John Elway is NOT one of the Greatest Quarterbacks Ever

Before I begin rebutting my opponent, I will establish my own arguments:John Elway was a winnerOver his impressive career, John Elway recorded a record of 148-82-1 (.643 win percentage).[1] Out of his 16 seasons, Elway only had two losing seasons (1983 and 1990) and two .500 seasons (1994 and 1995).[1] Elway's Broncos won seven division titles[2] and made the playoffs ten times,[3] winning five conference championships and two Super Bowl championships.[3] Elway had a playoff record of 14-8 (.636), which when extrapolated is virtually identical to his regular season record.[3]In addition to his impressive career record, Elway ranks among the most clutch quarterbacks in history. His 35 fourth-quarter comebacks and 46 game-winning drives rank third in NFL history, behind only Dan Marino and Peyton Manning.[4][5] Among Elway's most famous comebacks are "The Drive", when he led his team 98 yards down the field for a game-tying touchdown in the 1986 AFC Championship Game,[6] and Super Bowl XXXII, where he led his team to a game-winning drive in the last few minutes of the game.[7]StatisticsContrary to my opponent's belief, Elway's stats are among the most impressive in league history. Elway ranks in the top ten in league history in completions,[8] pass attempts,[9] passing yards,[10] passing touchdowns[11] and total offense.[12] Elway also ranks highly in other categories, ranking 12th all-time in rushing touchdowns by a quarterback[13] and 6th in rushing yards by a quarterback.[14] Although my opponent states Elway was a mediocre quarterback through most of his career, he finished in the top ten in completions ten times, the top ten in attempts eleven times, the top ten in passing yards eleven times, the top ten in passing touchdowns eight times and the top ten in total offense eleven times.[1] Among categories my opponent notes as weaknesses, Elway finished in the top ten in passer rating five times, the top ten in passing yards per game nine times, the top ten in yards per attempt nine times, and the top ten in yards per completion eight times.[1] In comparison, Elway only finished in the top ten in interceptions five times and the top ten in sacks five times.[1]Simply put, Elway was consistently excellent in comparison to his contemporaries, as evidenced by his nine Pro Bowls.[1] Although he did have a few off seasons, they weren't actually that bad. Take the 10 touchdown, 17 INT season my opponent notes. His team was actually 8-4 in games he played as compared to just 0-4 without him.[15]Finally, since my opponent is using Pro Football Reference Rate+ as his stat for passer rating (an utterly worthless stat if you ask me), I will note that their Approximate Value stat - which is used to rank each player by their career value - John Elway is ranked tenth - the fourth-highest QB on the list.[16] This metric is obviously much more relevant to this debate.Now, on to rebuttals:My opponent's main argument is that, for a decent period in his early career, Elway was not statistically amazing. There are several problems with this argument: for one, he's comparing quarterbacks playing in a less pass-happy era solely on statistics. To start, during this supposed 'bad part' of Elway's career (1983-1992), he made the Pro Bowl four times and won one MVP award[1] and the Broncos made the playoffs six times,[2] recorded five division titles,[2] and won three conference championships.[2] Hardly an average record, it's actually very impressive for a young quarterback on a historically bad team.Secondly, my opponent targets individual seasons as poor. This logic is flawed - where 18 TDs and 18 INTs may not be impressive today, it was enough for Elway to make a Pro Bowl in 1989[1] and for the Broncos to win their division and conference.[2] Over the five year period of 1988 to 1992 my opponent notes as the career low, Elway had a record of 43-31 (.581 win percentage). In fact, Elway only had one losing season over this period - the 5-11 1990 season,[1] where the Broncos had one of the worst defenses in the league,[17] as compared to four winning seasons,[1] two playoff appearances[2] and two Pro Bowls.[1] Not too shabby for a supposed downpoint in a career.My opponent also argues Elway's late stages of his career, undoubtedly his best, were actually not that great. He compares Tony Romo's stats to this period, which is flawed logic because Romo plays in a much more pass-happy era. More interestingly he compares Elway to Boomer Esiason, a contemporary of Elway who had similar stats. The problem with this is that Esiason had a career record of 80-93 (.462 win percentage), with only three winning seasons to his credit[18] and just two playoff appearances[19] - well below Elway's mark. As compared to contemporaries, Elway was able to deliver superior results.Finally, my opponent argues Elway's championships aren't important due to stats. If my opponent wants to purely argue on stats, I've established Elway's career stats are in the top ten in most major categories but to argue championships simply aren't relevant on an individual basis is irrelevant. The Broncos made the playoffs ten times under Elway - that's as many times as they have made the playoffs in the entire rest of their history. They won 7 of their 13 division titles, 5 of their 7 conference championships and both of their Super Bowls under him.[2] Coincidence? I think not.1. http://www.pro-football-reference.com...2. https://en.wikipedia.org...3. http://www.pro-football-reference.com...4. http://www.pro-football-reference.com...5. http://www.pro-football-reference.com...6. http://www.profootballhof.com...7. https://en.wikipedia.org...8. http://www.pro-football-reference.com...9. http://www.pro-football-reference.com...10. http://www.pro-football-reference.com...11. http://www.pro-football-reference.com...12. http://www.pro-football-reference.com...13. http://sportslistoftheday.com...14. http://espn.go.com...15. http://www.pro-football-reference.com...16. http://www.pro-football-reference.com...17. http://www.pro-football-reference.com...18. http://www.pro-football-reference.com...19. http://www.pro-football-reference.com...