Payton Manning, the best ever?

[churchmouse]

...and the old Bears sure shortened the careers of a few QBs as well.

Oh yeah.

Until pretty boy Troy Aikmen and his bunch cried so loud about getting slammed to the tarmac a QB was just another player on the field. You have the ball....I want it and will pound you to get it. Football not puss-ball. Arm going forward my butt.

 

[wildhair]

you have never followed Peyton....have you? If you had, then you would know, he never whines or plays the blame game. He just plays great football and wins. Never herd him wine when he played on all those lousy Tony Dungy lead teams. I mean, he should have went to the Super Bowl several times except we had those horrible Dungy defenses. Heck he had to score 40 some points to win a game.

 

[churchmouse]

you have never followed Payton....have you? If you had, then you would know, he never whines or plays the blame game. He just plays great football and wins. Never herd him wine when he played on all those lousy Tony Dungy lead teams. I mean, he should have went to the Super Bowl several times except we had those horrible Dungy defenses. Heck he had to score 40 some points to win a game.

And he did. Not so much about Dungy but how the purse strings were controlled buying players.

 

[hornadylnl]

And he did. Not so much about Dungy but how the purse strings were controlled buying players.

Surely Pay-A-Ton's salary cap hit had nothing to do with that.

 

[sepe]

I've seen a lot of football since about '59 and I've seen some great QBs in my 60+ yrs. Apples and oranges. The game has changed considerably in the last 15 yrs. West coast offense, the way holding is called now on DBs, Domes, Stadiums, formations, etc. It's "For recreational use only" and to be enjoyed as amusement.
Could Barry Sanders, Gail Sayers, Jim Taylor, etc run against these stacked defenses today? It's all changed.
Montana didn't exactly win it all when he went to KC. Marino hardly gets mentioned, Tarkenton who?, and the list goes on and on. It takes a whole team to win it all. Heck, Baltimore and Washington have won it with "less than stellar" QBs.

Rarely, if ever, we hear Otto Graham mentioned. The guy was good. As far as Sanders, Sayers, Taylor, and quite a few other RBs of yesteryear, I think they'd still fit in the game if they played today. There are quite a few smaller backs that play similar to Sanders. Sayers had similar size to some of the guys playing today. Taylor's role would be a bit different as he was a fullback. He wouldn't fit that role at all today but with his receiving abilities and solid hands, I think he'd be able to fit in the current NFL. The toughness that the old school guys played with, if they grew up around the game as it evolved, I don't think they'd have a problem enjoying success.

I think the bigger changes would be in the guys playing on the line. Guys on the defensive line would be closer to linebackers and guys on the offensive line would be closer to tight ends or some of the bigger fullbacks we're seeing today. In the 1960's the average size of the O-line was 6'3 and around 250. Today, we're seeing high school players around that size while being fairly solid. These guys would be seeing the biggest difference with the changes in the game. Then again, if they were the same players with the same techniques, just with some added size even 20-30 pounds, I think they'd still be able to play against much the much larger linemen.

 

[HoughMade]

...now, if we're going to talk about Payton ,yeah, he's the best there ever was.

 

[jamil]

Brady is a by-product of a system. Talented....yes. Not one of the best in my opinion for what that is worth.
Well....hating the Patriots as I do may have some effect on said opinion....

As a Michigan fan I've followed Brady's career since he battled for the start against Drew Henson. He went #199 in the draft. His specs were horrible. But his success in the NFL was not a by-product of a system. Whatever that kid lacked in talent he made up for in heart and motivation. That said I sure wish someone other than the Patriots had drafted him. I don't really care for the Patriots or Belichick.

Back to Manning, I don't think we can say any football player is the best ever until he totally dominates above everyone who has ever played the position, and I'm not ready to say that about Payton. I think at most we can say that he may be the best of his era. But let's not even coronate him for that until we see how the rest of this season goes. He sure has been impressive so far.

 

[churchmouse]

...now, if we're going to talk about Payton ,yeah, he's the best there ever was.

Sweetness rules.........

 

[SkullDaddy.45]

...now, if we're going to talk about Payton ,yeah, he's the best there ever was.

Walter Payton , hands down the greatest football player ever to play the game, period!