Ryan Fitzpatrick

They called him “FitzMagic”.  Perfect nickname.  His football journey took him from the desert (Highland High School in Gilbert, Arizona), to one of the world’s foremost institutions of higher learning (Harvard University), and then to nine NFL franchises over 17 seasons, making double-digit regular season starts at six of those stops.  He even looked the part.  Most guys taken sixth-from-last in the NFL Draft (2005) aren’t supposed to have a long NFL career.  In fact, most taken that late in the draft rarely, if ever, earn a regular spot on their team’s active roster.  But Ryan Fitzpatrick combined a hard work ethic with his gifts of talent and intelligence to persevere through an NFL quest unlike any other.

1988 MVP Race: Cunningham vs. Esiason

While Randall Cunningham was serving as understudy to Ron Jaworski, Boomer Esiason displaced Ken Anderson as Cincinnati’s primary starter.  It would take two more seasons for Cunningham to earn the full-time role in the City of Brotherly Love.  In 1988, the two quarterbacks would have transformational seasons, putting up fantastic numbers and (more importantly) winning games.  In getting their respective franchises back to the postseason after five-plus year absences, Esiason and Cunningham were the top two vote-getters in Associated Press MVP voting. 

1969 AFL MVP Race: Cook vs. Lamonica vs. Namath

In 1967, his first full season as starter, Daryle Lamonica lit up the AFL with a 13-1 regular season record and 30 TDs.  He led the Oakland Raiders to Super Bowl II and took home unanimous league MVP honors.  But his rival in NYC, “Broadway Joe” Namath, one-upped Lamonica by taking home unanimous AFL MVP honors in ’68 coupled with a stunning win in Super Bowl III.  The 1969 season, the American Football League’s final year, the two split MVP honors.  While Namath captured the Associated Press award, Daryle Lamonica took home the honors from The Sporting News and United Press International.

Jon Kitna

Jon Kitna wasn’t supposed to play in the NFL.  Sure he put up great numbers in college, but that was for D-II Central Washington University and he was unsurprisingly overlooked in the 1996 Draft.  But one of his teammates was a nephew of Seattle Seahawks head coach Dennis Erickson.  Seattle’s skipper gave Kitna a look and apparently liked what he saw, signing the undrafted free agent to the Pacific Northwest’s NFL franchise.  While the rookie didn’t see any action his first year, he won a championship just one year later… in NFL Europe.  And as starter for the Barcelona Dragons, he led his squad to victory in the World Bowl, earning game MVP honors.

Jay Schroeder

Jay Schroeder (pronounced “SHRAY-der”) wasn’t even supposed to play pro football.  He played only one season at UCLA, throwing the ball just 70 times.  Instead, he had his sights set on Major League Baseball, and as a catcher was taken #3 overall in the 1979 MLB Draft.  But Schroeder never made it past A-ball and entered the NFL Draft in 1984, where he was taken 83rd overall by the Washington Redskins.  After seeing no action his rookie year, he replaced Joe Theismann during the infamous game in which the former league MVP suffered a compound fracture.  Down the stretch, Schroeder was terrific, winning four of five starts and averaging 234.5 passing yards per game as Washington just missed the playoffs at 10-6.

1981 MVP Race: Anderson vs. Fouts vs. Montana vs. Morton

The 1981 NFL season was the beginning of a transitional period that culminated with an ascendancy to the quarterbacking throne.  Three mainstays of the 1970s had seasons that were, if not career-bests, impressively resilient to Father Time’s pursuit and garnered them MVP votes. Meanwhile, a fourth signal caller also received votes, a 25-year old precision passer from Notre Dame beginning a decade-long run as starter for a long-suffering franchise.

Gus Frerotte

Gus Frerotte wasn’t supposed to be a regular NFL starter. He was destined to be a career back-up at best. He didn’t go to a big-conference school, starting three years for the University of Tulsa. He finished his college career with more interceptions than touchdowns and barely completed 50% of his passes. Hell, his name even looks like a typo. Taken in the seventh round of 1994 NFL Draft, Frerotte wasn’t even the only quarterback taken by Washington that year. The Redskins used the #3 overall pick to take the draft’s first quarterback, and their star of the future, Tennessee’s Heath Shuler. But for those overlooked, if there is anything history has taught us it’s that patience is indeed a virtue.

2005 MVP Race: Brady vs. Manning vs. Palmer

Shaun Alexander was very much deserving of the 2005 Associated Press MVP award. The Seattle running back’s 1,880 rushing yards were the NFL’s best, and his 28 total touchdowns were eight more than his closest competitor, LaDainian Tomlinson. But it was another great year for quarterbacks, especially three in particular. Coming off back-to-back Super Bowl championships (and three in four years), Tom Brady would eclipse 4,000 yards passing for the first time. Peyton Manning narrowly missed out on his third straight MVP while leading the Colts to a 14-2 regular season record. And in only his second season of action, former #1 overall pick Carson Palmer would lead the league in completion percentage and touchdown passes. So while none of those three took home the hardware, which signal caller was the most deserving in 2005?

Jason Campbell

Aaron Rodgers famously waited… and waited……. and waited…….. before being taken 24th overall in the 2005 NFL Draft. When he was finally snatched up by the Green Bay Packers, he had completely stolen the thunder of the man taken after him: Jason Campbell out of Auburn. Campbell came with an excellent pedigree. He had split quarterbacking duties with Daniel Cobb for two years, before taking over for the Tigers his Junior year. He wrapped up his Senior year with a 13-0 record, helping Auburn finish, controversially, as the #2 team in the country.

Best Franchise QBs: Cincinnati Bengals

With the first overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, the Cincinnati Bengals chose Ohio-raised LSU wunderkind Joe Burrow to be the team’s quarterback moving forward, starting a new chapter in the long-suffering organization’s history. While “the Bengals” and “great quarterbacking” aren’t words that a casual fan might consider synonymous, over the past half-century the franchise has had its share of excellent play under Center, notably two MVP seasons that resulted in Super Bowl appearances.