I reviewed this article about each team's worst starting quarterback ever, and one thing became abundantly clear right away: this guy really did not know what he was talking about.
Several of the quarterbacks that he chose as "the worst starting quarterbacks of all time" actually led their teams to the Super Bowl, which is not an inconsiderable accomplishment.
For example, he puts down Tony Eason as the worst starting quarterback that the New England Patriots ever had, even though Eason led the Pats to Super Bowl XX. He justifies this by saying Eason did not complete a pass in that game, and was eventually benched. But Eason faced the legendary Bears defense in that game, which is not a minor point.
He suggests that Neil O'Donnell was the worst quarterback that the Pittsburgh Steelers ever had, and the runner up for the Jets. This is a guy who threw 120 touchdowns to 68 interceptions, and at one point in his career, he was not only the starting quarterback on a team that came close to winning the Super Bowl. In fact, among all quarterbacks in NFL history, he had the lowest interception percentage of any quarterback, with just a little more than two INT's for every 100 passes thrown. He led the Steelers to the playoffs as the starting quarterback for four consecutive seasons, and this is the man that this author picks as the worst quarterback ever for the Steelers? Seriously?
Again, maybe these guys would not qualify as the best quarterbacks ever for their teams. O'Donnell does not have the four Super Bowl rings that Bradshaw helped the Steelers obtain, and Eason is not Tom Brady. But does that mean that they are the worst ever for their teams? I mean, yes, the Patriots are good now. But does this guy remember that they were pretty much a terrible team for much of the 1980's and 1990's - literally among the worst teams in the league? None of those quarterbacks qualify? Really?
Then, he puts Dave Woodley, the starting quarterback for the Miami Dolphins, as that franchise's worst quarterback of all time. Woodley was clearly overshadowed by Dan Marino, who would be drafted by the team months after Miami's loss to Washington in Super Bowl XVII. But the fact that Woodley led the team to the playoffs twice, and even reached the Super Bowl, is saying something. No, Woodley is clearly not the best QB that Miami has ever had, clearly. But the worst? What about the seven seasons between 2003 and 2009 with seven different starting quarterbacks in each season for Miami, only one of whom led the Dolphins to the playoffs, let alone a Super Bowl? Not one of those guys was enough of a disappointment to qualify as the worst ever? He has to pick the guy who took the team to the Super Bowl? Ridiculous.
There is one glaring example, however, that is even more egregious than the ones that I already mentioned. He actually says that Joe Namath was one of the worst quarterbacks that made this list. Of course, he was talking about Broadway Joe's year with the Los Angeles Rams, but still. He mentions career stats for other quarterbacks to make his point, but brushes aside Namath's career stats, and his one most amazing accomplishment, conveniently arguing that, essentially, it does not count, because it was with the New York Jets, and not with the Rams. So, Namath qualifies as the very worst quarterback in Rams franchise history. Absolutely absurd.
Another weak argument was made for Danny Wueffel. Wueffel played for Washington, and he threw three touchdowns and four interceptions in four games, and went 2-2. That is not even all that bad, frankly. For a Washington team that has had some monstrous seasons since the last stand of the great teams of the 1980's and early 1990's, as well as some lean years in the years before that, it makes you wonder how this guy got Wueffel as Washington's worst quarterback ever. He seems to be using the term very lightly. Surely, there have been worse quarterbacks for that team, as well.
There are some starting quarterbacks that this guy was either right about, or was not far off the mark. The Giants invested heavily in Dave Brown, but he just did not pan out for the team. The Giants were fairly serious contenders in 1993, but they never really were all that good with Brown at the helm. For that matter, right around the same time, the Jets went to some lengths to acquire Browning Nagle, and they assumed that he would be the quarterback to build the team around. But he was also not all that he had been hyped to be, and it took the Jets quite a while to get past that disappointment. And who can argue with the devastating impact that the Raiders faith in JaMarcus Russell had on that team?
Still, I cannot imagine how this guy seems to automatically assume that a quarterback who led his team to the Super Bowl - even if he played poorly in the big game - qualifies him for the worst franchise QB of all time.
Here is the link to this story:
Every NFL Team’s Worst Starting Quarterback of All Time by Brian Kalchik
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