SB Nation is putting together a list of the 30 best quarterbacks of the NFL’s Super Bowl era. While we all know one Hall of Fame quarterback who will make the list somewhere near the top of the rankings, but a Hall of Fame passer who we might have expected to be overlooked in a bout of recency bias actually did make the list. Bob Griese made the rankings as the 29th-best quarterback of the Super Bowl era.
A key member of the Dolphins three-Super Bowl appearance, two championship run in the early 1970s, Griese was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1990. Selected in the first round (fourth overall) of the 1967 Draft, Griese spent 14 years with Miami. He threw for 25,092 yards during his career, completing 56.2 percent of his passes with 192 touchdowns and 172 interceptions. He was selected to eight Pro Bowl and was twice a First-Team All-Pro selection.
Griese won Super Bowls VII and VIII with the Dolphins, avenging their Super Bowl VI loss. The Dolphins completed the league’s only Perfect Season with the Super Bowl VII victory.
SB Nation brought together a panel of 13 voters to complete their list. Included among the voters were Jarrett Bailey, SB Nation; Tyler Dunne, Go Long; Eric Edholm, NFL Media; Doug Farrar, Athlon Sports; Arif Hasan, Wide Left; Dan Hanzus, Underdog; Sam Monson, The 33rd Team; Steve Palazzolo, The 33rd Team; Gregg Rosenthal, NFL Media; Aaron Schatz, FTN Fantasy; Marc Sessler, Underdog; Mike Tanier, Too Deep Zone; and Matt Verderame, Sports Illustrated.
Just behind Griese on the list was former Detroit Lions and current Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford. The initial release of the countdown included quarterbacks 30 to 21. Len Dawson, Johnny Unitas, Ken Stabler, Ken Anderson, Joe Namath, Lamar Jackson, Philip Rivers, and Josh Allen were included in the list. Each quarterback’s high and low rankings and an explanation from one of the panel members about the quarterback’s rankings was published along with the list.
Griese was ranked as high as 19, but was also not included on at least one list. Mike Ranier wrote of Griese, “Imagine Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford were one guy. That’s Bob Griese. Yes, he was a product of a system, a supporting cast, and an era. But Griese also called his own plays. His statistics are ordinary because he knew he didn’t have to throw very often to win. Griese evolved into one of the NFL’s most efficient passers as the 1970s wore on, and Don Shula’s tactics evolved with him, paving the way for Dan Marino and the passing explosion of the 1980s. Griese was always just a little injured, however, and his career ended just as the schedule expanded and the passing-friendly rule changes of 1978 were taking effect. Griese is easy to dismiss when you look at his stat lines, but impossible to ignore once you realize how different pro football was in 1973 than it is today.”
The good part of this is Griese got the recognition he is due. He easily could have been overlooked – and was on at least one ballot – but he is a Hall of Fame quarterback who led the Dolphins to three straight Super Bowl appearances – the first time in NFL history that had happened – even if he missed a large portion of the 1972 season due to injury.
The bad part is, he ranked before Joe Namath, who may be the most overrated Hall of Fame quarterback of all time. “Broadway Joe” really makes the list mostly because he played for the New York Jets and brought with him a flashy style. The 24th-ranked quarterback on this list threw 220 interceptions in his career, nearly 50 more than his 173 touchdown passes.
I just cannot bring myself to consider Namath a better quarterback than Griese, especially since they played in the same era and can easily be compared.
Josh Allen is the other interesting piece of this list. It is somewhat a surprise that recency bias did not push Allen further up the list. But, it also brings up the debate of Allen ranking two spots ahead of Lamar Jackson. Who should be ranked higher between Allen and Jackson? That should be a fun debate between Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens fans.
For the Dolphins, there is still one more quarterback who will be on the list. Dan Marino should be near the top of the list, though his lack of Super Bowl championships will likely push him down some. Where will Marino land? We will find out soon.
Do you think Griese is properly rated in this list? Let us know in the comments.
