Top 5 Quarterbacks of the 1980's

Is there a better way to reminisce about 1980's pro football than to think back to the great quarterbacks of that era? Not that I can think of...so, I have put together a list of my top 5 quarterbacks of the 1980's (with video evidence).  Now, please note, this list would certainly be revised if we were discussing all-time great quarterbacks, or even just great quarterbacks from 1980 to 2000.  However, the short list below only refers to quarterbacks and there accomplishments in the 1980's - accomplishments during the 1970's or 1990's have not been taken into account while formulating this list. 

1. Joe Montana

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	No.	G	GS	QBrec	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	TD%	Int	Int%	Lng	Y/A	AY/A	Y/C	Y/G	Rate	Sk	Yds	NY/A	ANY/A	Sk%	AV
1980	24	SFO	qb	16	15	7	2-5-0	176	273	64.5	1795	15	5.5	9	3.3	71	6.6	6.2	10.2	119.7	87.8	15	100	5.9	5.5	5.2	6
1981*	25	SFO	QB	16	16	16	13-3-0	311	488	63.7	3565	19	3.9	12	2.5	78	7.3	7.0	11.5	222.8	88.4	26	193	6.6	6.2	5.1	12
1982	26	SFO	QB	16	9	9	3-6-0	213	346	61.6	2613	17	4.9	11	3.2	55	7.6	7.1	12.3	290.3	88.0	20	166	6.7	6.3	5.5	16
1983*	27	SFO	QB	16	16	16	10-6-0	332	515	64.5	3910	26	5.0	12	2.3	77	7.6	7.6	11.8	244.4	94.6	33	224	6.7	6.7	6.0	17
1984*	28	SFO	QB	16	16	15	14-1-0	279	432	64.6	3630	28	6.5	10	2.3	80	8.4	8.7	13.0	226.9	102.9	22	138	7.7	7.9	4.8	16
1985*	29	SFO	QB	16	15	15	9-6-0	303	494	61.3	3653	27	5.5	13	2.6	73	7.4	7.3	12.1	243.5	91.3	35	246	6.4	6.4	6.6	13
1986	30	SFO	QB	16	8	8	6-2-0	191	307	62.2	2236	8	2.6	9	2.9	48	7.3	6.5	11.7	279.5	80.7	12	95	6.7	5.9	3.8	7
1987*+	31	SFO	QB	16	13	11	10-1-0	266	398	66.8	3054	31	7.8	13	3.3	57	7.7	7.8	11.5	234.9	102.1	22	158	6.9	7.0	5.2	15
1988	32	SFO	QB	16	14	13	8-5-0	238	397	59.9	2981	18	4.5	10	2.5	96	7.5	7.3	12.5	212.9	87.9	34	223	6.4	6.2	7.9	12
1989*+	33	SFO	QB	16	13	13	11-2-0	271	386	70.2	3521	26	6.7	8	2.1	95	9.1	9.5	13.0	270.8	112.4	33	198	7.9	8.3	7.9	17

It's difficult to argue with a serious face that Joe Montana is not the greatest quarterback of the 1980's.  He won 4 Superbowls from 1981-1989, 3 Superbowl MVP awards, he had a 13-4 record in the playoffs during the 1980's, and was named by many, including John Madden, as the "greatest quarterback who ever played". Additionally, aside from all of the victories and awards, Montana had arguably some of the best quarterbacking fundamentals ever. Those fundamentals are demonstrated in these great Bill Walsh instructional videos:

The remaining 5 videos can be found here 3 of 7, 4 of 7, 5 of 7, 6 of 7, 7 of 7. The next video is one of numerous highlight videos that you can find online demonstrating the many great plays of Joe Montana.

2. Dan Marino

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	No.	G	GS	QBrec	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	TD%	Int	Int%	Lng	Y/A	AY/A	Y/C	Y/G	Rate	Sk	Yds	NY/A	ANY/A	Sk%	AV
1983*	22	MIA	QB	13	11	9	7-2-0	173	296	58.4	2210	20	6.8	6	2.0	85	7.5	7.9	12.8	200.9	96.0	10	80	7.0	7.4	3.3	10
1984*+	23	MIA	QB	13	16	16	14-2-0	362	564	64.2	5084	48	8.5	17	3.0	80	9.0	9.4	14.0	317.8	108.9	13	120	8.6	8.9	2.3	21
1985*+	24	MIA	QB	13	16	16	12-4-0	336	567	59.3	4137	30	5.3	21	3.7	73	7.3	6.7	12.3	258.6	84.1	18	157	6.8	6.2	3.1	16
1986*+	25	MIA	QB	13	16	16	8-8-0	378	623	60.7	4746	44	7.1	23	3.7	85	7.6	7.4	12.6	296.6	92.5	17	119	7.2	7.0	2.7	18
1987*	26	MIA	QB	13	12	12	7-5-0	263	444	59.2	3245	26	5.9	13	2.9	59	7.3	7.2	12.3	270.4	89.2	9	77	7.0	6.8	2.0	12
1988	27	MIA	QB	13	16	16	6-10-0	354	606	58.4	4434	28	4.6	23	3.8	80	7.3	6.5	12.5	277.1	80.8	6	31	7.2	6.4	1.0	14
1989	28	MIA	QB	13	16	16	8-8-0	308	550	56.0	3997	24	4.4	22	4.0	78	7.3	6.3	13.0	249.8	76.9	10	86	7.0	6.1	1.8	12

Dan Marino burst onto the pro football scene as a rookie in 1983, throwing 20 touchdown passes and over 2,000 yards in only 9 games. In the next 6 years, he would twice throw over 40 touchdowns in a season,  he would pass for over 5,000 yards once, and he would pass for over 4,700 and 4,400 yards in 1986 and 1988.  He had a 3-2 playoff record during the 1980's, leading the Miami Dolphins to a Superbowl appearance in the 1984 season, and an appearance in the 1985 AFC Championship game.  Unfortunately for Marino, during the 1980's (as well as throughout most of his career) the Miami Dolphins had extreme difficulty establishing a rushing attack, and had a porous defense.  According to National Football League statistics, from the years 1983 to 1989, the Miami Dolphins' rushing attack ranked 13, 16, 18, 25, 23, 28 (last) and 27, respectively.  To make matters worse, the Miami Dolphins' total defense from 1983 to 1989, ranked 7, 19, 23, 26, 26, 26, and 24, respectively.  Marino may have been a tremendous quarterback, arguably one of the best ever, but serious deficiencies in the teams that he played on likely prevented him from appearing in multiple Superbowls, and winning at least one Superbowl.

3. John Elway

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	No.	G	GS	QBrec	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	TD%	Int	Int%	Lng	Y/A	AY/A	Y/C	Y/G	Rate	Sk	Yds	NY/A	ANY/A	Sk%	AV
1983	23	DEN	QB	7	11	10	4-6-0	123	259	47.5	1663	7	2.7	14	5.4	49	6.4	4.5	13.5	151.2	54.9	28	218	5.0	3.3	9.8	4
1984	24	DEN	QB	7	15	14	12-2-0	214	380	56.3	2598	18	4.7	15	3.9	73	6.8	6.0	12.1	173.2	76.8	24	158	6.0	5.3	5.9	10
1985	25	DEN	QB	7	16	16	11-5-0	327	605	54.0	3891	22	3.6	23	3.8	65	6.4	5.4	11.9	243.2	70.2	38	307	5.6	4.6	5.9	13
1986*	26	DEN	QB	7	16	16	11-5-0	280	504	55.6	3485	19	3.8	13	2.6	53	6.9	6.5	12.4	217.8	79.0	32	233	6.1	5.7	6.0	14
1987*	27	DEN	QB	7	12	12	8-3-1	224	410	54.6	3198	19	4.6	12	2.9	72	7.8	7.4	14.3	266.5	83.4	20	138	7.1	6.7	4.7	14
1988	28	DEN	QB	7	15	15	8-7-0	274	496	55.2	3309	17	3.4	19	3.8	86	6.7	5.6	12.1	220.6	71.4	30	237	5.8	4.9	5.7	12
1989*	29	DEN	QB	7	15	15	10-5-0	223	416	53.6	3051	18	4.3	18	4.3	69	7.3	6.3	13.7	203.4	73.7	35	298	6.1	5.1	7.8	12

John Elway may not have had the stunning statistics that Dan Marino had, but Elway did lead his team to 3 Superbowl appearances during the 1980's.  He is also famous for a number of game winning drives, specifically "The Drive" against the Cleveland Browns in 1986:

Other highlights of John Elway are set forth below.

4. Dan Fouts

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	No.	G	GS	QBrec	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	TD%	Int	Int%	Lng	Y/A	AY/A	Y/C	Y/G	Rate	Sk	Yds	NY/A	ANY/A	Sk%	AV

1980*	29	SDG	QB	14	16	16	11-5-0	348	589	59.1	4715	30	5.1	24	4.1	65	8.0	7.2	13.5	294.7	84.7	32	210	7.3	6.5	5.2	16
1981*	30	SDG	QB	14	16	16	10-6-0	360	609	59.1	4802	33	5.4	17	2.8	67	7.9	7.7	13.3	300.1	90.6	19	134	7.4	7.3	3.0	19
1982*+	31	SDG	QB	14	9	9	6-3-0	204	330	61.8	2883	17	5.2	11	3.3	44	8.7	8.3	14.1	320.3	93.3	12	94	8.2	7.7	3.5	22
1983*	32	SDG	QB	14	10	10	5-5-0	215	340	63.2	2975	20	5.9	15	4.4	59	8.8	7.9	13.8	297.5	92.5	14	107	8.1	7.3	4.0	9
1984	33	SDG	QB	14	13	13	6-7-0	317	507	62.5	3740	19	3.7	17	3.4	61	7.4	6.6	11.8	287.7	83.4	29	228	6.6	5.8	5.4	11
1985*	34	SDG	QB	14	14	12	7-5-0	254	430	59.1	3638	27	6.3	20	4.7	75	8.5	7.6	14.3	259.9	88.1	18	135	7.8	7.0	4.0	12
1986	35	SDG	QB	14	12	12	3-9-0	252	430	58.6	3031	16	3.7	22	5.1	65	7.0	5.5	12.0	252.6	71.4	21	173	6.3	4.9	4.7	9
1987	36	SDG	QB	14	11	10	5-5-0	206	364	56.6	2517	10	2.7	15	4.1	46	6.9	5.6	12.2	228.8	70.0	24	176	6.0	4.8	6.2	6

Before Dan Marino came along, Dan Fouts was torching defenses through the air.  Fouts threw for over 4,700 yards in both 1980 and 1981 (both new league records at the time), and passed for 30 and 33 touchdowns in those years, respectively. In 1982, Fouts averaged an NFL record at the time of 320 passing yards per game. Fouts' San Diego Chargers qualified for the playoffs in 1980, 1981 and 1982, and Fouts played in 2 AFC Championship games (although he never made an appearance in a Superbowl). Unfortunately for Fouts, the defenses of the San Diego Chargers were in the bottom ten of the NFL from 1981-1986.

5. Boomer Esiason

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	No.	G	GS	QBrec	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	TD%	Int	Int%	Lng	Y/A	AY/A	Y/C	Y/G	Rate	Sk	Yds	NY/A	ANY/A	Sk%	AV
1984	23	CIN		7	10	4	3-1-0	51	102	50.0	530	3	2.9	3	2.9	36	5.2	4.5	10.4	53.0	62.9	5	52	4.5	3.8	4.7	2
1985	24	CIN	QB	7	15	14	7-7-0	251	431	58.2	3443	27	6.3	12	2.8	68	8.0	8.0	13.7	229.5	93.2	32	289	6.8	6.8	6.9	14
1986*	25	CIN	QB	7	16	16	10-6-0	273	469	58.2	3959	24	5.1	17	3.6	57	8.4	7.8	14.5	247.4	87.7	26	194	7.6	7.0	5.3	15
1987	26	CIN	QB	7	12	12	3-9-0	240	440	54.5	3321	16	3.6	19	4.3	61	7.5	6.3	13.8	276.8	73.1	26	209	6.7	5.5	5.6	11
1988*+	27	CIN	QB	7	16	16	12-4-0	223	388	57.5	3572	28	7.2	14	3.6	86	9.2	9.0	16.0	223.3	97.4	30	245	8.0	7.8	7.2	19
1989*	28	CIN	QB	7	16	15	7-8-0	258	455	56.7	3525	28	6.2	11	2.4	74	7.7	7.9	13.7	220.3	92.1	36	288	6.6	6.7	7.3	15

Boomer Esiason was named to the Pro Bowl in 1986, 1988 and 1989. He was also named the NFL's Most Valuable Player in 1988, and led his Cincinnati Bengals to an appearance in the 1988 Superbowl. Esiason excelled at the play-action-passing, an example of which can be seen at the 2:00 mark of the following video:

The complexities of the Cinncinati Bengal's offense, and Esiason's mastery of that offense, are demonstrated in this video:

If the statistics and accomplishments of these 5 quarterbacks don't look that impressive when compared to the top 5 quarterbacks of today's NFL (or even the top 10 quarterbacks of today's NFL), much of that may be attributable to rule changes over the years that have given quarterbacks and passing offenses a better chance of success than they had in the 1980's.  Passer's Paradise: The Evolution of the NFL Aerial Attack, highlights many of the rule changes and their effects on both quarterback play and quarterback statistics.  Since the 1980's, NFL rules have been altered to, among other things, provide more protection for quarterbacks and enforce more stringently the 5 yard contact rule. One could reasonably conclude that the quarterback play of the top 5 quarterbacks of the 1980's would improve dramatically under today's altered and more pass-happy rules. 

Honorable mentions, in no particular order:

1. Joe Theisman's Washington Redskins won Superbowl XVII and made an appearance in Superbowl XVIII. Theisman may have made it into the top 5 had his career not been cut short by a leg injury he sustained against the New York Giants in 1985.

2. Phil Simms led the New York Giants to the playoffs in 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1989.  Simms' Giants won Superbowl XXI, wherein Simms completed 22 of 25 passes (2 of the 3 incompletions were drops by his receivers), and he threw for 3 touchdowns.

3. Danny White led the Dallas Cowboys to the playoffs in 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983 and 1985. White's Cowboys made appearances in the three consecutive NFC Championsip games from 1980-1982.

4. Although Neil Lomax only led the St. Louis Cardinals to the playoffs once, Lomax passed for 24 or more touchdowns 3 times, and almost passed for 4,700 yards in 1984.

5. Ron Jaworski led the Philadelphia Eagles to a Superbowl appearance in 1980 and to the playoffs in 1981.

6. Dave Krieg's Seattle Seahawks made playoff appearances in 1983, 1984, 1987 and 1988.  Krieg threw at least 21 touchdowns in 5 difference seasons during the 1980's, and his Seahawks made an appearance in the 1983 AFC Championship Game.

7. Warren Moon's Houston Oilers made it to the playoffs in 1987, 1988 and 1989.  Moon also had an outstanding career in the Canadian Football League before he joined the Houston Oilers.  Had Moon been in the NFL during the 1980-1983 seasons, he may have made in into my top 5 list.

8. Jim Plunkett's Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders made playoff appearances in 1980, 1982, 1983 and 1984, and Plunkett was named the MVP of Superbowl XV. Plunkett also led the Raiders to a victory in Superbowl XVIII.