Andy Dalton and Ryan Fitzpatrick joined the 30,000 passing yard club on the same day. It was a major achievement for two quarterbacks who have managed to elude major achievements most of their career. Besides Dalton and Fitzpatrick, 23 quarterbacks have finished their career between 30,000 and 39,999 passing yards.
The 30k club is certainly a less prestigious club than the 40k club, which remains an outside possibility for both Dalton and Fitzpatrick. Both qbs will need 3-4 more seasons as a starter which for Fitzpatrick seems really unlikely given that he was benched earlier this season for Josh Rosen. Dalton probably doesn’t have 3-4 seasons left in Cincinnati as a starter, so he may need to accomplish with another franchise.
But beyond their future possibilities, who exactly is in this club with them?
The makeup of this club is quite staggering as it ranges from multiple hall of famers to qbs who managed to hang around for a long time without winning anything (Dalton at least won’t be lonely).
1. Modern Hall of Fame QBs (4): Troy Aikman, Jim Kelly, Kurt Warner, Steve Young,
All four of these men are here because of either injuries or years spent in another league that limited their ability to reach 40,000.
Aikman, a former #1 pick, won three Super Bowls in Dallas as part of their successful early 90s regime. 40k eluded him as he had to retire at a relatively young age due to concussions (34). Besides the concussions, Aikman played with the all-time leading rusher, Emmitt Smith, who because of his success limited Dallas’ passing game at times.
Kelly, went to four consecutive Super Bowls (the only one on this list to do that), and was the leader of a hyper-effective passing game in Buffalo. Kelly should have easily finished in the 40k club, but missed two NFL years because of playing in the USFL where he put up 9800 yards as a passer there. Had he played in the NFL, he might not have thrown for 9800 yards in two years, but he needed less than 5k to reach 40,000. Kelly also retired young (36) due to concussions.
Warner started his career late rather than have it end early. Because the NFL is run by morons, Warner didn’t get a chance to start until he was 28. The prior four years he was either bagging groceries at a supermarket, playing in the Arena League or even in NFL Europe. By the time he was done, he had won a Super Bowl, reached another, and finished as a top ten passer all time in QB rating. The four years he missed would have pushed his 32k up into the 40k range.
Young, a 6 time league leader in passer rating, had a career that was a real Catch-22. Had he wound up somewhere other than San Francisco he likely would have started for the five years he sat as a backup, but also would have put up lesser numbers considering he would have played without Jerry Rice. But he did wind up in SF, after 2 years in the USFL, and 2 years in Tampa that were rather unproductive. After five more years sitting on the bench, Young took over as starter of the 49ers and never looked back. He won a Super Bowl, got to two other NFC Championships, and led the league in almost everything during that time. Young retired in 1999 at age 38 due to concussions, but because he had sat for so many years as a backup his overall body was in good shape which possibly prevented another run or two for him and the team. He finished at 33k, but having either played in another league or sat as a backup for eight years, he could have easily finished higher.
. Other Hall of Famers (3): John Brodie, Sonny Jurgensen, Y.A. Tittle
This group mostly played in the Super Bowl era, but played prior to the passing boom that came later. This group is unlikely to have finished any higher than where they did.
Brodie retired with 31,548, which was the 3rd highest total when he retired in 1973. He was also a Scientologist so success continued to elude him in most facets of his life.
Jurgensen was a success for Philadelphia and Washington, but never quite got over the hump as a starter. Limiting his legacy is the 1973 season where he led the team to the Super Bowl but couldn’t play in it due to injury.
Tittle, who like Dalton has never won a playoff game, is unlikely Dalton in that he led the Giants to 3 straight NFL Championship Games. Tittle’s 33k was unheard of in a mostly running/pre-Super Bowl era.
3. The Super Bowl Winners, Who aren’t HOFers: Phil Simms
This relatively small group is home to just one man: Phil Simms. Simms led the Giants to Super Bowl XXI, and was the starter for most of the 1990 season before getting hurt and turning things over to Jeff Hostetler who won Super Bowl XXV for them. Had Simms won a 2nd Super Bowl as a starter, there’s a chance he’d be better remembered. As it is, most considered him a good qb who played with an elite defense, essentially being listed as a slightly better Trent Dilfer/Brad Johnson. This is a bit unfair as Simms is far ahead of both of them in every category, but Simms was also mostly unremarkable on the field, though you could make the case that’s because Bill Parcells favored a strong run game which often didn’t take advantage of Simms’s skills.
3b. John Hadl
Hadl gets his own subset of this group because much like Jurgensen he was heavily responsible for the Chargers winning the 1963 AFL Championship, but due to injuries he did not play in the game so he did not get the win as a starter. He played 15 more years but never was able to get his teams back to postseason success, finishing 0-2 as a playoff starter.
4. The Super Bowl Runnerups (5): Ken Anderson, Boomer Esiason, Matt Hasselbeck, Donovan McNabb, Steve McNair
Anderson, the all-time passing leader for the Bengals, took the team to Super Bowl 16, where he lost by 6 to the 49ers. This section of the list is perfect for Anderson as this list favors above-average qbs who often played on teams that weren’t good.
Esiason is probably most remembered for standing on the sideline while Joe Montana took his Super Bowl ring away from him, but Boomer Esiason had a very good career, even winning the MVP in 1988. He finished 2nd all-time in most categories for the Bengals, and would have been first but he was abruptly traded to the Jets in 1993. Esiason was seemingly never on a good team and it most likely cost him a shot at 40k (he finished with 37,920). The Bengals suffered for a long time on his watch, either due to strange injuries (Ickey Woods) or the defense was bad (almost every year). With the Jets, Esiason played three years for three coaches, a dubious feat (Bruce Coslet, Pete Carroll and Rich Kotite). The three years amounted to very little and he found himself in Arizona playing for the Cardinals. For a former MVP he probably deserved better but found himself mired playing for garbage teams for over a decade.
Hasselbeck is a weird one. He was a consistent starter for a decade, always solid but never great (pretty common for a lot of this group) and his time in Seattle did lead to one Super Bowl appearance. Despite all his success in Seattle, the Seahawks decided that Tavaris Jackson of all people was a better option and let Hasselbeck walk to the Tennessee Titans in 2011. Jackson was bad enough that Seattle wound up with Russell Wilson a few years later so maybe it worked out.
McNabb had an uphill fight from day one. When he was drafted and walked across the stage to shake the commissioner’s hand, the Eagles fans lit him up with boos. Years later, the Eagles fans would come around and appreciate the success McNabb compiled in Philly. Four NFC Championships, and one Super Bowl Appearance put him as one of the more successful QBs of the early 2000s. His 9 win playoffs are tied for 2nd with Kurt Warner and Jim Kelly in this club.
McNair was a solid but mostly unsuccessful quarterback. He led the Titans to within a few yards of tying Super Bowl 34, but lost by a TD 23-16. Possibly more well known for what happened off the field at this point.
5. The Conference Runnerups: Mark Brunell, Jay Cutler, Jim Everett, Alex Smith
Brunell, the all-time leader in every passing category for the Jacksonville Jaguars, was also involved in their first trade. He was traded to Jacksonville from Green Bay in 1995. Brunell took the Jags on a miracle run in 1996 where they came up just short to the New England Patriots, also missing a chance for Brunell to play his former team, the Green Bay Packers, in Super Bowl 31.
Cutler, where to start? One of the first many Next Big Things in Denver and never quite lived up to the hype there. After a move to Chicago, Cutler settled down and even made the playoffs once in 2010, reaching the NFC Championship that year before losing to Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. Cutler wasn’t able to do what Rex Grossman did. Cutler also became a staunch anti-vaxxer, an odd move for a guy who has lived his whole life with Type-1 diabetes, and presumably would want a vaccination for that.
Everett, who does not like being called Chris, is another that may surprise people to be on here. Everett eked out a semi successful career passing for over 34k yards in an era where not many were able to do that. Everett led the Rams to the 1989 NFC Championship where the Rams likely could have had a strong start if not for Ronnie Lott’s miracle block of a pass to a wide open Flipper Anderson. The Rams never got back on track and Everett got so rattled that he sacked himself on what became known as “The Phantom Sack.” Everett never quite got things back on track and despite starting for teams for eight more years he never got back to the postseason.
Smith might be the most surprising name on this list. A former #1 pick by the San Francisco 49ers, Smith was headed towards the all-time bust category before QB Whisperer Jim Harbaugh turned Smith’s career around. Smith flourished under Harbaugh, taking the 49ers to the NFC Championship in the very first year Harbaugh got there. In Year 2, Smith took an even bigger step finishing the year with a 70.2% completion percentage, his best ever. He threw 13 TDs in 9 games, while only throwing 17 the year before in 16 games. Had he not got injured Smith likely would have had the best year of his career in San Francisco. Instead, he lost his starting job and watched as a different QB took them to the Super Bowl. After leaving San Francisco, Smith continued his newfound winning ways. Smith, who had never had a winning season prior to Harbaugh, only had winning seasons the rest of his career, going 50-26 with Kansas City over 5 seasons. Smith went 6-4 in his one season with Washington, which may be his last due to a crippling leg injury.
Despite the slow start to his career, Smith is in the top 25 in wins all-time for QBS.
6. The Modern Era Guy: Tony Romo
Uncle Tony is here all by himself, a dubious distinction. This group could be called the Unlucky QB because Romo seemingly never got any good break. Despite passing Aikman and becoming the all-time Dallas leader in TDs and Yards, Romo always felt like a runner-up given that he could never reach those playoff heights that Aikman and others reached before him. Romo has to be the most successful Dallas QB to never even reach the NFC Championship.
His best break may have been when he was picked to be the next analyst for CBS and has quickly risen to become one of the most popular analysts in the game.
7. The Not Modern Era Guys: Steve DeBerg, Dave Krieg
DeBerg is the ultimate runner-up quarterback in NFL History
– Was the starter in San Francisco until Joe Montana was deemed ready
– Was the starter in Denver until John Elway was drafted
– Was the starter in Tampa Bay until Vinny Testaverde was brought in
– Was the starter in Kansas City until Dave Krieg was brought in
He ultimately retired in 1993, but was talked into coming out of retirement in 1998 by the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons then went on a miracle run, ultimately reaching the Super Bowl, losing mostly because Eugene Robinson got arrested the night before for trying to hire an undercover cop as a prostitute. DeBerg did start one game that season but played terribly, and was benched for Tony Graziani.
Krieg, a legend in Seattle, has to kick himself some times for when he was born. He finished his career with 38k, but looking at how modern QBs throw, Krieg could have been in the 60k club right now. He played 19 years (1980-1998) and was often the quarterback on good, but mostly average teams: The early 80s Seahawks, the early 90s Chiefs (Krieg was also benched for Montana), and the Detroit Lions (any time period).
Krieg didn’t win a playoff game after 1984, but somehow finished 3-6 overall.
8. The Real Not Modern Era Guys: Jim Hart, Norm Snead
Hart, who played from 1966 to 1983, is still the Cardinals’ all-time passing leader, despite the fact that he played when they were in Chicago and they haven’t been there in over 35 years. He played on a massively unsuccessful team and had he played elsewhere it’s possible that he would have found more success at winning even if it meant giving up personal success (yards, Tds, etc.)
Norm Snead was the last quarterback to win a game despite having a passer rating of zero. On November 14, 1976, against his former team, the Washington Redskins, he won the game while completing 3 of 14 passes for 26 yards in a game that had no touchdowns, winning 12-9.
Yes, it’s strange to arrange guys on a passing yard list by overall success, but it’s a stronger way of looking at how each QB ultimately fared.
So where will Andy Dalton and Ryan Fitzpatrick fit? Dalton is currently 0-4 in the playoffs and hasn’t even sniffed a whiff of playoff success so it’s unlikely that he fits anywhere near the top of this list. Dalton may wind up with Romo in the “Modern Era” category, but even Romo managed to win multiple playoff games and was always considered a near the top QB, even if he was never elite. Dalton may have been considered a Top-10 QB back when he was younger, but it has been years since he was able to have that mantle applied to him. The likelihood is that Dalton will be the leader in a new category: Post 2004 rules change QBs who found no on-field success. Now that’s a wordy title, but it fits.
For Fitzpatrick, he’s a real enigma. He was the first quarterback in NFL history to throw 400 yards or more in three straight games, but has also been benched for Geno Smith and Josh Rosen. Unlike Dalton, who has made the playoffs four times (all losses), Fitzpatrick has never played in a playoff game, or even been on a team that made the playoffs.
A new category of Playoff Failure QBs is likely.
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