The GOAT QB debate has long used the Super Bowl as the primary metric. While it’s a fair benchmark, it also overlooks some of the greatest playmakers in NFL history. Many talented QBs have been forgotten post-retirement due to a lack of silverware. Luckily, Steelers legend and Super Bowl-winning QB Ben Roethlisberger has ensured we remember a few by naming seven exceptionally gifted signal-callers who never made it all the way.
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Seventh on Roethlisberger’s list was none other than Chargers legend Philip Rivers. Speaking about his fellow draft companion, the former Steelers QB noted that despite Rivers holding multiple passing records (63,441 PY, 421 TDs), the fact that he reached only one Conference Championship in his 17-season NFL career was tragic. And to make matters worse, Rivers played in that game with a torn ACL.
Number sixth on the list was yet another Chargers icon — Dan Fouts. Like Rivers, Fouts was an exceptional passer and had just one AFC Championship appearance. While Rivers played through a torn ACL, Fouts endured a -9 degree temperature with a -32 windchill. For Roethlisberger, Fouts was a great QB whose career was wasted on a mediocre Chargers team.
“He was an absolutely great football player on a mediocre Chargers team for years,” Roethlisberger said.
Holding the fifth position in Roethlisberger’s list was arguably one of the unluckiest QBs ever — Eagles legend Donovan McNabb. Why unlucky? For starters, he has 9 playoff victories — the joint most by a QB to have never won the Lombardi Trophy.
And even in his sole Super Bowl appearance, McNabb went 30 of 51 for 357 yards with 3 TDs. Unfortunately for him and the Bird Gang, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick clinched the trophy with a ten-point lead in the fourth quarter. McNabb responded with a touchdown, cutting the deficit to three points, but that was all the Eagles offense could manage.
Despite his postseason failures, many consider McNabb to be the best QB to have played under Andy Reid before the Patrick Mahomes era in Kansas City.
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At fourth was Warren Moon — the “greatest pure passer” in Roethlisberger’s eyes. Stats back this claim, as the Oilers legend ranked third and fourth all-time in passing yards (49,325) and passing TDs (291) at the time of his retirement.
“No Super Bowls, but maybe one of the greatest pure passers of all time. Warren Moon could sling that pigskin!” said Roethlisberger while talking about the yesteryear QB.
Number three in Ben Roethlisberger’s ranking is Hall of Fame inductee Fran Tarkenton. If McNabb was unlucky for 9 postseason wins and 0 Super Bowls, Tarkenton made it to three Super Bowls and left with none to show.
Tarkenton not winning a Lombardi Trophy is truly a travesty considering he was the league leader in passing yards (47,003) and TD passes (342) when he retired.
The only man who can arguably top McNabb and Tarkenton’s bad luck is Jim Kelly. Not only does Kelly have 9 playoff wins like McNabb, but the former Buffalo Bills QB made it to 4 consecutive Super Bowls and lost in each one. For Ben Roethlisberger, being in Kelly’s shoes is unimaginable, considering how his hopes were crushed every single year.
“I mean, every year you go back, you’re like, this is it. This is the one, right? We lost two. This is not gonna happen again. We aren’t gonna lose three. All right, come on. Now there’s no way we lose four. Surely? So that’s number two.”
Holding the numero uno position was unsurprisingly Dolphins legend Dan Marino. The less said the better about him because he was an absolute beast in the ’80s who obliterated passing yards and touchdown records for fun every year.
For many, Marino is the prototype modern-day QB. His single-season record of 5,084 yards and 48 passing TDs remains one of his greatest achievements, especially considering how the rules weren’t as QB-friendly back then as they are today.
