The Super Bowl is the biggest game of the year in the National Football League (NFL) as it is the Championship game of the league. The Super Bowl garners much more attention with respect to the other major sporting leagues in the United States beating out the likes of the NBA Finals, NHL Stanley Cup, and the MLB World Series. As this is the only major league in the country that has only 1 game for the Championship, it attracts a large frenzy and excitement on a yearly basis.
This article, however, is about the starting quarterbacks of Super Bowl teams, and although the starting signal callers of all 32 NFL teams are crucial, the Super Bowl is the most important game of the year and the quarterback generally has to have one of his best days on the field. Starting quarterbacks are the leaders of the offense, and they are the ones who decide the game for the most part. Even though the Super Bowl MVP may not be a quarterback each time, the men under center must have a good game to keep their team relevant for the title.
Successful Super Bowl quarterbacks include Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Peyton Manning, and Terry Bradshaw. They all led their clubs to Super Bowl victories as quarterbacks.
Some of the famous starting quarterbacks who helped their clubs win the Super Bowls include:
Tom Brady who won 6 Super Bowls with the New England Patriots.
The San Francisco 49ers won 4 Super Bowls under Joe Montana.
The Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos each won a Super Bowl under Peyton Manning.
The Pittsburgh Steelers won 4 Super Bowls under Terry Bradshaw.
Several Super Bowl winning quarterbacks made tremendous plays and led their teams to victory throughout the course of their careers. They avoided expensive blunders which would have no doubt cost their teams the all-important Lombardi Trophy.
While there are no certainties in the NFL, a solid starting quarterback improves Super Bowl odds. Starting quarterbacks lead offenses by trying to score more points than their opponents. The starting quarterback has even more pressure in the Super Bowl, the biggest game of the year.
Who were the starting quarterbacks in Super Bowls?
The following table is a list of all the starting quarterbacks who have won the Super Bowl since its inception in 1966.
| Super Bowl | Winning Team | Starting Quarterback | Losing Team | Starting Quarterback |
| I | Green Bay Packers | Bart Starr | Kansas City Chiefs | Len Dawson |
| II | Green Bay Packers | Bart Starr | Oakland Raiders | Daryle Lamonica |
| III | Baltimore Colts | Johnny Unitas | Baltimore Colts | Earl Morrall |
| IV | Kansas City Chiefs | Len Dawson | Minnesota Vikings | Joe Kapp |
| V | Baltimore Colts | Johnny Unitas | Dallas Cowboys | Craig Morton |
| VI | Dallas Cowboys | Roger Staubach | Miami Dolphins | Bob Griese |
| VII | Miami Dolphins | Bob Griese | Washington Redskins | Billy Kilmer |
| VIII | Miami Dolphins | Bob Griese | Minnesota Vikings | Fran Tarkenton |
| IX | Pittsburgh Steelers | Terry Bradshaw | Minnesota Vikings | Fran Tarkenton |
| X | Pittsburgh Steelers | Terry Bradshaw | Dallas Cowboys | Roger Staubach |
| XI | Oakland Raiders | Ken Stabler | Minnesota Vikings | Fran Tarkenton |
| XII | Dallas Cowboys | Roger Staubach | Denver Broncos | Craig Morton |
| XIII | Pittsburgh Steelers | Terry Bradshaw | Dallas Cowboys | Roger Staubach |
| XIV | Pittsburgh Steelers | Terry Bradshaw | Los Angeles Rams | Vince Ferragamo |
| XV | Oakland Raiders | Jim Plunkett | Philadelphia Eagles | Ron Jaworski |
| XVI | San Francisco 49ers | Joe Montana | Cincinnati Bengals | Ken Anderson |
| XVII | Washington Redskins | Joe Theismann | Miami Dolphins | David Woodley |
| XVIII | Los Angeles Raiders | Jim Plunkett | Washington Redskins | Joe Theismann |
| XIX | San Francisco 49ers | Joe Montana | Miami Dolphins | Dan Marino |
| XX | Chicago Bears | Jim McMahon | New England Patriots | Tony Eason |
| XXI | New York Giants | Phil Simms | Denver Broncos | John Elway |
| XXII | Washington Redskins | Doug Williams | Denver Broncos | John Elway |
| XXIII | San Francisco 49ers | Joe Montana | Cincinnati Bengals | Boomer Esiason |
| XXIV | San Francisco 49ers | Joe Montana | Denver Broncos | John Elway |
| XXV | New York Giants | Jeff Hostetler | Buffalo Bills | Jim Kelly |
| XXVI | Washington Redskins | Mark Rypien | Buffalo Bills | Jim Kelly |
| XXVII | Dallas Cowboys | Troy Aikman | Buffalo Bills | Jim Kelly |
| XXVIII | Dallas Cowboys | Troy Aikman | Buffalo Bills | Jim Kelly |
| XXIX | San Francisco 49ers | Steve Young | San Diego Chargers | Stan Humphries |
| XXX | Dallas Cowboys | Troy Aikman | Pittsburgh Steelers | Neil O'Donnell |
| XXXI | Green Bay Packers | Brett Favre | New England Patriots | Drew Bledsoe |
| XXXII | Denver Broncos | John Elway | Green Bay Packers | Brett Favre |
| XXXIII | Denver Broncos | John Elway | Atlanta Falcons | Chris Chandler |
| XXXIV | St. Louis Rams | Kurt Warner | Tennessee Titans | Steve McNair |
| XXXV | Baltimore Ravens | Trent Dilfer | New York Giants | Kerry Collins |
| XXXVI | New England Patriots | Tom Brady | St. Louis Rams | Kurt Warner |
| XXXVII | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Brad Johnson | Oakland Raiders | Rich Gannon |
| XXXVIII | New England Patriots | Tom Brady | Carolina Panthers | Jake Delhomme |
| XXXIX | New England Patriots | Tom Brady | Philadelphia Eagles | Donovan McNabb |
| XL | Pittsburgh Steelers | Ben Roethlisberger | Seattle Seahawks | Matt Hasselbeck |
| XLI | Indianapolis Colts | Peyton Manning | Chicago Bears | Rex Grossman |
| XLII | New York Giants | Eli Manning | New England Patriots | Tom Brady |
| XLIII | Pittsburgh Steelers | Ben Roethlisberger | Arizona Cardinals | Kurt Warner |
| XLIV | New Orleans Saints | Drew Brees | Indianapolis Colts | Peyton Manning |
| XLV | Green Bay Packers | Aaron Rodgers | Pittsburgh Steelers | Ben Roethlisberger |
| XLVI | New York Giants | Eli Manning | New England Patriots | Tom Brady |
| XLVII | Baltimore Ravens | Joe Flacco | San Francisco 49ers | Colin Kaepernick |
| XLVIII | Seattle Seahawks | Russell Wilson | Denver Broncos | Peyton Manning |
| XLIX | New England Patriots | Tom Brady | Seattle Seahawks | Russell Wilson |
| L | Denver Broncos | Peyton Manning | Carolina Panthers | Cam Newton |
| LI | New England Patriots | Tom Brady | Atlanta Falcons | Matt Ryan |
| LII | Philadelphia Eagles | Nick Foles | New England Patriots | Tom Brady |
| LIII | New England Patriots | Tom Brady | Los Angeles Rams | Jared Goff |
| LIV | Kansas City Chiefs | Patrick Mahomes | San Francisco 49ers | Jimmy Garoppolo |
| LV | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Tom Brady | Kansas City Chiefs | Patrick Mahomes |
| LVI | Los Angeles Rams | Matthew Stafford | Cincinnati Bengals | Joe Burrow |
| LVII | Kansas City Chiefs | Patrick Mahomes | Philadelphia Eagles | Jalen Hurts |
| LVIII | Kansas City Chiefs | Patrick Mahomes | San Francisco 49ers | Brock Purdy |
Super Bowl MVP quarterbacks
There is no greater feeling for any player than winning the Super Bowl. But, if a certain player receives the Super Bowl MVP, then it's icing on the cake. Below is a table of all the Super Bowl MVP quarterbacks.
| Year | Super Bowl | Winner | Team |
| 1967 | I | Bart Starr | Green Bay Packers |
| 1968 | II | Bart Starr (2) | Green Bay Packers |
| 1969 | III | Joe Namath | New York Jets |
| 1970 | IV | Len Dawson | Kansas City Chiefs |
| 1972 | VI | Roger Staubach | Dallas Cowboys |
| 1979 | XIII | Terry Bradshaw | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| 1980 | XIV | Terry Bradshaw (2) | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| 1981 | XV | Jim Plunkett | Oakland Raiders |
| 1982 | XVI | Joe Montana | San Francisco 49ers |
| 1985 | XIX | Joe Montana (2) | San Francisco 49ers |
| 1987 | XXI | Phil Simms | New York Giants |
| 1988 | XXII | Doug Williams | Washington Redskins |
| 1990 | XXIV | Joe Montana (3) | San Francisco 49ers |
| 1992 | XXVI | Mark Rypien | Washington Redskins |
| 1993 | XXVII | Troy Aikman | Dallas Cowboys |
| 1995 | XXIX | Steve Young | San Francisco 49ers |
| 1999 | XXXIII | John Elway | Denver Broncos |
| 2000 | XXXIV | Kurt Warner | St. Louis Rams |
| 2002 | XXXVI | Tom Brady | New England Patriots |
| 2004 | XXXVIII | Tom Brady (2) | New England Patriots |
| 2007 | XLI | Peyton Manning | Indianapolis Colts |
| 2008 | XLII | Eli Manning | New York Giants |
| 2010 | XLIV | Drew Brees | New Orleans Saints |
| 2011 | XLV | Aaron Rodgers | Green Bay Packers |
| 2012 | XLVI | Eli Manning (2) | New York Giants |
| 2013 | XLVII | Joe Flacco | Baltimore Ravens |
| 2015 | XLIX | Tom Brady (3) | New England Patriots |
| 2017 | LI | Tom Brady (4) | New England Patriots |
| 2018 | LII | Nick Foles | Philadelphia Eagles |
| 2020 | LIV | Patrick Mahomes | Kansas City Chiefs |
| 2021 | LV | Tom Brady (5) | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| 2023 | LVII | Patrick Mahomes (2) | Kansas City Chiefs |
| 2024 | LVIII | Patrick Mahomes (3) | Kansas City Chiefs |
Who has won the most Super Bowls as a quarterback?
The quarterback with the most Super Bowl wins is Tom Brady who has won it seven times. His first six wins came with the New England Patriots while his last win came with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
FAQs
A. Tom Brady has started the most Super Bowls (ten).
A. With 7 Championships, Tom Brady is the most successful quarterback.
A. Dan Marino was 23 years and 127 days old when he started the Super Bowl for the Miami Dolphins on Jan. 20, 1985, making him the youngest starting Super Bowl quarterback.
A. Tom Brady became the oldest quarterback to start in a Super Bowl when he took the field for Super Bowl LV at the age of 41 years and 6 months.
A. As of 2024, no rookie quarterback has even played in the Super Bowl let alone won it.
