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Where does Tom Brady rank among top 10 greatest Super Bowl players?

Frank Schwab
·NFL writer

Marcus Allen, Bart Starr, Phil Simms … I couldn’t get them on the list of 10 greatest Super Bowl players ever.

That’s a lot of Super Bowl MVPs and records left off. Kurt Warner, Franco Harris, Steve Young and John Riggins also want to have a word, I’m sure.

This was a very hard exercise. We put the list together to give a legacy reference point for New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady as he heads into his sixth Super Bowl. He’s in the top 10 already, a pretty exclusive club.

A few rules: Multiple Super Bowl appearances matter, but it’s not a requirement get on the list. I’d take a player with one great Super Bowl over two decent ones.

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This is only about Super Bowls in a vacuum. Nobody would argue that Timmy Smith was a better NFL player than Dan Marino, but Smith and his 204-yard game in Super Bowl XXII would rank higher on this list than Marino. It’s just Super Bowl performances.

Also, a ton of great Super Bowl players got left off. There are 10 spots for 48 games. Not everyone can make it. I considered anyone you will complain about me leaving off, trust me.

Here’s the top 10 greatest Super Bowl players ever:

10. Manny Fernandez, Miami Dolphins DT (VI, VII, VIII)

Fernandez played in three Super Bowls, winning two, and he had one of the great performances in the game’s history. He had 17 tackles in Super Bowl VII from the defensive line, and Washington never scored an offensive touchdown. That’s unbelievable. Fernandez had a sack in each of his three Super Bowls (according to the invaluable resource for this list pro-football-reference.com; sacks weren’t an official stat then). He deserved to win Super Bowl VII MVP, but he’ll have to settle for two rings and being one of the greatest Super Bowl players ever.

9. Timmy Smith, Washington Redskins RB (XXII)

Smith’s great game has been lost a bit because he didn’t have a great career. But it was phenomenal in Super Bowl XXII, and it’s honestly baffling how he didn’t win Super Bowl MVP. Smith had 204 yards, and only one other player has more than 166 in a Super Bowl (Marcus Allen’s 191). Smith had 131 yards in the first half, and his first half alone would be the 10th-best rushing game in Super Bowl history. Think about that. They weren’t garbage yards; his big first half helped a 35-point second quarter.

He had more career Super Bowl rushing yards than Roger Craig, who played in three Super Bowls, and just as many rushing yards as Thurman Thomas, who played in four. It’s hard to believe but Smith had just 602 yards during a short 22-game NFL career. I know there are some great players who didn’t make it, but Smith had arguably the greatest game in Super Bowl history. He belongs on this list.

8. Larry Csonka, Miami Dolphins RB (VI, VII, VIII)

Csonka is the only player on the list of top 10 rushing attempts in Super Bowls, and top 10 yards per carry. So he was a workhorse and darn efficient at it too. Csonka and his 5.2-yard-per-carry average got a Super Bowl MVP trophy in Super Bowl VIII. He could have been the Super Bowl VII MVP with another 100-yard day, barely missing out on being the only non-quarterback with two Super Bowl MVP awards.

7. Tom Brady, New England Patriots QB (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX, XLII, XLVI)

I had a hard time with Brady. I didn’t want to go just on volume. On Sunday he’ll be the second player to appear in six Super Bowls, which is more a testament to what he has accomplished before the Super Bowl than in it. But his resume isn’t bad. He has had three 90-plus quarterback ratings, but also two in the 80s. He did lead two drives that ended in game-winning field goals, would have had a third game-winning drive if Randy Moss’ touchdown in XLII hadn’t been trumped by David Tyree and Plaxico Burress, and he didn’t play too bad in either of New England’s Super Bowl losses. The volume gets him in the door. The two Super Bowl MVPs matter too. But if you argued that another quarterback like Troy Aikman or Bart Starr deserved to be on the list instead, I’d have a tough time arguing. Of course, Brady might go way up the list with a good game on Sunday.

6. Eli Manning, New York Giants QB (XLII, XLVI)

(AP)
(AP)

Manning will have an incredibly complicated legacy when he’s done. But his work in Super Bowls is above reproach. He has the eighth best career quarterback rating in Super Bowls among players with multiple appearances, is one of four players to complete at least 75 percent of his passes in a Super Bowl, and had two game-winning touchdown drives in the fourth quarter. Can’t argue that, or two Super Bowl MVPs.

5. Terrell Davis, Denver Broncos RB, (XXXII, XXXIII)

Davis is one of the greatest playoff performers in NFL history, and it’s possible no back impacted a Super Bowl championship more than Davis in Super Bowl XXXII. He was unstoppable against the Packers, even though he missed about a quarter with a migraine. He had 157 yards that day, 102 yards the next year against the Falcons, averaged 4.7 yards a carry in Super Bowls and added 58 receiving yards too. Davis is the only back in history to play in multiple Super Bowls and have more than 100 rushing yards in every one of his appearances. His postseason resume is why he should be a Hall of Famer, but that’s an argument for later.

4. Lynn Swann, Pittsburgh Steelers WR (IX, X, XIII, XIV)

Swann had minus-7 yards for his Super Bowl career after his first trip. He lost yardage on a run and didn’t catch a pass in Super Bowl IX. And he still made the list. That’s what 16 catches for 364 yards and three touchdowns in three subsequent games will do. He won a Super Bowl MVP for his dominant performance in Super Bowl X, and had another spectacular touchdown catch in Super Bowl XIII.

3. Terry Bradshaw, Pittsburgh Steelers QB (IX, X, XIII, XIV)

I wanted to be careful when evaluating Bradshaw. We give too much credit and blame to quarterbacks. We don’t say “Joe Greene is 4-0 in Super Bowls!” although he arguably was the greatest player on those Steelers teams. But Bradshaw and his two Super Bowl MVPs stand up very well. His spectacular 11.1 yards per attempt is far ahead of No. 2 on the list (among those with multiple appearances), Bart Starr, who had 9.6. Bradshaw was as great in Super Bowls as we credit him for.

2. Jerry Rice, San Francisco 49ers/Oakland Raiders WR (XXIII, XXIV, XXIX, XXXVII)

Rice is the greatest player in NFL history, and has the Super Bowl resume to go with it too. He scored in each of his four Super Bowls (eight touchdowns total), and his first three Super Bowls he had 215, 148 and 149 yards. On the top-10 list of most receiving yards in a Super Bowl, Rice ranks first, seventh and eighth. Rice is the only player in Super Bowl history to catch three touchdowns in a game … and he did it twice. Goodness. His 589 Super Bowl yards are 225 more than anyone else.

1. Joe Montana, San Francisco 49ers QB (XVI, XIX, XXIII, XXIV)

Really, it couldn't be anyone else. He’s the only three-time Super Bowl MVP, and in the Super Bowl in which he wasn't MVP, Rice won it … with Montana throwing him the ball. All Montana did in that game, when Rice won MVP, was lead one of the great game-winning drives in NFL history. He had 11 touchdowns and no interceptions in Super Bowls, a rating of 127.8 and his teams went 4-0. Rice actually came pretty close to getting the top spot, but it’s just too hard to overcome Joe.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdowncorner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!