Elway not Stanford’s greatest quarterback?
How good is Stanford’s quarterback legacy? John Elway, who some consider the greatest quarterback in NFL history, isn’t the best in Stanford history. In 1994, the San Francisco Chronicle produced a list of the 10 best Stanford QBs ever. Elway wasn’t No. 1. Or No. 2.
Wow. For more than a decade, I’ve considered Elway the greatest NFL quarterback ever, and I saw him play on a rainy Owen Field as a sophomore, and he was just as transcendent as a collegian as he was as a pro. All the talk about greatest college quarterback ever, from Sammy Baugh to Doug Flutie to Tommie Frazier to Tim Tebow debates, well, none of them that I saw ever played like Elway did that September day in Norman. Total domination of a football game, by one player. One relatively young, inexperienced football player.
Anyway, if Elway isn’t the best QB in Stanford history, Stanford’s got an unparalleled quarterback history. Which it does. The Chronicle’s 2004 list, which shouldn’t be outdated, since only Trent Edwards could be viewed as a contender to make the list, and he probably deserves only honorable mention:
1. Jim Plunkett (1968-70): Bay Area’s only Heisman Trophy winner.
2. Frankie Albert (1939-41): Pioneer of the T-formation revolution.
3. John Elway (1980-82): Strange but true; Stanford was 15-18 with Elway at QB.
4. John Brodie (1954-56): Long-time 49er quarterback was consensus all-American QB in ’56, when Notre Dame quarterback Paul Hornung won the Heisman.
5. Bobby Garrett (1951-53): Won the Voit Trophy as top player on the Pacific coast.
6. Don Bunce (1969-71): Plunkett’s successor led Rose Bowl upset of Michigan.
7. Mike Boryla (1971-73): Almost took Stanford to a third Rose Bowl in four years.
8. Steve Stenstrom (1991-94): Four-year starter.
9. Gary Kerkorian (1949-51): Led the only Stanford bowl team between Frankie Albert and Jim Plunkett.
10. Steve Dils (1977-78): Started only one year, but it was a doozy, under coach Bill Walsh.
* Note: Not making the list were NFL veterans Trent Edwards, Guy Benjamin, Todd Husak, Chad Hutchinson, Dick Norman, Turk Schonert, Randy Fasini and Dave Lewis.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
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Comments
Albert, I think, was even better than Plunkett….without doing any research I believe Albert played in the 30s when the single wing & double wing formations were switching to the T….Also, I recall seeing a movie named Albert of Stanford and either before or after that movie Harmon of Michigan came along & then there was Knute Rockne. Low budget tear jerking movies but good entertainment nonetheless.
Only Tommy Frazier and Elway compare with VY on the college level. None of em ever had the game(Rose Bowl) or season like he had in 2005.
I agree with the ranking of Stanford quarterbacks. I agree with your pick of Stanford in the Sun Bowl because of OU’s inconsistent offense. Stanford lost to teams that out scored them and even though OU’s defense is good, I don’t think OU will out score Stanford at the Sun Bowl in a relatively low scoring game. However, I’ll be happy no matter who wins since I’ve pulled for OU since I was a child growing up in Guthrie (went to Michigan for college) but my oldest daughter went to Stanford (a classmate of Tiger’s but she’s not touting that much these days).
Stanford quarterback rankings look right to me. Also, your pick of Stanford seems right too given OU’s inconsistent offense. Teams that beat Stanford outscored them and I don’t think OU can do that. Also, PAC-10 has got to win one or two games. Being a lifelong OU fan since growing up in Guthrie and having a daughter who’s a Stanford grad (and classmate of Tiger’s), I’ll be happy either way.
Thanks for giving us a blog on Christmas.