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Preview data: all rankings, scores, votes, refresh labels, methodology, testing and editorial-process statements in Top 49 are illustrative demo content, not live measurements or documented reviews.
Rank 133Up 3
#13 in Greatest NFL Quarterbacks
of 16 ranked entries
Terry Bradshaw
Pittsburgh Steelers · 1970–1983
Four Super Bowl rings anchoring the Steel Curtain dynasty of the 1970s, including back-to-back Super Bowl MVP awards as the decade closed out. Recorded specifics: primary team Pittsburgh Steelers, debut 1970, super bowls won 4. Panel highlighted four Super Bowl championships in a six-year span, back-to-back Super Bowl MVP awards and first quarterback to start and win four Super Bowls. The reservation on record is played behind one of the most dominant defenses in NFL history for his entire prime.
Super Bowl champion
Score breakdown
How Terry Bradshaw earned 77.4
Each criterion is scored independently, then combined using the weights published on Greatest NFL Quarterbacks.
- Championship pedigreeweight 28%
- 78.4
- Statistical dominance relative to eraweight 27%
- 77.0
- Clutch & big-game performanceweight 25%
- 74.8
- Durability & consistencyweight 20%
- 79.8
On the record
Recorded detail
| Primary team | Pittsburgh Steelers |
|---|---|
| Debut | 1970 |
| Super Bowls won | 4 |
| Rating | 8.5 |
Panel verdict
Strengths and reservations
What it gets right
- Four Super Bowl championships in a six-year span
- Back-to-back Super Bowl MVP awards
- First quarterback to start and win four Super Bowls
Where it gives ground
- Played behind one of the most dominant defenses in NFL history for his entire prime
1 appearance
Where this entry ranks
From the same list
Ranked alongside it
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Quarterback · Patriots, Buccaneers · 2000–2022
Seven Super Bowl rings — more than any single franchise other than the Patriots has won — spread across two decades and two teams, retiring with the career passing yardage and touchdown records still standing untouched.
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Rank 02Editor’s pickPeyton Manning
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Rank 05John Elway
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90.9/100 Top 49 score—No change
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88.9/100 Top 49 score3Up 3
Rank 07Drew Brees
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Retired as the all-time leader in career passing yards, built almost entirely on a level of ball placement that made a mediocre Saints receiving corps look far better than it was for over a decade.
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Rank 08Brett Favre
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The only player to win three consecutive NFL MVP awards, powered by a gunslinger’s willingness to make a throw no coaching staff would ever call — for better and, over 336 career interceptions, occasionally for worse.
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Top 49 rankings are editorial. Scores are produced from the published criteria on each list and are refreshed on the cadence stated there. Figures shown across this section are curated demonstration data.