re: PFT lists the top 10 QB's of the decade.

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And yet Bradshaw was the first string QB on the NFL's All-Decade Team for the 1970s while Roger Staubach was second string.

I think that implodes your argument.

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No it doesn’t. By any metric you want to use, Staubach was a better quarterback than Bradshaw. Except for one, which is a team achievement and should be used as part of the rankings sure. But it shouldn’t hold near as much weight as it does.

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There is only one Roger Staubach. There will never be another player like him, much less quarterback. He served in the Navy for four years, including a tour in Vietnam, upon graduating from the academy and was the ultimate franchise representative, embodying all that was right about professional sports while never being a distraction to his team, save for the artificial one Tom Landry created when he began rotating a young Staubach and Craig Morton EVERY PLAY. What young quarterback has ever had to deal with THAT? Staubach was the face of the franchise, and by the late 1970s, the face of the entire league. In the middle of it all was a relatively brief, yet exemplary career. In only eight seasons as a starter, Staubach started four Super Bowls (winning two), led the league in passer rating four times, and finished with an 85-29 record.

Losing out on those four seasons while he served in the Navy and the fact that he might have played longer had injuries, especially concussions, not piled up on him ultimately hurts Staubach on this list. Rightfully so, as longevity is part of the deal. Yet, Staubach didn't go out with a whimper like so many Hall of Fame quarterbacks. He led the NFC in passer rating in each of his final three seasons, and made the Pro Bowl in each of those years. Staubach led a ferocious comeback in his final regular season game, throwing two touchdowns in the final two minutes and change to beat the Redskins, and win the NFC East. He didn't merely end with a flourish, either. In Staubach's first full season as a starter, he went 13-0, won the Super Bowl, and finished with a 104.8 passer rating, the loftiest mark of the 1970s.

Stat you need to know: Staubach's .746 winning percentage ranks second all-time among quarterbacks with 100 starts. Only Tom Brady can claim a superior winning percentage with a sterling .775. While Staubach "only" went 2-2 in his four Super Bowl starts, his two losses came by a grand total of eight points. The Cowboys averaged almost 25 points per game in those contests, despite going against defenses that had finished third, second, third, and first in points allowed in the season when they met. Combined, those opponents -- the Dolphins, Broncos, and both Steelers defensive units -- gave up 11.7 points per game. So you could say Roger the Dodger did more than all right.

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