Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

To those who see him as the ‘best QB of all-time’ or once did see him that way, at what point in his career do you opine that he earned that rep? My guess is that ’58/’59 would have been too early for anointing, but perhaps after the ’64 campaign (despite the staggering NFLCG result)? ’67 at the very latest?

And at what point, as his career was winding down, do you feel that he was no longer the (currently) ‘best QB in the game’ amongst the masses? My guess on that would be sometime between ’67 and ’70? Or was he generally still considered the best, if healthy, going into 1971?

If you check sports mags from the mid-1960s the big discussion was who was the top QB, Unitas or Starr? It drew a parallel for me to the Manning vs Brady talk that was the big debate for many years up until Manning's retirement. Unitas had all the statistics, Starr had all the titles. Starr addressed it directly in his biography circa 1967. 1968 marked the end of the Packers Dynasty and Unitas' elbow injury, and their skills diminished after that. NFL Films declared Unitas the greatest QB in their Best Ever series but not sure when that was released, early to mid-1970s?

I have a couple of the Best Ever QBs VHS tapes. The film was first released in 1981 with an update in 85. Unitas is declared as the best in both.

I wonder how Unitas and Lombardi would have meshed together? Likewise with Starr and Shula? Flipping each scenario back to the actual combination...we all know that one duo meshed well as the other didn't quite see eye-to-eye.

Johnny Unitas was considered the best QB in pro football by 1960 due to his performance during 1957-59 and the championships the Colts won the latter two years. He was generally considered to have played at a higher level than any QB ever had up to that time. I got this from the sport magazines and newspaper accounts, which I read from 1960.

In 1962-63 Y.A. Tittle was hailed as the best QB in the game due to his big years with the Giants. Playing in New York helped Tittle a lot. In 1964, Unitas had a great year and the Colts made it back to the championship game. albeit a devastating loss. From that point, Unitas was considered the greatest QB of all time. The NFL Films pieces of the 1980's contention was John Unitas had more of the skills for the position than anyone else ever had.

After Super Bowl III, some members of the New York press declared Joe Namath "the greatest QB of all time."

74_75_78_79_ wrote:I wonder how Unitas and Lombardi would have meshed together? Likewise with Starr and Shula? Flipping each scenario back to the actual combination...we all know that one duo meshed well as the other didn't quite see eye-to-eye.

Lombardi and Jurgensen loved each other so I’m confident that Unitas and Vince would have gotten along just fine. Lombardi was able to get along with anyone who was critical to winning.

JohnH19 wrote:

74_75_78_79_ wrote:I wonder how Unitas and Lombardi would have meshed together? Likewise with Starr and Shula? Flipping each scenario back to the actual combination...we all know that one duo meshed well as the other didn't quite see eye-to-eye.

Lombardi and Jurgensen loved each other so I’m confident that Unitas and Vince would have gotten along just fine. Lombardi was able to get along with anyone who was critical to winning.

When Lombardi arrived in Washington, he told Jurgensen, "If I'd had you in Green Bay, we wouldn't have lost a game."

rhickok1109 wrote:

JohnH19 wrote:

74_75_78_79_ wrote:I wonder how Unitas and Lombardi would have meshed together? Likewise with Starr and Shula? Flipping each scenario back to the actual combination...we all know that one duo meshed well as the other didn't quite see eye-to-eye.

Lombardi and Jurgensen loved each other so I’m confident that Unitas and Vince would have gotten along just fine. Lombardi was able to get along with anyone who was critical to winning.

When Lombardi arrived in Washington, he told Jurgensen, "If I'd had you in Green Bay, we wouldn't have lost a game."

When he came to Washington, Lombardi boosted Sonny Jurgensen as the best pure passer he'd ever seen (an opinion held by football people in general) and implied Sonny would be the best QB of all time with his (Lombardi's) guidance.

Not sure Lombardi and Unitas would have gotten along, since Johnny had a reputation of tolerating his coaches and calling his own game. Somehow, I'm guessing Vince just MIGHT have raged about that,

Wish I could remember the program, but there's a odd story about Unitas, Dan Fouts, and the 1973 Chargers. Apparently, the San Diego coaches told Unitas they didn't want him giving advice to Fouts, as moronic as that sounds. The young Fouts was concerned about what would happen next, but Unitas assured him the advice would continue, regardless of what anybody said.