Joe Montana

Joseph Clifford "Joe" Montana, Jr. (born June 11, 1956), nicknamed Joe Cool, Golden Joe, The Golden Great and Comeback Joe, is a retired professional football player, a hall of fame quarterback with the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs. Montana started his NFL career in 1979 with San Francisco, where he played for the next 14 seasons. Traded before the 1993 season, he spent his final two years in the league with Kansas City. While a member of the 49ers, Montana started in four Super Bowl games and won all of them. Montana was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000, his first year of eligibility.
In 1989, and again in 1990, the Associated Press named Montana the NFL Most Valuable Player (MVP), and Sports Illustrated magazine named Montana the 1990 "Sportsman of the Year". Four years earlier, in 1986, Montana won the AP NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award. Montana was elected to eight Pro Bowls, as well as being voted 1st team All-Pro by the AP in 1987, 1989, and 1990. Montana had the highest passer rating in the National Football Conference (NFC) five times (1981, 1984, 1985, 1987, and 1989); and, in both 1987 and 1989, Montana had the highest passer rating in the entire NFL.
Noted for his ability to remain calm under pressure, Montana helped his teams to 31 fourth quarter come-from-behind wins. In the closing moments of the 1981 NFC Championship Game and Super Bowl XXIII, Montana threw game-winning touchdown passes. The touchdown at the end of the championship game was so memorable that sports journalists, fans, and many others, refer to the play simply as "The Catch". The touchdown in the closing moments of Super Bowl XXIII came at the end of a 92-yard drive.
The 49ers retired the number 16, the jersey number Montana wore while with the team. In 1993, Montana was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs and led the franchise to its first AFC Championship Game in January 1994. In 1994, Montana earned a spot on the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team; he is also a member of the NFL 1980s All-Decade Team. In 1999, editors at The Sporting News ranked Montana third on their list of Football's 100 Greatest Players. Also in 1999, ESPN named Montana the 25th greatest athlete of the 20th century. In 2006, Sports Illustrated rated him the number one clutch quarterback of all-time.

Peyton Manning

Peyton Williams Manning (born March 24, 1976) is an American football quarterback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played for the Indianapolis Colts for 14 seasons from 1998–2011. He is the son of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning and an elder brother of New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning.
Manning played college football at the University of Tennessee, leading the Volunteers to the 1997 SEC Championship in his senior season. He was chosen by the Indianapolis Colts with the first overall pick in the 1998 NFL Draft. From 1998 to 2010, he led the Colts to seven AFC South division championships, two AFC championships, and to a Super Bowl championship (Super Bowl XLI). He has won a record four league most valuable player awards,was the most valuable player of Super Bowl XLI, has been named to eleven Pro Bowls, has eleven 4,000-yard passing seasons (including a record six straight), and is the Indianapolis Colts' all-time leader in passing yards (54,828) and touchdown passes (399). In 2009, he was named the best player in the NFL and Fox Sports along with Sports Illustrated named him the NFL player of the decade of the 2000s.
In May 2011, he underwent neck surgery to alleviate neck pain and arm weakness he dealt with during the previous few seasons before signing a five-year, $90 million contract extension with the Colts in July 2011. Manning had hoped to play in the 2011 season, but in September 2011, he underwent a much more serious second surgery: a level one cervical fusion procedure. Manning had never missed an NFL game in his career, but was forced to miss the entire 2011 season. He was released by the Colts on March 7, 2012, and after an almost two-week period where he visited with and worked out for several NFL teams, he signed with the Denver Broncos on March 20, 2012.
Manning's pre-snap routine is one of the most recognizable and parodied in sports. The Indianapolis Colts' almost exclusive use of the hurry-up offense led to Manning using an array of gestures and verbal commands to call the play at the line of scrimmage rather than in the huddle.

Brett Favre

Brett Lorenzo Favre ( /ˈfɑrv/; born October 10, 1969) is a former American football quarterback who spent the majority of his career with the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He was a 20-year veteran of the NFL, having played quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons (1991), Green Bay Packers (1992–2007), New York Jets (2008) and Minnesota Vikings (2009–2010). Favre is the only quarterback in NFL history to throw for over 70,000 yards, over 500 touchdowns, over 300 interceptions, and over 10,000 pass attempts. He officially retired on January 17, 2011.
Favre started at the quarterback position for the University of Southern Mississippi for four years before being selected in the second round of the 1991 NFL Draft by Atlanta (33rd overall). He was traded to Green Bay on February 10, 1992, for the 19th pick in the 1992 NFL Draft.
Favre became the Packers' starting quarterback in the fourth game of the 1992 season, and started every game through the 2007 season. He was traded to the New York Jets and started at quarterback for the 2008 season before signing with the Vikings on August 18, 2009 as their starting quarterback. He made an NFL record 297 consecutive starts (321 including playoffs).
He is the only player to win the AP Most Valuable Player three consecutive times (1995–97). He has led teams to eight division championships (1995, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2009), five NFC Championship Games (1995, 1996, 1997, 2007, 2009), and two Super Bowl appearances (Super Bowl XXXI, Super Bowl XXXII), winning one (Super Bowl XXXI).
He holds many NFL records, including most career touchdown passes, most career passing yards, most career pass completions, most career pass attempts, most career interceptions thrown, most consecutive starts by a player, most consecutive starts by a quarterback, most career victories as a starting quarterback, most sacked, and most fumbles.
He is also referred to by his nickname "The Gunslinger".

George Blanda

George Frederick Blanda ("The Grand Old Man") (September 17, 1927 – September 27, 2010) was a collegiate and professional football quarterback and placekicker. The son of a Slovak-born Pittsburgh-area coal miner, Blanda has the distinction of having played 26 seasons of Professional Football, the most in the sport's history, and had scored more points than anyone in history at the time of his retirement. Blanda retired from pro football in 1976. He was one of only three players to play in four different decades, and he holds the record for most extra points kicked.He was married to Betty Harris from December 17, 1949 until his death on September 27, 2010.He had two children.
Blanda finished his 26 professional football seasons having completed 1,911 of 4,007 pass attempts for 26,920 yards and 236 touchdowns. Blanda also held the NFL record for most interceptions thrown with 277, until Brett Favre broke it on October 14, 2007. He rushed for 344 yards and 9 touchdowns on the ground, kicked 335 of 641 field goals, and 943 of 959 extra points, giving him 2,002 total points. Additional stats include 1 interception, 2 kickoff returns for 19 yards, 22 punts for 809 yards, and 23 fumble recoveries.

Herb Adderley

Herbert Allen Adderley (born June 8, 1939 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a former American football cornerback who played for the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League.
He played college football at Michigan State University and was an All-Big Ten offensive star.He is the only player to appear in four of the first six Super Bowls.

Adderley started for the Packers from 1961–69, then played three seasons (1970–72) with the Dallas Cowboys. While with the Packers, he won rings in Super Bowl I and Super Bowl II. Adderley was a major factor in the Packers' Super Bowl II win over the Oakland Raiders, intercepting a pass by Raiders quarterback Daryle Lamonica in the fourth quarter and returning it 60 yards for a touchdown to put the game away. This was the first Super Bowl touchdown on an intercepted pass. After joining the Cowboys, Adderley became a vital cog in Dallas' "Doomsday Defense," assisting the Cowboys to a Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl V and a championship win in Super Bowl VI. Adderley was traded to the Los Angeles Rams in the summer of 1973 but instead of reporting to the team, he retired on August 7.

In his 12 NFL seasons, Adderley recorded 48 interceptions, which he returned for 1,046 yards and seven touchdowns, an average of 21.8 yards per return. He also recovered 14 fumbles (returning them for 65 yards) and returned 120 kickoffs for 3,080 yards and two scores.

Doug Atkins

Douglas Leon Atkins (born May 8, 1930 in Humboldt, Tennessee) is a former American football defensive end who played for the Cleveland Browns, Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints in the National Football League. He played college football at the University of Tennessee under legendary head coach Robert Neyland. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Atkins was a fierce defender who was known for using his immense size and agility to his advantage. At 6'8", Atkins would often bat passes down at the line of scrimmage and would use his skills as a high jump champion to leapfrog blockers and get to the quarterback.Atkins was one of the first great exclusively defensive players in professional football and, along with fellow Hall of Famer Gino Marchetti, revolutionized the defensive end position.