NFL fans had plenty to say after NBC analyst Chris Simms dropped a quarterback ranking that put Tom Brady far lower than most people expected. The list, built around each player’s prime, sparked instant backlash, endless comparisons, and the kind of debate that never really leaves football season.
The whole thing got rolling because Simms did not lean on career totals or championships. Instead, he tried to judge quarterbacks at their absolute peak, and that led him to put Peyton Manning at No. 1 while Brady landed all the way down at No. 9. For a sport built on arguments about legends, that was basically a match tossed into a pile of dry leaves.
Brady being outside the top spots was enough to stir up the internet, but the reaction got louder once the full order came out. Simms had Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, John Elway, Brett Favre, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Dan Marino, Brady, and Roger Staubach in that sequence, and plenty of fans immediately decided the list was off the rails.
Some of the loudest pushback focused on Brady’s prime, especially his 2007 season when he helped New England go undefeated in the regular season. He finished that year leading the league in completion percentage, passing yards, and touchdowns, which made the low ranking look even stranger to fans who have spent years watching him rewrite the record book.
Brady’s age-44 season also came up in the comments, and for good reason. Even late in his career, he was still piling up huge numbers, leading the league in yards and touchdown passes, which only fueled the argument that his prime was longer and better than almost anyone else’s.
Fans did not stop at Brady, either. Some went after the idea that Allen and Jackson should be above legends like Marino, while others bristled at Elway’s placement and questioned whether Staubach belonged on the list at all. The complaints came fast, and they were not exactly subtle.
One user pointed out Brady’s absurd production and said his prime was better than anyone else’s peak. Another wondered what Tom Brady had done to make Chris Simms seem so harsh toward him, while someone else flat-out called the ranking a joke and leaned on laughing emojis to make the point.
There was also a larger argument bubbling underneath the outrage, and it came down to criteria. If the list is about peak talent, then people want that spelled out clearly, because “best prime” can mean eye test, raw stats, title runs, or some messy blend of all three. Without that clarity, every ranking turns into a battlefield.
Not everyone was mad about Brady, though. A few fans thought Peyton Manning deserved the top spot and argued that his pure quarterback play was better than Brady’s, even if Brady’s career achievements are unmatched. That split says a lot about how fans separate greatness from dominance, and how hard it is to get everyone in the same lane when the names are this huge.
Joe Montana also got dragged into the conversation despite not being on the list itself. One commenter said any all-time quarterback list that leaves out Montana is not worth much, which shows how fast these debates expand once fans start poking holes in the logic.
Simms, who spent eight seasons in the NFL and later worked as a coaching assistant with New England, has never been shy about quarterback talk. He played his college ball at Texas, and he clearly knows how to light a fuse when he puts together a list like this. That’s the nature of football discourse now: one ranking drops, and suddenly everybody’s a scout, a historian, and a keyboard quarterback all at once.
