The Eagles beat the Chiefs 40-22 in the Super Bowl last night (February 9, 2025), and their quarterback Jalen Hurts was named the game's Most Valuable Player. Although he played a great game, any of several Eagles defenders could have won MVP. The defense dominated the first three quarters so completely that Hurts and the offense could put the game out of reach.
Hurts has his detractors. Although Hurts was fifth in passer rating and tenth in QBR in 2024, the Eagles don't depend on his arm and he hasn't been considered an elite quarterback in the same class as Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, or Joe Burrow.
That's not unusual. Several Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks weren't elite or at least weren't considered elite early in their careers. But I wasn't prepared to see a post on X last night saying Hurts was the worst quarterback to have won a Super Bowl. The account where I saw the post has only a few hundred followers. I chose not to engage in debate, but I began thinking about who were the best and worst quarterbacks to have started and won the Super Bowl.
I concluded that we have a good idea if we count the career as if the quarterback hadn't won the Super Bowl. How do the quarterbacks who started and won a Super Bowl compare with each other, if we don't count those victories?
I came up with adding the number of
Regular-season MVPs
1st-Team All-Pro Teams
Pro Bowls
Number of conference championships and (pre-Super Bowl) AFL/NFL championships
In the list below, I rank the quarterbacks based on their totals, with the number of actual Super Bowls won in parentheses.
Note that the first Super Bowl between the AFL and NFL champions was at the end of the 1966 season, and the leagues merged into the current NFL in 1970. A few players below won league championships before the Super Bowl existed, and I note the league they played in. Each league had its own MVP, All-Pro, and Pro Bowls, so it was "easier" to win those honors with less than half the teams there are today. These honors are nevertheless respectfully included in the totals here:
Tom Brady (2000-2022): 31 (7)
Peyton Manning (1998-2015): 28 (2)
Johnny Unitas (1956-73, NFL): 22 (1)
Brett Favre (1991-2010): 19 (1)
Aaron Rodgers (2005-): 19 (1)
Joe Montana (1979-1994): 17 (4)
Patrick Mahomes (2017-): 15 (3)
John Elway (1983-1998): 15 (2)
Drew Brees (2001-2020): 15 (1)
Bob Griese (1967-80, AFL): 13 (2)
Steve Young (1985-99): 13 (1)
Len Dawson (1957-75; NFL, AFL): 12 (1)
Russell Wilson (2012-): 12 (1)
Bart Starr (1956-1971; NFL): 11 (2)
Kurt Warner (1998-2009): 11 (1)
Roger Staubach (1969-79, NFL): 10 (2)
Terry Bradshaw (1970-83): 9 (4)
Troy Aikman (1989-2000): 9 (3)
Ben Roethlisberger (2004-2021): 9 (2)
Joe Namath (1965-77; AFL): 8 (1)
Ken Stabler (1970-84): 7 (1)
Eli Manning (2004-2019): 6 (2)
Joe Theismann (1974-1985): 6 (1)
Jalen Hurts (2020-): 4 (1)
Matthew Stafford (2009-): 3 (1)
Phil Simms (1979-1993): 3 (1)
Mark Rypien (1988-2001): 3 (1)
Brad Johnson (1994-2008): 3 (1)
Jim Plunkett (1974-86): 2 (2)
Nick Foles (2012-2022): 2 (1)
Jim McMahon (1991-1996): 2 (1)
Trent Dilfer (1994-2005): 2 (1)
Jeff Hostetler (1985-97): 2 (1)
Joe Flacco (2008-): 1 (1)
Doug Williams (1978-1989): 1 (1)
Jalen Hurts has played only five seasons. Nine players on the list had better five-year starts to their careers: Brady, Unitas, Mahomes, Elway, Griese, Wilson, Warner, Aikman, and Namath. Several legendary, all-time players on the list did not. Much-admired players like Stafford still haven't accomplished what he has.
There is nowhere on the list for Hurts to go but up.
.James Leroy Wilson writes The MVP Chase (subscribe). Thank you for your subscriptions and support! Contact James for writing, editing, research, and other work at jamesleroywilson-at-gmail.com.
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