Quick. Who’s the best quarterback in the NFL?
There’s a good chance you thought of Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers or maybe even Cam Newton if you’re really buying into the Carolina Panthers quarterback’s MVP campaign last season.
Unless, of course, you’re Terry Bradshaw, who told Steelers.com last week he thinks Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger is the top dog at the position.
“I would rate Ben right on top of the list, ahead of (Tom) Brady for sure and anybody else, (Philip) Rivers, Eli (Manning),” Bradshaw said, per the website. “He is big, strong and poised.
“I would start with the most important thing a quarterback has to be, poised. If you panic in that pocket you are no good. I don’t care what else is there, you have to be poised.”
Now, let’s be clear. Roethlisberger absolutely is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. He’s a two-time Super Bowl champion and a four-time Pro Bowl selection who has a knack for making big plays. Most teams in the NFL would kill for someone like him to be quarterbacking their offense.
But is Big Ben really better than Brady and Rodgers, who most would agree set the bar for quarterback play in today’s NFL? Bradshaw apparently thinks so, though we must consider that the Hall of Fame quarterback and current NFL analyst played his entire 14-year career with the Steelers.
“Ben has amazing talent, strong arm, strong guy, big in big games, clutch throws, makes something happen,” Bradshaw said, according to Steelers.com. “I have always admired him. I have the greatest respect for the job he has done and how he handles himself as a professional. The offense they are running is just amazing. The job he does and how he stands in there is impressive.
“It’s been years of solid, exceptional play. He could have been the MVP in the league last year if he would have stayed healthy. I am not saying this because I am a Steeler and trying to suck up to anybody. I am just telling you he is special, different. I’ll take Roethlisberger over any of those guys.”
None of this is meant to mock Bradshaw. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and it’s not like he came off the top rope and said someone like Joe Flacco — is he elite? — is the game’s best quarterback.
But Bradshaw is a man with four Super Bowl rings. You’d think he’d pay a little more attention to the same level of jewelry gracing Brady’s fingers.
Even Roethlisberger recently called Brady “the greatest in the world.”
Thumbnail photo via Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports Images
