terry bradshaw with chuck noll in vintage super bowl photo

Steelers Fans Can’t Believe Terry Bradshaw, Ben Roethlisberger Left Off of NFL Network’s Top 10 Super Bowl QB’s List

What a bizarre top 10 list. Wouldn’t you think a chart of the top QBs ever to play in the Super Bowl would certainly include Steeler greats Terry Bradshaw and possibly Ben Roethlisberger?

A writer for NFL.com ranked every one of the quarterbacks who have appeared in the Super Bowl. And Bradshaw, the guy with four rings, ranked 17th. Roethlisberger actually comes in higher at 15th. (Hall of Famer Troy Aikman, with his three rings, is sandwiched between the two of them).

Steelers fans would like a word. This top 10 list of Super Bowl QBs without Bradshaw and Roethlisberger seems pretty bogus.

“Ridiculous at best,” a Pittsburgh fan tweeted. “Bradshaw at 4-0 not on the list? Must not understand football or history. Roethlisberger 2-1 not on the list – questionable at best given some of the 1-1’s or 0-1 Marino. The caption says SB QB’s all time… so non-SB shouldn’t be considered.”

We can’t argue with the top of the list. No one with a big toe in reality believes anyone other than Tom Brady should be at No. 1. Johnny Unitas is No. 2. OK, we can see Unitas in a top 10 list. He certainly fits the description for legendary and iconic. Unitas led the Baltimore Colts to a 16-13 Super Bowl win over the Dallas Cowboys in January 1971. However, Unitas’ best days probably were before the Super Bowl. (Technically, he started out as a Steeler, but Pittsburgh cut him.)

Unitas quarterbacked the Colts to an overtime win over the Giants for the 1958 NFL championship. Although he was ailing, Unitas also was the starting QB in the Super Bowl game won by the Jets and quarterback Joe Namath.

Joe Montana at No. 3? Yep, He Belongs in List of Top Super Bowl QBs

Joe Montana comes in at No. 3. Hard to argue that he shouldn’t be here. He led his team to four Super Bowl wins and earned MVP honors in three of them. His forte was the comeback.

But at this point, the list gets iffy. The writer said he ranked Super Bowl quarterbacks “based on career achievements, with regular-season excellence, All-Pro/Pro Bowl appearances and seasons as top-five and top-10 players at the position carrying more weight than just Super Bowl success.” So it’s basically a list of top quarterbacks who happened to have played in the Super Bowl.

Dallas Cowboys defensive end Ed “Too Tall” Jones rushes Terry Bradshaw, one of the best QBs ever to play in the Super Bowl. (Getty Images)

Peyton Manning, Dan Marino, Aaron Rodgers, Brett Favre, Steve Young, John Elway and Patrick Mahomes fill out the top 10. Mahomes will start the Super Bowl for his Chiefs against the Eagles. And Rodgers still is an active player, although he could retire. He said he’ll probably know his plans after the Super Bowl.

How did Steeler fans react to this list? Let’s look at some of the comments.

One fan wrote: “Insane.. Bradshaw called his own plays.. is 5 out of 4 in Super Bowl wins. Just like Montana….and Big Ben has 2 Superbowl wins with the greatest offensive TD ever …these two belong in top five Superbowl QBs.”

Steeler fans, we leave you with one of those Roethlisberger TDs. Enjoy!