Now post Montana, Brady and Mannings Super Bowl stats, when the game matters the most. Its a pass happy league now of course present players are going to.have better stats than Montana. Hell there will probably be 10 current guys with more yards and Tds than Montana, and none of them will be better.
You're onto something with this post. But I think you miss the bigger point.
You're right that it's a different league now. But this is another argument that favors Peyton. Because he is eventually going to be viewed as more than just another great QB. He is going to be viewed as a transformational player -- a player who changed the game.
Before Peyton Manning came along, a 4,000 yard passing season was something of a rarity. Joe Namath was the first one to do it. And he managed it only once, in 1967. Others followed -- some big names and some not-so-big. But it was still a pretty rare feat. And it was still considered to be a huge accomplishment.
Dan Marino broke the mold with six 4,000 yard seasons in his illustrious career. Before him, Dan Fouts was the only guy to have done it more than twice. Warren Moon came along and did it 4 times. Steve Young did it twice.
Only 13 other QBs, before Peyton, had EVER thrown for more than 4,000 yards in a single season. And they had each only managed to do it once. John Elway was one of the guys who did it once.
Joe Montana NEVER did it. Neither did Terry Bradshaw. In fact, a lot of guys who are considered to be among the greatest to ever play the QB position never did it in their careers -- way too many to name. Put it this way: think of some of the greatest QB names to ever play the game and chances are they never passed for 4,000 yards in a single season.
Think about that when you consider that Peyton Manning has AVERAGED more than 4,000 yards passing per season over the course of his career. Put that together with his high career passer rating, his plethora of NFL records (including most league MVPs) and his SB ring and it's pretty compelling evidence.
4,000 yard passing seasons are becoming a lot more commonplace nowadays. But no one is even close to Peyton. And he started the trend. That makes him more than just another great QB. That makes him the best ever.
