Montana is still the best ever. He was next to unstoppable in almost ever SB in was in and 4 SB wins and 3 MVP's says it all. Only thing that kept him from more records was injuries.

"arguably needs a third in order to fully break into the Marino/Bradshaw/Aikman/Brady ranks."

Hmm, I didn't know Marino had won so many Super Bowls. :)

As far as Manning goes, he will need 4 rings for me to consider unseating Montana. Even though it was only four games, Montana's stats and domination in the four SB wins, still places him in a crowd of one.

Joe Montana is the greatest ever, not because he had the greatest arm or stats, but because he had the greatest presence of mind -- made no mistakes when it counted the most. Of course, he was lucky too -- that's how Napoleon chose his marshalls, by the way -- he chose the soldiers who were lucky...

peyon, is the best qb in the nfl, come on guys he is not only talented, but smart, charming and plays the game like a professor... he will someday make a awesome coach if he decides to go that route... peyon is and always will be the one and only man.. peyton lover

And the smartest of those five!

He is the greatest ever

I have been a huge Payton Manning fan for 10 years, love him. He brings more to the field than any other QB today. But of all time, that is a huge statement. Joe Montana, Brett Favre and the other greats are hard to beat. This poll should be taken in 5 years. But Brady is not one of the best in my opinion. Just on the right team, with the right coach, at the right time.

Guys, guys--so far he's been to the post-season nine times and won one measley Superbowl. *Troy Aikman* has more Superbowl rings than this post-season choker. To consider him the 'greatest ever" dishoners real quarterbacks. Until he wins three more Superbowls, he's just an accumulator of meaningless statistics. And don't use that hackneyed reply that "a team wins Superbowls", because if you're going to make that argument, then a quarterback shouldn't get any credit when his team wins.

Elway played in five SBs, winning two. Manning is playing in his second. He has some championship playing and winning to do before he is in the top five, or six. I think the hype is bigger than the true championship performance. Like Marino, a great, Manning has the remarkable regular season stats.

He is good and smart, but with brains, comes an ego and an attitude, which Manning clearly has. He also takes the game to seriously and can't learn to love the game with a laid-back approach like Favre. He's good but not the greatest.

Naming a GOAT QB gets as muddy as a pitching discussion in baseball, because the NFL rule changes in 1978 were the equivalent of when baseball lowered the mound in the dead-ball era. As rules have changed to favor the passing game, QB's have been stripped of their autonomy. Peyton Manning is a bit of a throwback in terms of the freedom and flexibility that he is given on the field, so leadership has to be part of the discussion with him. At this point, he has only won a single title and may end up with two by Sunday. I think he is the only active QB who even belongs in the GOAT discussion, but I think he needs a couple more titles before he surpasses the likes of Otto Graham (who went to 10 title games in a row), Unitas, and Montana.

I woould take Sammy Baugh or Unitas over any of the modern era QB.

Bart Starr owns FIVE NFL championships does he not?? Just thought Id throw that in! Jonny Unitas??? Both of them called their own plays their entire careers!!!

in my opinion elway is the greatest ever. look at the three broncos teams that went to the super bowl and lost. sammy winder as the primary running back. clarence kay for tight end. vance johnson and mark jackson for receivers. please. those player would never have started for the niners, or steelers or cowboys.

look at the defense. they held the giants to 39 points, the skins to 42, and the niners to 55. the defense was absolutely pathetic. elway was that team. he was the only reason they were there.

only when elway got the supporting cast around him was he able to win it all. montana, bradshaw and all the other superbowl greats had a terrific supporting cast.

i don't think any of them could have taken the 80's broncos to one superbowl, let alone three.

like i stated earlier , out of all those quarterbacks mentioned , how many of them made the opposing coach call a 4th and 2 on their own 28 yard line with a few ticks left on the clock, while leading in the game. Peyton scares people , the game of football has been changed dramtically because of Peyton Manning. the game today is a lot more technical and faster than the games that were played during Bart Starr ,and Johnny Unitas's era. and by the way he was my 2nd choice. Iam a colts fan from 1968.

Top three for sure along with Unitas (another great who called most of the plays) & Joe Montana. Another ring or two and Peyton will probably move to number 1.

Would not have considered him in top 3 until the game against the Jets. I dont know if I have ever seen a quarterback study an opponent for a quarter and a half, and then just tear the defense apart. He obviously has the ability to be the greatest of all time, but this shows that he also has the intelligence. Montana/Aikman as good as they were had quite a bit of help. Bradshaw, way over rated. Elway, like Farve - strong arm but stronger heart/desire. With Brady, question his longevity and his success if he was on a team with less talent.

It is soo nice to see that no one bothers to mention Favre in this discussion.

Joe Montana is the best, esp. in the Big Game. Manning could still get there, but he needs more than a win this year to supplant him. Definitely Top 5, though.

Payton is very good on the field. but he's had too many brain farts in the post season to be called the greatest QB in history. He didn't even play that well in his first superbowl. He has to thank his defense for that win.