Sunday, February 5, 2012

Super Bowl History...Quarterbacks.

Super Bowls where both the starting quarterbacks were Hall-of-Fame players.  Only 17 Super Bowl games have featured a Hall-of-Fame quarterback on both teams.  As you can see, many of the games involving both hall of fame quarterbacks were duds, but others were classics.

Super Bowl I--Bart Starr, Green Bay vs Len Dawson, Kansas City
Super Bowl VI--Bob Griese, Miami vs Roger Staubach, Dallas
Super Bowl VIII--Bob Griese, Miami vs Fran Tarkenton, Minnesota
Super Bowl IX--Terry Bradshaw, Pittsburgh vs Fran Tarkenton, Minnesota
Super Bowl X--Roger Staubach, Dallas vs Terry Bradshaw, Pittsburgh
Super Bowl XIII--Roger Staubach, Dallas vs Terry Bradshaw, Pittsburgh
Super Bowl XIX--Dan Marino, Miami vs Joe Montana, San Francisco
Super Bowl XXIV--Joe Montana, San Francisco vs John Elway, Denver
Super Bowl XXVII--Troy Aikman, Dallas vs Jim Kelly, Buffalo
Super Bowl XXVIII--Troy Aikman, Dallas vs Jim Kelly, Buffalo
Super Bowl XXXII--John Elway, Denver vs Brett Favre, Green Bay*
Super Bowl XXXVI--Kurt Warner, St. Louis* vs Tom Brady, New England*
Super Bowl XLII--Eli Manning, New York* vs Tom Brady, New England*
Super Bowl XLIII--Ben Roethlesburger, Pittsburgh* vs Kurt Warner, Arizona*
Super Bowl XLIV--Peyton Manning, Indianapolis* vs Drew Brees, New Orleans*
Super Bowl XLV--Ben Roethlesburger, Pittsburgh* vs Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay*
Super Bowl XLVI--Eli Manning, New York* vs Tom Brady, New England*

*Possible future Hall-of-Fame players...Brett Farvre, Ben Roethlesburger, Kurt Warner, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers.

Most other Super Bowls where one of the two starting quarterbacks is a Hall-of-Fame player.  Most of the time, the hall-of-fame QB ended up on top.  In fact, the only hall-of-famers on this list who lost were named either Tarkenton or Elway.  The latter, however, redeemed his legacy late in his career.

Super Bowl II--Bart Starr, Green Bay (Daryle Lamonica, Oakland)
Super Bowl III--Joe Namath, New York.  (Note, Johnny Unitas played in this game, but Earl Morrall was the starter for Baltimore.)
Super Bowl IV--Len Dawson, Kansas City (Joe Kapp, Minnesota)
Super Bowl V--Johnny Unitas, Baltimore (Craig Morton, Dallas)
Super Bowl VII--Bob Griese, Miami (Billy Kilmer, Washington)
Super Bowl XI--Fran Tarkenton, Minnesota (One of the few games where a hall-of-fame QB loses to a non-hall-of-fame QB, in this case it was Ken Stabler of Oakland).
Super Bowl XII--Roger Staubach, Dallas (Craig Morton, Denver)
Super Bowl XIV--Terry Bradshaw, Pittsburgh (Vince Farragamo, Los Angeles)
Super Bowl IX--Joe Montana, San Francisco (Ken Anderson, Cincinnati)
Super Bowl XXI--John Elway, Denver (Another SB loss by the Hall-of-Famer, this time it was Phil Simms of New York)
Super Bowl XXII--John Elway, Denver (Yet another loss to Doug Williams of Washington)
Super Bowl XXIII--Joe Montana, San Francisco (Boomer Esiason, Cincinnati)
Super Bowl XXV--Jim Kelly, Buffalo (Close loss to Jeff Hostettler or New York)
Super Bowl XXVI--Jim Kelly, Buffalo (Not-so-close loss to Mark Rypien of Washington)
Super Bowl XXIX--Steve Young, San Francisco (Stan Humphries, San Diego)
Super Bowl XXX--Troy Aikman, Dallas (Neil O'Donnell, Pittsburgh)
Super Bowl XXXI--Brett Favre, Green Bay* (Drew Bledsoe, New England)
Super Bowl XXXIII--John Elway, Denver (Elway's last game, Super Bowl MVP) (Chris Chandler, Atlanta)
Super Bowl XXXIV--Kurt Warner, St. Louis* (Steve McNair, Tennessee)
Super Bowl XXXVIII--Tom Brady, New England* (Jake Dellhome, Carolina)
Super Bowl XXXVIX--Tom Brady, New England* (Some will argue that Donavan McNabb, Philadelphia will also be in the Hall-of-Fame.)
Super Bowl XL--Ben Roethlesburger, Pittsburgh* (Matt Hasselback, Seattle)
Super Bowl XLI--Peyton Manning, Indianapolis* (Rex Grossman, Chicago)

Super Bowls where neither starting quarterback is in the NFL Hall of Fame

Super Bowl XV--Jim Plunkett, Oakland vs Ron Jaworski, Philadelphia
Super Bowl XVII--Joe Thiesman, Washington vs David Woodley, Miami
Super Bowl XVIII-Joe Thiesman, Washington vs Jim Plunkett, Los Angeles Raiders
Super Bowl XX--Jim McMahon, Chicago vs Tony Eason, New England
Super Bowl XXXV--Trent Dilfer, Baltimore vs Kerry Collins, New York
Super Bowl XXXVII--Rich Gannon, Oakland vs Brad Johnson, Tampa Bay

As you can see from this list, there are many quarterbacks who have started twice in the Super Bowl and are not in the Hall of Fame (Jim Plunkett, Craig Morton, Joe Thiesman), but no one has started 3 times in the Super Bowl and not made it.  Therefore, I am confident that Ben Roethlesburger and Kurt Warner will be in the Hall of Fame.

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