Best NFL Quarterback is Brett Favre

My young opponent continues in his claim that Brett Favre isthe greatest quarterback of all time. I will briefly rebut all of his claims. Claims: 1. Favre only started in 15 seasons, Marino started 17. Therefore Favre took less time to break the records. 2. Favre has historically had a less talented team than Marino or Montana. 3. He lists a number of receivers who have played with Marino and Montana, and claims there are fewer well known, star receivers that have worked with Favre. 4. Favre has been sacked more times than both Montana and Marino. 5. Favre has a record of playing through injuries. Rebuttals: 1. It would be much more helpful to look at number of games played, since that is where we find productivity. Marino started more seasons, the fact remains that it took Favre more games to break the records than it took Marino. This is provided in the statistics listed in round one. Marino has played in 242 regular season games. Favre has played in 268. Favre surpassed Marino in touchdowns after 4 games in the 2007 NFL season. Therefore, Favre reached 421 TDs in 246 games. Similarly, it took Favre 255 games to surpass Marino in passing yards. Again, it is productivity that matter when ranking quarterbacks. I have shown that Marino is more productive than Favre. 2. This would be an impossible task to prove. I challenge my young opponent to provide enough evidence to prove this point. It will be necessary for him to provide statistics and bios for the starting lineups for each team and for each year. Since this would be a herculean task, I expect him to concede this point in the final round. 3. Pro contends that a longer list exists for star receivers working with both Marino and Montana, and only one (Sharpe) for Favre. Of course, a quarterback is partially to blame for a lack of notable receivers, since he is responsible for completions. If this were true, and Favre had fewer notable receivers during his tenure as quarterback, then this is one more reason why he is not the greatest quarterback. The fact is, Pro has not presented us with ample evidence that this is even the case. He cites a few receivers, but does not provide us with any details about them. Additionally, he leaves out some well respected Green Bay receivers like Donald Driver and Antonio Freeman. 4. The fact that Favre has been sacked more times than Marino or Montana is nothing to brag about. Of course plenty of blame goes to the offensive line, but certainly the quarterback has a part in this as well. Besides, a higher number of sacks is not enough evidence in and of itself to prove that Favre's offensive line was worse than the offensive line of the other two. Favre may have just been slower with getting rid of the ball. The evidence provided is inconclusive. 5. Finally, Pro contends that because Favre has a history of playing through injuries that he was tougher, and more of a team player than the other two. However, another interpretation of this is that he is more reckless than the other two. Had he been further injured when he was trying to be a hero, his team would have suffered more by his absence. CONCLUSION My opponent bases his case on some very flimsy evidence. He contends that since Favre plays through injuries, and that he allegedly has played with worse teams, that he is somehow a better quarterback than Marino and Montana. Since he does not provide any evidence for the second premise (playing with worse teams), we must erase that from his argument. He is left only with Favre playing through injuries. This is not sufficient evidence to declare Favre the greatest player of all time. Let's take a look at how this debate has progressed so far. In round 1 we analyzed the statistics. The statistics showed that Dan Marino was a much more productive quarterback than Brett Favre. Then, in round 2 we looked at the record books. We found that Pro touted Favre as ranking 2nd in a number of records. Unfortunately, Marino ranked first in them. We also found that it had taken Favre more games and more playing time to surpass Marino in the records that he did hold. Finally, in the most recent exchange, Pro dropped these points. Aparently he has conceded that Marino was more productive since he failed to address my conclusion in his latest response. Good luck on your final round.