The conversation of Stanford quarterbacks always starts with John Elway.
But it doesn’t end there. Not by a long shot.
No school has a deeper NFL history at quarterback than Stanford. Elway is one of 24 quarterbacks the Cardinal has sent to the NFL. Of the 24, 21 completed passes and 16 started games. Stanford has produced five Pro Bowl quarterbacks, 2 NFL MVPs and two Super Bowl champions.
Elway has a bust in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He also was one of the five Pro Bowlers, one of the two MVPs and one of the two Super Bowl champions. Andrew Luck went to four Pro Bowls, John Brodie two and Frankie Albert and Mike Boryla one apiece. Brodie was the other MVP and Jim Plunkett the other Super Bowl champion. Like Elway, Plunkett won two Lombardi Trophies.
Four Stanford quarterbacks were selected with the first overall picks of drafts – Bobby Garrett (1954), Plunkett (1971), Elway (1983) and Luck (2012). Brodie was selected with the third overall pick of a draft (1957) and Albert the 10th overall pick (1942). In addition, Guy Benjamin entered the NFL as a second-round pick and both Trent Edwards and Davis Mills arrived as third-rounders.
The Stanford Quarterback Club has combined to start 840 NFL games, passing for 173,442 yards and 1,106 touchdown passes. And the meter will continue to run on those statistics with Mills the starting quarterback of the Houston Texans. He passed for 2,664 yards and 16 touchdowns as a rookie last season.
Pencil in Elway as the quarterback on the all-time Stanford NFL team. He’s one of four Hall of Famers you’ll find.
Here is the all-time Stanford NFL team:
QB—John Elway, Hall of Fame
*-HB—Christian McCaffrey, Pro Bowl, 5 seasons, 2 1,000-yard rushing seasons
FB—Ernie Nevers, Hall of Fame
WR—James Lofton, Hall of Fame
WR—Gene Washington, 4 Pro Bowls, 10 seasons, 385 receptions, 60 touchdowns
*-TE—Zack Ertz, 3 Pro Bowls, 9 seasons, 635 receptions, 41 touchdowns
T—Pat Donovan, 4 Pro Bowls, 9 seasons, 103 starts
T—Brian Holloway, 3 Pro Bowls, 8 seasons, 85 starts
G—Bruno Banducci, 2 Pro Bowls, 1940s NFL all-decade team
G—David DeCastro, 6 Pro Bowls, 9 seasons, 124 starts
C—Eric Heitman, 8 seasons, 114 starts
DE—Lester Archambeau, 11 seasons, 90 starts, 36 ½ sacks
DE—Gary Pettigrew, 9 seasons, 78 starts, 20 sacks
DT—Paul Wiggin, 2 Pro Bowls, 11 seasons, 127 starts, 60 ½ sacks
DT—Jason Fisk, 12 seasons, 107 starts, 19 sacks
OLB—Norm Strandlee, 2 Pro Bowls, 8 seasons, 68 starts (1940s)
MLB—Jeff Siemon, 4 Pro Bowls, 11 seasons, 124 starts, 11 interceptions
OLB—Chris Draft, 12 seasons, 89 starts, 16 sacks
CB—Richard Sherman, 5 Pro Bowls, 11 seasons, 37 interceptions
CB—Toi Cook, 11 seasons, 20 interceptions
S—John Lynch, Hall of Fame
S—O.J. Atogwe, 7 seasons, 83 starts, 25 interceptions
K—Mike Michel, 2 seasons, 9 extra points
*-P—Jake Bailey, Pro Bowl, 3 seasons, 185 punts, 46.7-yard average
KR—Glyn Milburn, 2 Pro Bowls, 9 seasons, 711 returns, 3 touchdowns
ST—Coy Wire, 9 seasons, 2-time Buffalo Bills ST Player of the Year
*-Still active
