These are quarterbacks who had mixed success in their Super Bowl careers. All were champions at least once, but all suffered disappointments as well. They generally played well in their Super Bowl appearances, but each committed key turnovers in their losses. The Champions went 5-5 in Super Bowl play, and their career Super Bowl passer ratings range from 84.8 to 97.6.

 

Games – 2 (XXXI, XXXII)

Wins – 1 (XXXI)

MVPs – 0

 

Overview: For a five-year period from 1994 to 1998, Favre stood as the greatest quarterback who ever lived. He averaged 35.2 TD passes (and 15.8 INTs) per season and threw for more than 3,860 yards each year. He won three NFL MVP awards during this span, and his run peaked with a 35-21 win over New England in Super Bowl XXXI. Favre completed 14 of 27 passes for 246 yards, 2 TDs and 0 INT. He played well again in Super Bowl XXXII (25 for 42, 256 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT), but his two second-quarter turnovers led to 10 Denver points and proved to be Green Bay’s downfall.

 

Signature moment: Just two plays into his first Super Bowl appearance, Favre tossed a 54-yard touchdown pass to Andre Rison. He struck again early in the second quarter, with a then-Super Bowl record 81-yard bomb to Antonio Freeman. The score gave the Packers a 17-14 lead and they never trailed again. The image of Favre excitedly running off the field  following the TD, his helmet in hand and a smile on his face, marked the height of the Favre Era in Green Bay.

 

Super Bowl	Comp.	Att.	Pct.	Yards	TDs	INTs	Rating	Result
XXXI	14	27	51.9	246	2	0	107.9	W 35-21
XXXII	25	42	59.5	256	3	1	91.0	L 31-24
TOTALS	39	69	56.5	502	5	1	97.6	1-1

 

***

 

Games – 4 (VI, X, XII, XIII)

Wins – 2 (VI, X)

MVPs – 1 (VI)

 

Overview: Staubach won the Heisman Trophy as a junior at Navy in 1963, but his military obligations kept him out of the NFL until 1969. When he got a shot as a regular starter in 1971, he quickly paid dividends for a Dallas franchise that had a reputation as one that could not win the big game. (The Cowboys lost NFL championship games to Green Bay in 1966 and 1967 and lost Super Bowl V to Baltimore.) With Staubach clearly in charge in 1971, the Cowboys hammered Miami in Super Bowl VI, 24-3. Staubach earned MVP honors for completing 12 of 19 passes for 119 yards and 2 TDs. It was Miami’s last loss before going undefeated in 1972. Staubach also played well in Super Bowl XII, a 27-10 win over Denver. He led furious comebacks in Super Bowls X and XIII, but his total of 4 INTs in those two games helped contribute to a pair of four-point losses to Pittsburgh (21-17 and 35-31).

 

Signature moment: In the third quarter of Super Bowl XIII, Staubach tossed a 10-yard scoring strike to Hall of Fame tight end Jackie Smith – who dropped the ball (the play is pictured here). Dallas had to settle for a field goal and lost by four points. If the ball had been caught, it might have made Dallas, and not Pittsburgh, the team of the 1970s. It might also have given Staubach a third ring, a second Super Bowl MVP award and a Super Bowl passer rating of 100.0, propelling him up the list of greatest Super Bowl QBs.

 

Super Bowl	Comp.	Att.	Pct.	Yards	TDs	INTs	Rating	Result
VI	12	19	63.2	119	2	0	115.9	W 24-3
X	15	24	62.5	204	2	3	77.8	L 21-17
XII	17	25	68.0	183	1	0	102.6	W 27-10
XIII	17	30	56.7	228	3	1	100.4	L 35-31
TOTALS	61	98	62.2	734	8	4	95.4	2-2

 

***

 

Games – 2 (XXXIV, XXXVI)

Wins – 1 (XXXIV)

MVPs – 1 (XXXIV)

 

Overview: Warner burst onto the pro football scene like an NFL MOAB. A former supermarket stock boy and arena league player, he got the starting nod for St. Louis in 1999 when intended starter Trent Green went down with a preseason injury. Warner surprisingly orchestrated one of the greatest seasons by a passer in NFL history, completing 65.1 percent of his throws for 4,353 yards and 41 touchdowns. This truly remarkable Cinderella season c oncluded with a 23-16 victory over Tennessee in Super Bowl XXXIV. Warner was back at his bombing best in 2001, the P.T. Barnum of “the Greatest Show on Turf,” completing 68.7 percent of his passes for 4,830 yards and 36 TDs. It all fell apart in Super Bowl XXXVI against New England, however. Warner was beat up and bloodied and picked off twice in a 20-17 loss. He’s never recovered. After passing for 98 TDs in just 43 games from 1999 to 2001, he has played in just 29 games since Super Bowl XXXVI and thrown just 21 TDs.

 

 

Signature moment: The heavily favored Rams sported a 3-0 lead halfway through the second quarter of Super Bowl XXXVI when Warner stepped back and eyed Isaac Bruce along the right sideline. He pulled the trigger under a heavy pass rush (some say Warner has hit with an illegal blow to the head by New England linebacker Mike Vrabel) and his pass was picked off by New England cornerback Ty Law, who returned it 47 yards for a touchdown. The Rams never regained the lead and Warner, a two-time NFL MVP, never regained his reputation as one of the league’s top gunslingers.

 

Super Bowl	Comp.	Att.	Pct.	Yards	TDs	INTs	Rating	Result
XXXIV	24	45	53.3	414	2	0	99.7	W 23-16
XXXVI	28	44	63.6	365	1	2	78.3	L 20-17
TOTALS	52	89	58.4	779	3	2	89.1	1-1

 

***

 

Games – 2 (I, IV)

Wins – 1 (IV)

MVPs – 1 (IV)

 

Overview: Dawson was an NFL backup for five years before being rescued by the AFL’s Dallas Texans and head coach Hank Stram in 1962. The Dawson-led Texans won the 1962 AFL title but then moved to Kansas City for the 1963 season, changing their name to the Chiefs somewhere around Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA. Their success continued with another AFL championship in 1966. After that game, Kansas City became ceremonial cannon fodder in the first AFL-NFL Championship Game (Super Bowl I), a 35-10 loss to mighty Green Bay at the peak of the Packers dynasty. Green Bay led just 14-10 at the half, but a Dawson pass was picked off by Willie Wood, who returned the ball 50 yards to set up a short Green Bay TD drive that broke open the game. Dawson and the Chiefs returned to the Super Bowl three years later and hammered a Vikings squad that entered the game as one of the most powerful teams in NFL history.

 

Signature moment: In the third quarter of Super Bowl IV, against the heavily favored Vikings, Dawson completed a 46-yard TD pass to tight end Otis Taylor that capped the scoring in a 23-7 Kansas City victory. The clip of the play makes every Super Bowl highlight show to this day. Dawson, the game’s MVP, was highly efficient, completing 12 of 17 passes for 142 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT.  It was a historic moment in pro football history, the last game before the AFL-NFL merger was finalized for the 1970 season. Everyone remembers that Joe Namath and the Jets legitimized the AFL with a victory over the Colts in Super Bowl III. But Dawson and the Chiefs proved that the New York victory was no fluke and that the AFL had indeed become the equal of the NFL on the eve of the merger. In fact, the 1968 Colts and 1969 Vikings were two of the most powerful teams in NFL history, and they had dominated the older league. But they were manhandled by a combined score of 39-14 against their AFL opponents.

 

Super Bowl	Comp.	Att.	Pct.	Yards	TDs	INTs	Rating	Result
I	16	27	59.3	211	1	1	80.9	L 35-10
IV	12	17	70.6	142	1	1	90.8	W 23-7
TOTALS	28	44	63.6	353	2	2	84.8	1-1