Who is the GOAT of American Football?

[JJChicken]

Thread topic is simple enough. Interesting to hear your opinions. I don't watch much football, but I thought Montana and Rice are among the best of all time?

 

[MotF Bane]

Goat?

 

[JJChicken]

Greatest of All Time.

 

[Homerboy]

"GOAT" = Greatest of all time?

it is simply impossible to name "GOAT" of sports like Baseball or football. There have been dozens that are head and shoulders above the rest, but in their respective positions. Montana could be considered the best QB... Rice the best WR.... but you can argue that until you are blue in the face. Not to mention the pile of other positions to take into consideration, not to mention different eras of the sport.

Impossible task.

 

[DrPizza]

I think I'd put Marino ahead of Montana. Montana has the rings because he had a better team surrounding him. But, if you swapped Marino for Montana, you might have even seen a slightly higher scoring team.

I agree with Rice for WR. Unitas was incredible, but it's harder to compare to that era given difference in size of players, etc.

edit2: and Walter Payton for RB

 

[IndyColtsFan]

You can't name a single GOAT in football, but you can probably name a GOAT for each position. That being said, I'd say Montana for QB, Rice for WR, Payton for RB, LT for LB, and so on.

 

[minendo]

Ryan Leaf.

 

[DrPizza]

Marino vs. Montana - although Marino played for 1 more year than Montana, Marino's pass yardage exceeded Montana's by more than ELEVEN miles. Unfortunately, the Dolphins sucked in the RB department, and certainly didn't have much of a defense for many of those years, hence loss after loss while Marino put up 28 or 35 points game after game. And, as great as Rice was, Montana had Rice to pass to. (Marino didn't.)


Also, changed my mind. #1 player was Jim Brown. Payton can have the #2 RB spot.

 

[nick1985]

Cade McNown for QB

 

[Homerboy]

You can't name a single GOAT in football, but you can probably name a GOAT for each position. That being said, I'd say Montana for QB, Rice for WR, Payton for RB, LT for LB, and so on.

Even by position "greatest of all time" is impossible to come up with. There's already an argument in this thread for Marino over Montana. What about Unitas or even Favre. In the running back catgary, why Payton? Why not Smith? Sanders? Dickerson? Jim Brown? Or even Jim Thorpe?

It's just impossible to do. (fun to argue though )

 

[ElFenix]

goat usually means something close to the opposite of greatest of all time.

 

[Blackjack200]

Jeremy Shockey for TE.

 

[JujuFish]

Marino vs. Montana - although Marino played for 1 more year than Montana, Marino's pass yardage exceeded Montana's by more than ELEVEN miles. Unfortunately, the Dolphins sucked in the RB department, and certainly didn't have much of a defense for many of those years, hence loss after loss while Marino put up 28 or 35 points game after game. And, as great as Rice was, Montana had Rice to pass to.

Because passing yardage is everything. If we're going by that, Peyton Manning has already outclassed Marino. He's passed for 4,000 yards in a season 10 times in his career to Marino's 6. Does that mean Manning is a better QB? Of course not.

 

[Krazy4Real]

JaMarcus Russell

 

[amdhunter]

Eli Manning.

 

[KeithTalent]

Otto Graham.

KT

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Because passing yardage is everything. If we're going by that, Peyton Manning has already outclassed Marino. He's passed for 4,000 yards in a season 10 times in his career to Marino's 6. Does that mean Manning is a better QB? Of course not.

Manning is a better QB than Marino by a considerable amount IMO.

 

[rasczak]

Unfortunately with a team game like football (American) there really can't be one defined "Greatest" of all time. You'd have to look at each position individually and compare the greats of each position. If you look at impact on the game, names like Hutson, Baugh, Graham, and Grange always come to the forefront to me. Yes Rice, has more yards, catches, td catches, you name it, but Hutson's records stood for decades before someone broke them. Baugh was the reason football is the passing league it is today. If you look at statistics alone, then you go for the obivous Largent, Rice, Smith, Brown, Payton, Montana, Marino, Manning, Farve, etc.

 

[AstroManLuca]

JaMarcus Russell

Don't you mean JaMarcus CLUTCHell? :sneaky:

I heard someone describe JaMarcus Russell as being like an eagle soaring high above the forest. Millions of years of evolution have turned him into one of the most specialized hunters in the world. Keen vision that can sense prey from hundreds of feet in the air. Powerful talons that kills small animals before they're even aware they were being hunted. The eagle doesn't give a shit about football. Neither does JaMarcus Russell.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Barry Sanders

 

[blackdogdeek]

jim brown maybe greatest rb of all time, but sanders is my favorite.

and to go by implied meaning of the thread title, i'd have to say scott norwood.

 

[rasczak]

Manning is a better QB than Marino by a considerable amount IMO.

imo, Manning has had it easier. The rules pretty much handcuffing the cornerbacks wasn't in play back when Marino was QB. Given those rules back then, noone, and I mean noone would have even come close to the records Marino would have put up. It's basically pitch and catch for Manning and any of his receivers. Don't get me wrong, Manning is a great QB, and the best in the business today, but I wouldn't say Manning is a better QB by a "considerable amount".

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Don't you mean JaMarcus CLUTCHell? :sneaky:

I heard someone describe JaMarcus Russell as being like an eagle soaring high above the forest. Millions of years of evolution have turned him into one of the most specialized hunters in the world. Keen vision that can sense prey from hundreds of feet in the air. Powerful talons that kills small animals before they're even aware they were being hunted. The eagle doesn't give a shit about football. Neither does JaMarcus Russell.

OffTheMarkus sure had that keen vision -- he could spot a donut from hundreds of feet away and pounce on it.

 

[rasczak]

jim brown maybe greatest rb of all time, but sanders is my favorite.

and to go by implied meaning of the thread title, i'd have to say scott norwood.

lol @ norwood comment. 100% truth. second place belong to Nate Kaeding

as for Greatest RB, my nod goes to Payton. He was THE complete running back. He blocked as well as or better than most offensive linemen, he caught the ball as well as or better than most receivers, and ran like, well, Sweetness. He was/is the reason I was a Bears fan.

 

[Blackjack200]

imo, Manning has had it easier. The rules pretty much handcuffing the cornerbacks wasn't in play back when Marino was QB. Given those rules back then, noone, and I mean noone would have even come close to the records Marino would have put up. It's basically pitch and catch for Manning and any of his receivers. Don't get me wrong, Manning is a great QB, and the best in the business today, but I wouldn't say Manning is a better QB by a "considerable amount".

How old is the Ty Law rule? I thought Manning had long been picking apart defenses and putting up massive numbers when that was put in place.