NFL Goat

Who is the greatest football player of all time? Let’s consider a couple of accolades.

Multiple time MVP winners:

Peyton Manning 5
Aaron Rodgers 4
Jim Brown 3
Johnny Unitas 3
Brett Favre 3
Tom Brady 3
Joe Montana 2
Steve Young 2
Kurt Warner 2

Multiple time Super Bowl MVP winners:

Tom Brady 5
Joe Montana 3
Bart Starr 2
Terry Bradshaw 2
Eli Manning 2

Winners of 5+ combined MVPs (Regular + SB):

Tom Brady 8 (3 Regular, 5 SB)
Peyton Manning 6 (5 Regular, 1 SB)
Joe Montana 5 (2 Regular, 3 SB)
Aaron Rodgers 5 (4 Regular, 1 SB)

Based on these accolades, it seems Brady is clear, although we haven’t accounted for many other accomplishments like passing yards, playoff wins, Pro Bowl teams, All-Pro teams, reputation in the league, and more. We also can’t forget that there is a strong bias towards quarterbacks. For instance, Lawrence Taylor, Barry Sanders, and Jerry Rice are just three of the types of players who could never make this list (LB, RB, WR), despite being three of the best players in the history of the league.