Today’s Sportstat: February 1, 2020
Super Bowl starting quarterbacks
Quick trivia quiz: Can you name the 12 QBs who have won two or more Super Bowls? Can you also name the eight starting QBs who lost two or more Super Bowls? Finally, who are the four starting quarterbacks that have won two or more Super Bowls and lost two or more Super Bowls?
Answers below.
Patrick Mahomes and Jimmy Garoppolo will be the starting QBs in this year’s Super Bowl, both making their first starting appearance in the big game.
For the Chiefs, this will be their third appearance in the Super Bowl. The starting QB in their other two Super Bowl appearances (Super Bowl I and IV) was Lenny Dawson. For the 49ers, Garoppolo becomes the fourth QB to start a Super Bowl for the franchise (Joe Montana, Steve Young, Colin Kaepernick). This is the 49ers seventh appearance in the Super Bowl.
Tom Brady has made the most Super Bowl starts for a QB with nine… he is followed by John Elway with five. Brady is one of 12 Super Bowl starting QBS with two or more wins in the Super Bowl. The list of Super Bowl QBs who won two or more:
6-Tom Brady
4-Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana
3-Troy Aikman
2-John Elway, Bob Griese, Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, Jim Plunkett, Ben Roethlisberger, Bart Starr, Roger Staubach
Of these 12 QBs who have won two or more Super Bowls, only Jim Plunkett is not in the Hall of Fame. Brady and Roethlisberger are still active; Eli Manning just retired, and Peyton has been retired for a couple of years.
There have also been eight starting QBs who have lost two or more Super Bowls. They are:
4-Jim Kelly
3-Tom Brady, John Elway, Fran Tarkenton
2-Peyton Manning, Craig Morton, Roger Staubach, Kurt Warner
The only quarterbacks to win two or more Super Bowls and lose two or more Super Bowls? Tom Brady, John Elway, Peyton Manning and Roger Staubach.
It’s interesting to note that there have been three times when a pair of QBs faced off against each other twice in the Super Bowl… Staubach and Bradshaw, Aikman and Kelly, and Brady and Eli Manning. The same QB won both games… Bradshaw, Aikman and Eli Manning.
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99 Stats Until Kickoff (#90) Is the 1983 NFL draft the best ever?
John Elway (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
From May 30 and every day until September 5… the start of the 2013 NFL season… Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ will publish “99 Stats Until Kickoff” a daily dose of NFL stats that will get you ready for the 2013 NFL season.)
How will this year’s NFL draft compare with the previous drafts? What kind of NFL careers will those players chosen at the top of the 2013 NFL Draft have 15 years from now?
That is part of the fun of the NFL draft… did those players chosen in the first-round deserve to be chosen that high? Did their NFL career warrant that selection?
With that in mind, here’s a quick look at one way to evaluate previous drafts. Following are those drafts that had the most first-round draft choices who eventually were elected to the NFL Hall of Fame.
First-Round Selection Hall of Famers, Draft Year, Players
6… 1983: John Elway, Eric Dickerson, Bruce Matthews, Jim Kelly, Dan Marino, Darrell Green
4… 1952: Les Richter, Ollie Matson, Hugh McElhenny, Frank Gifford
4… 1957: Paul Hornung, Len Dawson, Jim Brown, Jim Parker
4… 1961: Mike Ditka, Jimmy Johnson, Herb Adderly, Bob Lilly
4… 1964: Bob Brown, Charley Taylor, Carl Eller, Paul Warfield
4… 1967: Bob Griese, Floyd Little, Alan Page, Gene Upshaw
4… 1989: Troy Aikman, Barry Sanders, Derrick Thomas, Deion Sanders
3… 1965: Dick Butkus, Gale Sayers, Joe Namath
3… 1969: O.J. Simpson, Joe Greene, Roger Wehrli
3… 1978: Earl Campbell, James Lofton, Ozzie Newsome
3… 1985: Bruce Smith, Chris Doleman, Jerry Rice
While the 1983 draft had the most first-rounders that ended up in Canton, you can make a case that the 1989 draft had the most impressive first five selections. In that draft, four of the first five selections made the Hall of Fame (Aikman No. 1, Sanders No. 3, Thomas No. 4, and Sanders No. 5) The only Top 5 selection from that draft not in the Hall? Tony Mandarich.
For another angle, let’s look at the 73 players selected to the Hall of Fame since 2000. In the last 14 Hall of Fame classes, 39 (53.4 percent) were first-round picks in the NFL draft. Here’s a breakdown of where the last 73 Hall of Famers elected were drafted in the NFL draft.
First Round: 39
Second Round: 9
Third Round: 7
Fourth Round: 2
Fifth Round: 1
Sixth Round or later: 7
Undrafted: 4 (Jack Butler, John Randle, Emmitt Thomas, Warren Moon)
Drafted in the Supplemental Draft: 2 (Steve Young, Cris Carter)
No NFL draft: 2 (Benny Friedman, Fritz Pollard)
Here’s another quick stat… of the Hall of Famers elected since 2000, here are the players who were drafted with the lowest picks.
Pick, Round, Player
#245 (18th Round) Chris Hanburger
#203 (8th Round) Richard Dent
#192 (7th Round) Shannon Sharpe
#182 (7th Round) Rayfield Wright
#105 (4th Round) Harry Carson
#102 (13th Round) Nick Buoniconti
Did you know? Of the 73 players selected to the NFL Hall of Fame since 2000, four were the No. 1 overall pick in the draft: Bruce Smith (1985), Aikman (1989), John Elway (1983) and Ron Yary (1968).
“99 Stats Before Kickoff” (Stats you need to know before the start of the 2013 NFL season) is available from e-book publisher Smashwords. Go to www.smashwords.com to download a copy, including a pdf version which can be viewed on your home computer. Cost is $2.99.
NFL Draft: Is the 1983 draft the best ever?
Is John Elway part of the NFL's greatest draft class? (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a sports statistics blog published multiple times weekly focusing on stats that go beyond the numbers.
How will this year’s NFL draft compare with the previous drafts? What kind of NFL careers will Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin, Matt Kalil and Trent Richardson have when we look back on their careers in another 15 years?
That is part of the fun of the NFL draft… did those players chosen in the first-round deserve to be chosen that high? Did their NFL career warrant that selection?
With that in mind, here’s a quick look at one way to evaluate previous drafts. Following are those drafts that had the most first-round draft choices who eventually were elected to the NFL Hall of Fame.
First-Round Selection Hall of Famers, Draft Year, Players
6… 1983: John Elway, Eric Dickerson, Bruce Matthews, Jim Kelly, Dan Marino, Darrell Green
4… 1952: Les Richter, Ollie Matson, Hugh McElhenny, Frank Gifford
4… 1957: Paul Hornung, Len Dawson, Jim Brown, Jim Parker
4… 1961: Mike Ditka, Jimmy Johnson, Herb Adderly, Bob Lilly
4… 1964: Bob Brown, Charley Taylor, Carl Eller, Paul Warfield
4… 1967: Bob Griese, Floyd Little, Alan Page, Gene Upshaw
4… 1989: Troy Aikman, Barry Sanders, Derrick Thomas, Deion Sanders
3… 1965: Dick Butkus, Gale Sayers, Joe Namath
3… 1969: O.J. Simpson, Joe Greene, Roger Wehrli
3… 1978: Earl Campbell, James Lofton, Ozzie Newsome
3… 1985: Bruce Smith, Chris Doleman, Jerry Rice
While the 1983 draft had the most first-rounders that ended up in Canton, you can make a case that the 1989 draft had the most impressive first five selections. In that draft, four of the first five selections made the Hall of Fame (Aikman No. 1, Sanders No. 3, Thomas No. 4, and Sanders No. 5) The only Top 5 selection not in the Hall? Tony Mandarich.
For another angle, let’s look at the 67 players selected to the Hall of Fame since 2000. In the last 13 Hall of Fame classes, 36 (53.7 percent) were first-round picks in the NFL draft. Here’s a breakdown of where the last 67 Hall of Famers elected were drafted in the NFL draft.
First Round: 36
Second Round: 7
Third Round: 7
Fourth Round: 2
Fifth Round: 1
Sixth Round or later: 7
Undrafted: 4 (Jack Butler, John Randle, Emmitt Thomas, Warren Moon)
Drafted in the Supplemental Draft: 1 (Steve Young)
No NFL draft: 2 (Benny Friedman, Fritz Pollard)
Here’s another quick stat… of the Hall of Famers elected since 2000, here are the players who were drafted with the lowest picks.
Pick, Round, Player
#245 (18th Round) Chris Hanburger
#203 (8th Round) Richard Dent
#192 (7th Round) Shannon Sharpe
#182 (7th Round) Rayfield Wright
#105 (4th Round) Harry Carson
#102 (13th Round) Nick Buoniconti
Did you know? Of the 67 players selected to the NFL Hall of Fame since 2000, four were the No. 1 overall pick in the draft: Bruce Smith (1985), Aikman (1989), John Elway (1983) and Ron Yary (1968)
Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp
Tom Brady joins John Elway at top of Super Bowl starts by QB list
John Elway... Image via Wikipedia
Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a biweekly blog published every Wednesday and Sunday with a bonus “SIX STATS…” posting every Friday.
Recently, blog follower (and Boston sports fan) Dave Dryer wondered about multiple appearances by quarterbacks in the Super Bowl. Specifically, Dave wanted to know how Tom Brady making his fifth Super Bowl start in 11 years compared with other QBs who have started multiple Super Bowls.
For the record:
* Brady’s five Super Bowl starts ties him with Denver’s John Elway for most Super Bowl starts by a QB.
* Brady’s 11-year timespan from first to last Super Bowl start ranks second on the list.
* Nine quarterbacks started back-to-back Super Bowl games: Elway (twice), Brady, Terry Bradshaw (twice), Joe Montana, Roger Staubach, Jim Kelly (three times; he actually started four consecutive Super Bowls), Troy Aikman, Bob Griese (twice; he actually started three consecutive Super Bowls), Fran Tarkenton, Bart Starr, Joe Theismann, and Brett Favre.
* Longest gap between Super Bowl starts by a QB? Eight years. Elway started Super Bowl 24 and the Super Bowl 32. Kurt Warner had a seven-year gap between consecutive starts (he started Super Bowl 36 and Super Bowl 43), Craig Morton also had a seven-year gap (he started Super Bowl 5 and Super Bowl 12).
Here’s a look at the 19 quarterbacks who have made (or will be making, in the case of Eli Manning) two or more starts in a Super Bowl. Also noted is the year of their first start and the year of their “last” start (Brady, Roethlisberger and Eli & Peyton Manning are still active and may get a chance to start another Super Bowl; plus you never know if Favre will suddenly want to play again later this decade).
Quarterback Super Bowl starts First/Last SB start Years
John Elway 5 1987/1999 13
Tom Brady 5 2002/2012 11
Joe Montana 4 1982/1990 9
Roger Staubach 4 1972/1979 8
Terry Bradshaw 4 1975/1980 6
Jim Kelly 4 1991/1994 4
Kurt Warner 3 2000/2009 10
Ben Roethlisberger 3 2006/2011 6
Troy Aikman 3 1993/1996 4
Fran Tarkenton 3 1974/1977 4
Bob Griese 3 1972/1974 3
Craig Morton 2 1971/1978 8
Eli Manning 2 2008/2012 5
Jim Plunkett 2 1981/1984 4
Len Dawson 2 1967/1970 4
Peyton Manning 2 2007/2010 4
Bart Starr 2 1967/1968 2
Joe Theismann 2 1983/1984 2
Brett Favre 2 1997/1998 2
(Thanks, Dave, for a great suggestion!)
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