colts. But he's the only guy among the three whose legacy was intact when he retired, and I think that'd be the case even if he never won the two titles. Marino hung on a bit too long and was as selfish as the day is long and Favre is the new Willie Mays, flailing away in an unfamiliar uniform.
     
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