Former Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw says current Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning is great — as long as you stop watching after the regular season ends.
Bradshaw said during his one-man show, America’s Favorite Dumb Blonde, that he views Manning as a regular-season star and a playoff choker.
“Peyton Manning, considered the best quarterback to play the game today. Nobody would argue with that — if you like winning good during the season and losing Super Bowls, that’s your guy,” Bradshaw said, via PFT Commenter.
Bradshaw rarely misses an opportunity to say that quarterbacks are judged based on winning Super Bowls, a viewpoint that may be slightly self-serving considering that Bradshaw, with four Super Bowl rings, is tied with Joe Montana for the most for any quarterback.
Of course, Bradshaw won those Super Bowl rings because he was on the best teams, not because he himself was the best quarterback. Although Bradshaw does have two Super Bowl MVPs to his credit, the 1970s Steelers won Super Bowls first and foremost with their defense. People forget that in 1974, the year the Steelers won their first Super Bowl, Bradshaw was only the starter for half the regular season, and the Steelers actually had a better record in the games he missed than the games he started. People forget that if Bradshaw hadn’t played so badly in so many playoff games, the Steelers could have won more than four Super Bowls: Among Bradshaw’s postseason stat lines were a 5-for-10, 80-yard, one-touchdown, two-interception game in a loss to the Dolphins, a 12-for-25, 167-yard, two-touchdown, three-interception game in a loss to the Raiders, a 14-for-35, 176-yard, zero-touchdown, one-interception game in another loss to the Raiders, and a 19-for-37, 177-yard, one-touchdown, three-interception game in a loss to the Broncos.
For a guy who has a reputation as a clutch performer in big games, Bradshaw sure did turn in a lot of multiple-interception games in playoff losses.
But while Manning’s passing stats dwarf Bradshaw’s, and Manning’s regular-season accomplishments (including five MVPs and seven first-team All-Pros) far surpass those of Bradshaw (one MVP and one All-Pro), Bradshaw does have those four shiny rings on his fingers, while Manning only has one. That’s something Bradshaw will continue to remind audiences of, every chance he gets.