Read the opposing argument from Babe Ruthless.
Bleacher Fan has asked the Babe and I to determine who the greatest Colts quarterback of all time is. I know the easy answer, especially for you young lads, is Peyton Manning. It’s quite obvious Babe Ruthless has a serious man crush on Manning (he’s approaching Tom Izzo-Sports Geek status with that relationship). Peyton has obviously racked himself up quite a career to this point and he’s still got a little bit left in the tank. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching him in college and the NFL. It’s hard to root against the guy. But, with no disrespect intended toward Manning, I’m think Johnny Unitas is the greatest Colts quarterback ever.
If you ask the fathers of any of our writers here at TSD they would probably go on and on about how great “Johnny U” was. I know I’ve heard my dad mention his name on several occasions when he discusses NFL lore. I bet your dads have mentioned him as well, and with good reason. Back then he was the star of the league, probably more so than Manning is today since Manning has to compete for attention with the likes of Tom Brady, Brett Favre, and the seemingly constant infatuation with the Dallas Cowboys.
Babe Ruthless likes to talk about the fact that Manning’s individual passing numbers are consistently better each year than those put up by Unitas. But while considering those numbers, it’s important to note that Unitas never had the opportunity to play in a regular season with 16 games. The NFL didn’t expand the season to 16 games until 1978. Actually, Unitas played only 12 games per season in his first few seasons. The schedule wasn’t extended to 14 games until 1960. Yet, Unitas began playing in 1956, where he had three of his six first team All-Pro selections in the 1950s. You do the math on that.
It’s often said that both Unitas and Manning have one Super Bowl at this point, and that’s certainly true. But, before the Super Bowl era began in 1966 Unitas won two NFL World Championships, in 1958 and 1959. He also was the winning quarterback in the “greatest game ever played,” and helped build the legacy of future Hall of Fame coach Don Shula. All of that has to count for something, right?
Old school Colts fans like to say that today’s quarterbacks get more protection from their offensive line and from the officials as well. I think we can all agree there is probably a great deal more emphasis put on protecting the quarterback in the modern era than it was back when Unitas was under center. But that didn’t stop Johnny U from throwing touchdown passes in 47 consecutive games, a record that still stands today. Meanwhile, Manning, still in the prime of his career, had three games last season where he didn’t throw a single touchdown pass.
The legacy of the stars of yesteryear seems to grow as time goes on, and as more and more stories are told by fathers to children and grandchildren. Perhaps in thirty years we’ll be telling stories about Manning to our children. But as it stands now, Johnny U remains the greatest quarterback in Colts history.
Posted by Loyal Homer 
