One of the NFL’s most endearing risk-takers in football history was Terry Bradshaw. Bradshaw helped the Pittsburgh Steelers win four Super Bowl championships (IX, X, XIII, XIV), making him one of the most distinguished and highest-achieving quarterbacks of his time. In 1979, the four-time Super Bowl champion was Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year.
Terry Bradshaw was also inducted into both the College Football and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He went on to become a successful actor and has appeared in many TV shows and films over the years. The talented quarterback and actor is also a highly successful sports analyst and has appeared regularly as a host in Fox’s NFL Sunday since 1994.
Sid Luckman
Sid Luckman began his NFL career in 1939 with the Chicago Bears and proceeded to help them win four NFL Championships before retiring in 1950. Luckman then proceeded to coach the Chicago Bears between 1954 to 1969 and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965. The talented passer was considered the NFL's first great T-formation quarterback and is now regarded as the greatest long-range passer of his time.
During his twelve seasons with the Bears, Luckman managed to set the yards per pass attempt record and still holds the second place on it to this day. He was also the first player to ever throw for 400 yards in a game. He was also a distinguished U.S. Merchant Marine during World War II, which only further shows why Luckman is a true American hero.
Ken Anderson
Ken Anderson was the quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals from 1971 to 1986 and helped the team win four Pro Bowls in 1975, 1976, 1981, and 1982. Anderson led one of the most distinguished NFL careers at the time and was known for having incredible passing accuracy, leading him to reach numerous records, sometimes for multiple years at a time.
It's no wonder that Anderson also became the Sportsman of the Year in 1975 after such a record-breaking decade in the '70s. Despite his incredible achievements, the talented passer was never inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, although he has been a finalist for the prestigious honor twice. He officially retired back in 2010, after coaching the Cincinnati Bengals from 1993 almost year after year.
Tony Romo
Tony Romo is one of the best NFL quarterback passers of all time. The accomplished quarterback has recently wrapped up a thirteen-year career with the Dallas Cowboys, which led him to four Pro Bowl wins in 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2014. Romo has accumulated over 34,000 passing yards throughout his NFL career and managed to receive an incredible passer rating of 97.1, almost the highest in the world.
Tony Romo shortly led the NFL passer rating in 2014 but was overthrown by Aaron Rodgers, who we will cover in one of the next entries. Romo has since transitioned into becoming the lead color analyst for CBS Sports after suffering a back injury that caused him to permanently lose some of his abilities on the field.
Jim Kelly
Jim Kelly was one of the most impressive NFL quarterbacks of the '80s, playing a relatively short career that began in 1984 with the Houston Gamblers and lasted until 1996 when he retired from the Buffalo Bills. In 2002, the accomplished five-time Pro Bowl champion was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame and got his jersey (number 12) was retired by the team in 2018.
What made Jim Kelly so impressive during his prime years was his excellent average yards per season stat, which stood at a whopping 3,200 yards. He made it into the Super Bowl four times, although his team lost all four of these games. Kelly racked up over 35,000 passing yards throughout his career. He is a multiple-time cancer survivor, an avid philanthropist, and a successful businessman.