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Toughest QB's of all time?


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Just for something different, I don't recall this ever being discussed here or at least anytime too recently. In my lifetime the first three guys that I think of are Kelly, Favre, and Big Ben. If I was ranking them I would probably have to go with #4 as my #1

Tough to beat the old timers in the toughness category.

Y.A. Tittle

Johnny Unitas

Kenny Stabler

Joe Ferguson (that's right)

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Elway was a tough and super competitive guy in that mold.

 

Heck, Dan Marino was tough too. He hated to be hit but I don't exactly remember him as being frail.

 

Marino was a whiner. He was awesome with his quick release, but I've never heard of him being tough. His release was so fast, he rarely was hit.

 

Now the other guys on the thread like Stabler, Plunket, Kelly, Elway. Those were tough guys.

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Tough to beat the old timers in the toughness category.

Y.A. Tittle

Johnny Unitas

Kenny Stabler

Joe Ferguson (that's right)

As soon as I saw he topic I thought old timers. Those guys could legally get the crap kicked out of them. Ferguson playoff game against Chargers on a broken leg.
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“Meredith was really tough. He got beat up so bad in his early years. His last game, up in Cleveland, he came out of the hospital to play with a broken rib, a punctured lung, and pneumonia. I saw Meredith's nose broken so bad that it spread all over his face. Looked like a raccoon.” —Bob Lilly

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Tough to beat the old timers in the toughness category.

Y.A. Tittle

Johnny Unitas

Kenny Stabler

Joe Ferguson (that's right)

 

As soon as I saw he topic I thought old timers. Those guys could legally get the crap kicked out of them. Ferguson playoff game against Chargers on a broken leg.

 

It has to be the old time QBs who top the list.

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No one has mentioned Elway yet? He ran a ton and played behind a bad offensive line early in his career. The helicopter spin in the SB at his age?

 

What about Montana? Half this board would have had their aorta seperate from their heart after the shot he took from Jim Burt.

 

And another no one has mentioned, Randall Cunningham. That guy played a long time in this league with skinny legs and taking some brutal shots.

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Steve Grogan and Jeff Hostetler.

 

I was going to mention Hostetler. He took a hell of a beating in SB XXV. My favorite series of pictures from that game is Leon Seals trying to flatten Hostetler like roadkill. (Seals grabs Hostetler. Seals and Hostetler, floating in mid-air parallel to the ground. Hostetler on the ground, Seals on Hostetler.) I don't know how he walked away from that.

 

Do that nowadays, it's a penalty and probably an ejection. Do that to Tommy Bundchen, and it's a felony.

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Got to disagree about Joe Ferguson. Hit him a couple times and he'd get antsy and start slinging the ball away

Played on a broken leg!

Bobby Layne. Though he was hammered most of the time.

Did you ever read "Fatso" Art Donovan's book?

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Some good calls so far on this topic. I'll add a not great QB, but one who was plenty tough. Byron Leftwich. Anyone who finishes a game like he did at Marshal with a broken leg has my respect. I still remember his teammates carrying him downfield between plays because he couldn't walk.

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I was going to mention Hostetler. He took a hell of a beating in SB XXV. My favorite series of pictures from that game is Leon Seals trying to flatten Hostetler like roadkill. (Seals grabs Hostetler. Seals and Hostetler, floating in mid-air parallel to the ground. Hostetler on the ground, Seals on Hostetler.) I don't know how he walked away from that.

 

Do that nowadays, it's a penalty and probably an ejection. Do that to Tommy Bundchen, and it's a felony.

I remember that play. That hit was vicious.

 

Most people either don't know, or don't remember, but Hostetler played on the Giants special teams units.

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