Top 12 Number 12’s

Top 12 Number 12’s

When you think of number 12, you think of quarterbacks.  Great quarterbacks.  More Super Bowls (14, including nine straight in the ’70s) have been won by QB’s wearing No. 12 than any other.  Including the losses, the starting quarterback has worn No. 12 in the Super Bowl 23 times (a full 25 percent of the time).  Five No. 12’s are already enshrined in Canton, and you know Tom Brady is going to join them someday.

So, instead of a list heavily skewed towards quarterbacks, I decided to just make the list all quarterbacks.  In my opinion, here are the 12 greatest quarterbacks in NFL history to wear the No. 12 (some wore multiple numbers during their careers, but are counted if they wore 12 for a significant amount of time).

12. Andrew Luck (2012- Colts): Yes, he’s a rookie.  But look at what he’s done so far in just 13 games as an NFL starter.  As much as it pains me to say it, it looks like the Colts might’ve known what they were doing.  They’ve got another franchise guy on their hands.  He’s only going to move up on this list if the rest of his career ends up anything like his rookie year.

11. Doug Williams (1978-82 Buccaneers): Williams was the Super Bowl XXII while wearing 17 for the Redskins, but he first left his mark on the NFL as No. 12 in Tampa Bay.  The lowly Bucs (they of the 26-game losing streak) drafted him in the first round in 1978, and all he did in four seasons before leaving for the USFL was lead them to three playoff berths, including an appearance in the 1979 NFC Championship Game.

10. Randall Cunningham (1985-95 Eagles): His best season was with that ridiculous 15-1 Vikings team in 1998, but Randall Cunningham spent a majority of his career in Philadelphia, where he was one of the best QB’s in the NFL for a few years.  After taking over the starting job from Ron Jaworski, he led the Eagles to four playoff appearances and was named All-Pro three times.

9. John Brodie (1957-73 49ers): Brodie is the first of the great No. 12’s.  He predates all of the others on this list.  He’s also the first of the great 49ers quarterbacks, taking over for Hall of Famer Y.A. Tittle in 1961 and remaining the starter until 1973.  Brodie made two Pro Bowls, was the 1970 MVP, and had his number retired in San Francisco.  But since the 49ers were bad then, his greatness was never truly appreciated.

8. Ken Stabler (1970-79 Raiders): “The Snake” was at the helm as Oakland won Super Bowl XI for its first championship.  The Raiders, of course, made the playoffs every year back then, but could never get by the Steelers until 1977, when they finally reached the summit.  Stabler was the fastest QB to 100 wins in NFL history, was on the 1970s All-Decade Team, and is considered by many to be the greatest quarterback not in the Hall of Fame.

7. Aaron Rodgers (2005- Packers): So, how hard is it to replace a legend?  Apparently if your number is 12, not that hard.  Because the Packers haven’t missed a beat since Aaron Rodgers took over for Brett Favre.  All he’s done in five years as the starter is win a Super Bowl (and be named MVP of the game), win an MVP and set the NFL single-season record for QB rating, among his other accomplishments.

6. Jim Kelly (1986-96 Bills): Today has been dubbed “Jim Kelly Day” in Buffalo.  For obvious reasons.  The only player in franchise history to have his number retired, he’s in the Hall of Fame because of how masterfully he ran that incredible no-huddle offense.  The Bills went to four straight Super Bowls in the early 90s.  The fact they lost them all is irrelevant.  Twenty years later, what that team achieved is only now fully appreciated.  It’ll never happen again.

5. Joe Namath (1965-76 Jets): The first player to become a superstar in the AFL, you may have heard about a little guarantee he made prior to Super Bowl III.  That game changed pro football history.  Namath was a five-time AFL All-Star, a two-time AFL MVP, a member of the AFL All-time Team, and, without a doubt, the greatest player in New York Jets history.

4. Bob Griese (1967-80 Dolphins): Griese’s in the Hall of Fame, and one of two Dolphins quarterbacks to have his number retired (you may have heard of the other, some guy named Marino).  He was an AFL All-Star in his first two seasons, then a six-time Pro Bowler after the merger.  He led the Dolphins to three straight Super Bowls, including back-to-back wins in VII and VIII.  And, of course, there was that perfect 17-0 season in 1972.

3. Roger Staubach (1969-79 Cowboys): I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the Dallas Cowboys didn’t become an elite team until Roger Staubach became their quarterback.  He won the 1964 Heisman Trophy at Navy, and didn’t join the Cowboys until the 1969 season.  The following year, Dallas made its first Super Bowl appearance.  Then the Cowboys won their first title in 1971, and Staubach was named MVP of Super Bowl VI.  In total, Dallas went to five Super Bowls with Staubach under center, and he was named to the All-Decade Team of the 1970s, as well as a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 1985.

2. Tom Brady (2000- Patroits): When all is said and done and they’re both immortalized in Canton, we’ll say that we were privileged to be fans of the NFL during the Manning/Brady Era.  We all know what the Patriots and Brady have done in the past 12 seasons: 12 division titles, five AFC championships, three Super Bowl titles (it would probably be five if not for the Giants), a 16-0 regular season in 2007.  Brady has won MVP twice, Super Bowl MVP twice, been to seven Pro Bowls, and set more records than I can count.  And he’s still going.

1. Terry Bradshaw (1970-83 Steelers): If not for the New York Giants, Tom Brady would likely have been No. 1.  But that honor goes to one of only two quarterbacks with four Super Bowl rings: Terry Bradshaw.  The Steelers won four titles in six years from 1974-79, and Bradshaw was the Super Bowl MVP twice.  (Pittsburgh went 4-0 in four Super Bowl appearances during that span.)  He was the No. 1 pick in the 1970 Draft, the 1978 MVP, a member of the 1970s All-Decade Team, and a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 1989.  And, of course, he’s better known today as one of the talking heads on FOX’s pregame show.

There you have it, my list of the Top 12 No. 12’s in NFL history.  Feel free to disagree.  That’s the great thing about this number.  They’re all among the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history.  You can’t really go wrong if your No. 1 is Brady or Griese or Staubach or Namath or Bradshaw or whoever (if you think it’s Chris Chandler, you’re wrong).  12/12/12.  The Day of the Quarterback.