1. Joe Montana (San Francisco 49ers, Kansas City Chiefs)
2. John Elway (Denver Broncos)
3. Johnny Unitas (Baltimore Colts, San Diego Chargers)
4. Brett Favre (Green Bay Packers, N.Y. Jets, Minnesota Vikings)
5. Peyton Manning (Indianapolis Colts)
6. Tom Brady (New England Patriots)
7. Steve Young (Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Francisco 49ers)
8. Dan Marino (Miami Dolphins)
9. Otto Graham (Cleveland Browns)
10. Fran Tarkenton (Minnesota Vikings, N.Y. Giants, Minnesota Vikings)
always open to modifications
I think I made this list before the season. If Manning wins another Super Bowl, I think he vaults to #2 on my list. I have him a bit low perhaps right now. I think Manning is neck and neck with Unitas at this point. The nostalgia angle maybe works when people think back to Unitas. One thing I found kind of revealing... when Brady was injured in 2008, Matt Cassel came in played pretty well, the offense kept moving. He's obviously better than any of the Colts backups, but holy hell the Jim Sorgi types are horrid. That team operates that way cause of Manning.
As far as Elway being second... I remember back to the 80s when he took an above average Broncos team to the Super Bowl on three occasions. Their defense was alright, their running game was average. He kind of carried that team as far as they could go... many comeback games, 4th quarter wins. Those Denver teams wouldn't have gone as far if he wasn't on the team. If Gary Kubiak was the Denver QB, they don't accomplish much of anything.
Dan Marino to me was always a stat freak but the situation often seemed precarious for a D when he was on the field. They never had a real strong running game in Miami when he was there, but didn't Marino always want to throw the ball anyway? And 'ol man Shula let Danny have his way at that point.