Earlier today, quarterback Trent Dilfer retired from the NFL, ending one of the most interesting careers. Dilfer went from bust, to journeyman, to go-to insider guy during his 14-year NFL career.In the middle of that, he was the starting QB on the Baltimore Ravens' Super Bowl Championship team.
So, with Dilfer retiring, Sporting News decided to rank the worst QBs to win a Super Bowl as a starter. Dilfer finished second (SN did say that there have been no bad quarterbacks to win a Super Bowl). The top spot went to the Giants Jeff Hostetler.
Giants fans will always have a warm place in their hearts for Hoss, who stepped in for an injured Phil Simms (more on him later) and gutted his way to the finish line in 1990. But all he proved as a starter over the next six seasons -- the last four with the Raiders -- was that he couldn't make his teams better. Only one of those teams, the 1993 Raiders, made the playoffs.
Again, there are no horrible QBs on this list ... which is evident by some of the names Dilfer ranked "ahead of".
Another New York Giant ... Eli Manning ... finished #3. His poise during Super Bowl XLII will be one of the Super Bowl's top moments. Oh, and all he did was finish one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history.
Right behind Manning is another guy who is always remembered at Super Bowl time: Doug Williams. Williams had a shaky career, but he had one of the best SB performances ever.
Some other names? Brad Johnson, Mark Rypien, Jim McMahon and even Phil Simms.
No one will ever confuse Dilfer as one of the greats, but he does have a Super Bowl ring (stings, doesn't it Marino?) in his lone season in B-more. He took over for Tony Banks at mid-season and led the Ravens to a 7-1 record to end the season ... and winning all three postseason games.
He is the only starting Super Bowl winning quarterback to be released by the team that offseason.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-11-2008 @ 2:56AM
ryan parks said...
See Roethlesberger, Ben
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7-11-2008 @ 5:13AM
Rick Vogt said...
It's funny Ryan, I was watching the NFL network last week and they were talking to Ray Lewis about the Raven's young QB Joe Flacco. Lewis said the kid has all the tools but it remains to be the seen whether he develops into Ben Roethlisberger. What is it Ryan that Lewis, a Hall of Fame linebacker (and please, spare me your innane drivel about Lewis not being HOF worthy when he reitires) sees in a guy like Ben to make that type of comment? Lewis has seen video at least 8 times in preparation to play the guy. If you've been paying attention you'll know that the ultra competitive Lewis doesn't pass along warm and funny compliments because he's a nice guy. So what does Ray Lewis see that Ryan Parks, astute NFL observer, doesn't? You may not like the guy and that's fine but Roethlisberger's skills have netted him a 112 million dollar contract and we all know the Rooney's don't just give money away. Just because you run a fantasy team Ryan doesn't mean you know jack about the position of QB in the NFL. I'm not the biggest fan of Ben either but after Brady and Manning his numbers suggest he's in the upper echelon regardless of what NFL expert Ryan Parks thinks. I love seeing people like you comment on these boards. Good entertainment. Now isn't it time for you to go clean your room? I hear your mother calling you.
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7-11-2008 @ 7:04AM
Steve said...
To be fair to Ryan, here were Roethlisberger's stats in Superbowl XL: 9-21, 123 yards, 0 TDS, 2 INTs. Sure, Roethlisberger is a good NFL quarterback, and he has improved since that game, but they won the Superbowl that year despite him rather than because of him. He's certainly not the worst QB ever to win the Superbowl, but he might have put together the worst performance by a Superbowl-winning quarterback.
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7-11-2008 @ 8:52AM
Murph said...
you know i bet it doesnt bother Marino one bit... over rated starts in the
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7-11-2008 @ 12:48PM
Slim said...
Q: What's the difference between Trent Dilfer and Donovan McNabb?
A: A Super Bowl Ring!
Sorry Eagles fans (not really).
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7-11-2008 @ 5:48PM
Rick Vogt said...
Completely agree with you Steve. His performance in "the" game was poor but most of us know only the uninformed would evaluate a QB on 1 game. When you look at the entire body of work Roethlisberger's numbers at this stage of his career compare quite favorably with a lot of the names that reside in Canton now. The most important number being wins and loses. Perhaps Ryan has some petty axe to grind with Pittsburgh or Roethlisberger. Whatever his reasons are he went about it in a way that opened the door to be schooled on a subject he obviously knows little about.
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7-13-2008 @ 1:05PM
southcarolinasteeler said...
biggest loser to never play in a superbowl and knows nothing about football.....ryan parks
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7-16-2008 @ 12:17AM
George B Vieto said...
Trent Dilfer was the right place at the right time when he quarterbacked the Ravens to the Super Bowl. How is Trent rewarded? He gets fired the next season by his coach Brian Billick. How is that for gratitude?
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