Thanks in Part to John Madden, Brett Favre Is Most Overrated Quarterback Ever

There is a small city located on the banks of Lake Michigan that, until 1919, most people had probably never heard of. With a population today of barely over 100,000, most people could still go their entire lives without ever knowing of its existence.

That is, however, were it not for a man by the name of Earl “Curly” Lambeau. In 1919 he formed the Green Bay Packers. The Packers would go on to become the most storied franchise in NFL history, and perhaps the history of sports.

During the '60s, no team dominated like the Green Bay Packers. Under legendary coach Vince Lombardi, the Packers won five league championships in seven years, including victories in Super Bowls I and II, making the Packers the original NFL dynasty.

The '70s and '80s came and went, but the Packers were never quite able to recapture the dominance they once had.

Then on Sept. 20, 1992, Don “The Majik Man” Majikowski tore a ligament in his ankle against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Enter No. 4.

The Green Bay Packers and the NFL would never be the same. Considered a hero in Green Bay, Brett Favre turned the team around and won Super Bowl XXI in 1996.

My whole life growing up I heard about the “Great Brett Favre,” the quarterback who could turn seemingly insurmountable odds into an advantage and lead his team back from the jaws of defeat. This sounded great; a quarterback so good he couldn’t lose.

As I lived on the east coast, however, Packers games weren’t exactly something I could watch every Sunday. So instead I had to come to grips with the cold fact that the only time I could see this living legend was on Monday Night Football, Sunday Night Football, or in the playoffs. But when I saw him play he didn’t resemble the greatest quarterback of all time. Instead he looked...well...overrated. 

So how good was Favre? If you listen to John Madden you may think he’s the chosen one sent from the heavens above to save humanity and football. Madden probably has a shrine to Favre in every room of his house and two on his cruiser. But how does No. 4 stack up when compared to the other great quarterbacks?

One word synonymous with Favre is toughness, but how do you compare toughness? There are no stats to tell who is tough; there is no template with which to compare players. Instead you have to take individual instances when a player shows toughness.

Favre’s consecutive start record proves his toughness. Peyton Manning proved his toughness when he broke his jaw in a game and used a wad of gauze to hold his mouth open so he could still call plays. And no one will ever forget Byron Leftwich’s performance against Akron in November 2002, when he injured his leg and his offensive linemen carried him to the line of scrimmage after every completion en route to a 17-point comeback victory.

Considering regular season stats only, Favre matches up with all the other great quarterbacks in NFL history in completion percentage, yards, and touchdowns, but what separates Favre from the John Elways, Joe Montanas, and Dan Marinos are his mistakes.

Favre eclipses all three quarterbacks in both interceptions and fumbles. During the course of his career, Elway threw 226 interceptions in 234 regular season games; Marino had 252 in 226 games, and Montana had 139 in 131 regular season games.

Favre? In 239 regular season games he has thrown 301 interceptions.  That’s four more regular season games than Elway played and 75 more interceptions. Favre dominates the interception leader board with 301 (No. 2 is George Blanda with 277), but everyone already knew Favre throws a lot of interceptions. What a lot of people don’t know is that during the course of his 239 regular season games, Favre has also fumbled the ball 156 times.

For those of you who struggle with math, that is 457 fumbles or interceptions in 239 regular season games: approximately two big mistakes per game.

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