Josh Thornton

Goat… no, not the little horned, 4-legged animal that chews on everything. I’m talking about the word used to describe the Greatest Of All Time, in a given sport. More specifically, I’m speaking of professional football. Even more specifically, I’m talking about quarterbacks. You know… the most prestigious of all positions, in all of sports.

​If you polled 100 different NFL fans on whom they think the G.O.A.T. QB is, you’d likely get at least 5 different answers, most of which would be modern era quarterbacks. The era of the passing game. A time in which scheme, design and rules all cater to the quarterback. Football has been overhauled to accommodate the forward pass. So, its understandable that eyes get drawn to more recent signal callers when in discussion of the best to do it. Stats are important, I get it… but which ones?Maybe yards, touchdowns, wins, or…..championships? One could say that, given the amount and availability of stats, the pool of G.O.A.T candidates has grown pretty far reaching. That’s a fair point of view. I’m not going to use crazy advanced stats to try and pitch to you who I feel the best is. I’ll keep it relatively simple and straight forward. The player I’m pegging with this great honor didn’t need advanced stats to make him look better than the rest. He just was. He was the O.G.

​You’ll have to travel pretty far back to take a look at my G.O.A.T QB. Around 70 years in fact. Right at the tail end of the leather helmet era. Yeah, that far back. It was a time where running the football was still heavily relied upon. The passing attacks were a fraction of what they are today. Schemes were simpler and more straight forward. One man did it better than anyone ever has. Otto Graham is that man. Graham set the bar and performed like no other.

​Let’s start with the most desired ability… availability. Graham Never missed a game. Ever. 126 regular season games and he was there leading the Browns in every single one of them. That’s not even including postseason games. A true Iron Man!

​Wins? Yeah, he has those as well. Many, in fact. Graham played 10 seasons of pro football, all with the Browns. His final career record was 105-17-4. Yeah, you read that right. Out of 126 regular season games he only lost 17 of them. That’s a winning percentage of .849. Almost 85% of his games he received the win. Just simply astonishing… and still tops in that mark to this day.

​Wins are good, but they really mean nothing if you can win it all, right? Don’t worry, he did that also. Graham took the Browns to 10 straight title games winning 7, 4 being in the AAFC and 3 in the NFL. He was dominant and made the Browns an early football dynasty in TWO different leagues.

​Lastly I’ll highlight something that cannot be quantified within a stat. Something that is only realized years later, after the dust has settled and reflection can begin. Graham forged a path that helped quarterbacks to ascend to the current stature. He played a huge role in glamorizing the position and bringing us our current love for all things QB. He was the first real superstar toplay quarterback. Dare I say… a pioneer?

​It’s true, I have a slight bias given the fact that I live and breathe Browns football. That plays a small role in my affinity for Otto Graham being the G.O.A.T. Just a small one. His career and impact on the game speaks for itself though. The in game stats wont line up with modern era stars, his time period just wouldn’t allow it. I don’t think there is any denying though… Otto was the first to dominate at our favorite position in pro football. He helped a nation fall in love with the quarterback.

Otto is the real O.G.