- With Super Bowl LIII on the horizon, we took a look at the starting quarterbacks who have played on football’s biggest stage most in their careers.
- New England Patriots star Tom Brady leads the pack with eight Super Bowl appearances and five Super Bowl victories, and he’ll have the chance to tack on another in Super Bowl LIII.
- Check out the full list of quarterbacks who have played in the most Super Bowls below and read all of Business Insider’s Super Bowl LIII coverage here.
Two Appearances
Craig Morton (0-2)
Craig Morton led the Dallas Cowboys to Super Bowl V in 1970, but he quickly fell out of favor with the team and lost his starting role to Roger Staubach. He became the first quarterback to start in a Super Bowl for two different teams when he revived his career with the Denver and played in Super Bowl XII for the Broncos eight years later.
Source: Star-Telegram
Russell Wilson (1-1)
After leading the Seattle Seahawks to their first-ever Super Bowl victory in 2013, Russell Wilson led the franchise to a second Super Bowl berth the following season.
Brett Favre (1-1)
Legendary Packers quarterback and Hall of Famer Brett Favre - who played 16 seasons in Green Bay - led the Packers to back-to-back Super Bowls in 1995 and 1996. He became the first and only player to win three straight NFL Most Valuable Player awards.
Source: Pro Football Hall of Fame
Joe Thiesmann (1-1)
Joe Theismann led the Washington Redskins to consecutive Super Bowl appearances, but he is arguably most well-known for the gruesome, career-ending leg injury he suffered while being sacked by New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor in 1985.
Source: Washington Post
Len Dawson (1-1)
Hall of Famer Len Dawson led Kansas City to Super Bowl I where the Chiefs fell to the Green Bay Packers 35-10. Three years later, Dawson earned MVP honors for leading Kansas City to a 23-7 Super Bowl victory over the Minnesota Vikings.
Eli Manning (2-0)
Eli Manning may have fallen out of favor with some New York Giants fans, but he led the franchise to two Super Bowl victories, including an improbable win over Tom Brady and the previously undefeated New England Patriots in 2008.
Jim Plunkett (2-0)
After winning the Heisman Trophy at Stanford, Jim Plunkett quarterbacked the Oakland Raiders to two Super Bowl wins in 1980 and 1983.
Source: Heisman.com
Bart Starr (2-0)
Bart Starr did it first. Literally. Starr led the Green Bay Packers to victory in Super Bowls I and II and earned his way into the Hall of Fame in 1977.
Source: Pro Football Hall of Fame
Three Appearances
Fran Tarkenton (0-3)
Fran Tarkenton - a prolific offensive weapon known for his ability to scramble - led the Minnesota Vikings to a whopping six division titles and three Super Bowl appearances, but never brought a Lombardi Trophy back to Minneapolis.
Source: Pro Football Hall of Fame
Kurt Warner (1-2)
Kurt Warner went from going undrafted out of college to leading the Los Angeles Rams and Arizona Cardinals to a combined three Super Bowl appearances between 1999 and 2008. When all was said and done, Warner had earned two NFL MVP awards, and Super Bowl ring, and a bid to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Source: Pro Football Hall of Fame
Ben Roethlisberger (2-1)
Ben Roethlisberger became the youngest Super Bowl-winning quarterback in league history when he led the Pittsburgh Steelers to the victory over the Seattle Seahawks at 23 years old. Since then, Big Ben has made two more Super Bowl appearances and brought a second Lombardi trophy back to the Steel City.
Bob Griese (2-1)
Hall of Famer Bob Griese led the Miami Dolphins to three consecutive AFC championships and back-to-back Super Bowl victories in 1973 and 1974. Most notably, Griese anchored the Dolphins team that posted a perfect 17-0 season in 1972-73 - the only complete undefeated season in NFL history.
Source: Pro Football Hall of Fame
Troy Aikman (3-0)
After earning All-America honors at UCLA, Troy Aikman made an immediate impact for the Dallas Cowboys as the first overall pick in the 1989 NFL Draft. He led the Cowboys to three Super Bowl victories in four years and cemented his legacy with a spot in the Hall of Fame.
Source: Pro Football Hall of Fame
Four Appearances
Jim Kelly (0-4)
Hall of Famer Jim Kelly led the Buffalo Bills to four consecutive Super Bowl appearances between the years of 1991 and 1994, but he could not bring Buffalo its first Lombardi Trophy. The Bills still have yet to win a Super Bowl.
Source: Pro Football Hall of Fame
Peyton Manning (2-2)
Peyton Manning is the only starting quarterback to win Super Bowls with two different teams. He took the Indianapolis Colts to two Super Bowls and won his first in 2007 before taking his talents to Denver. Manning led the Broncos to the Super Bowl in 2014 and rode off into the sunset after winning Super Bowl 50 two years later. He holds many NFL records, including touchdown passes with 539 and MVP awards with five.
Source: SBNation
Roger Staubach (2-2)
Roger Staubach took the Dallas Cowboys to four Super Bowls in an eight-year span and brought home two Lombardi trophies in the process. The Hall of Famer retired in 1979 with the best passing rating of any quarterback through that point with an 83.4 mark.
Source: Pro Football Hall of Fame
Joe Montana (4-0)
In his 15 seasons playing for the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs, Joe Montana captivated NFL fans with his uncanny ability to mount comeback victories, a feat so common it became known as "Montana Magic." He won Super Bowls XVI, XIX, XXIII, and XXIV and earned MVP honors for all but one of those games.
Source: Pro Football Hall of Fame
Terry Bradshaw (4-0)
With a big arm and impressive mind for the game, Terry Bradshaw led the Pittsburgh Steelers to an unprecedented four Super Bowl victories in six years.
Source: Pro Football Hall of Fame
Five Appearances
John Elway (2-3)
The ultimate dual-threat quarterback, John Elway spent his entire 16-year career with the Denver Broncos. The Hall of Famer accounted for 82.2% of points scored by the Broncos during his tenure with the franchise and led the team to five Super Bowl appearances, winning back-to-back in Super Bowls XXXII and XXXIII.
Source: Pro Football Hall of Fame
Eight/Nine Appearances
Tom Brady (5-3)*
Arguably the best quarterback of all time, New England Patriots star Tom Brady has made an NFL-record eight Super Bowl appearances and will tack on his ninth in Super Bowl LIII. He is one of only two players in the history of the NFL to win five Super Bowl rings. Additionally, Brady has earned four Super Bowl MVP awards, the most ever by a single player in addition to three league MVP awards.
Source: SBNation
*Record through Super Bowl LII
Now check out what happened to the rest of the players involved in the trade that landed Jared Goff with the Rams.
