The NFL is a week away from kicking off Super Bowl LVII, but how do the previous 66 quarterbacks to start in its 56 previous championship games stack up against each other? That’s an exercise NFL.com’s Gregg Rosenthal set out to answer, with the standard set from from No.1 (Tom Brady) to No. 66 (Rex Grossman). Where does New Orleans Saints Super Bowl XLIV-champion Drew Brees slot in?
Brees was listed at No. 12 overall, in the second tier of quarterbacks to have played in a Super Bowl, but it’s honestly not bad company to keep. Brees makes up what Rosenthal deems “the best second tier ever” among Hall of Famers like Steve Young, John Elway, and Roger Staubach, as well as Green Bay Packers legend Bart Starr. Like Starr, Rosenthal reckons that Brees’ reputation takes a hit for the era he played in, writing:
“He only earned one first-team All-Pro nod, because he was so often behind Brady, Manning and Rodgers, but his longevity and consistency were remarkable. He was nearly always a top-five quarterback in New Orleans.”
Brees was outshined by media darlings who accomplished less with more help than Brees ever got in New Orleans, which cost him when it came time to vote for things like All-Pro lists and the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s All-Decade team. It’s a shame that voters gravitated to overhyped quarterbacks who Brees often beat head-to-head, but it is what it is. They’ll all end up enshrined in Canton together anyway.
We’re forgetting someone, though. The other player listed in this second tier is a bit of an outlier compared to his peers. Kansas City Chiefs wunderkind Patrick Mahomes is listed at No. 10 after going 1-1 in Super Bowl matchups so early in his career. He’ll have an opportunity to improve to 2-1 in next week’s title game. Ironically, Mahomes could have taken the reins from Brees once upon a time had Sean Payton drafted him, which he’s so eager to remind us about. We’ll never know if Mahomes could have followed up Brees’ success in New Orleans, so we’ll just remind ourselves to be grateful for the memories and for what Brees accomplished in black and gold.
