Last week my Facebook buddy Bill Furman posed a question on his PHILLY PRESSBOX page. He was asking for everyone’s list of five best NFL quarterbacks.

He got lots of responses.

Since I’m wiser and more experienced than most of his readers – you can translate that to “older” if you wish, but I prefer my definition – my picks differed from most.

Immediately, I came up with Joe Montana and Johnny Unitas – then added Otto Graham. Tom Brady came next and a little brain-wracking gave me Y. A. Tittle – Yelberton Abraham to his parents.

I was pleased with my group, but not necessarily satisfied. So I kept following the comments and here come the names of the usual suspects – Marino, Kelly, Young, Namath, Elway, Rodgers, Staubach, Brees, Bradshaw, Favre, and Fouts. Nah – great ones all – but none of them belong at the top.

I kept following and eventually decided to replace Y. A. Tittle with Kenny Stabler. I lived in South Florida from 1972-1978 when the Dolphins were winning Super Bowls. In those days, a Playoff match-up against the Oakland Raiders and Kenny Stabler was a scary proposition.

In 1974, after winning Super Bowls VII and VIII, the Dolphins were trying to make it three straight Super Bowl wins and four straight appearances – the Dolphins had lost 24-3 to Roger Staubach and the Cowboys in Super Bowl VI three years earlier. The 11-3 Dolphins won the AFC East for the fourth consecutive year and advanced to the Playoffs. Their first-round opponent was the feared Raiders.

The game was a classic.

The Dolphins took a 26-21 lead late in the fourth quarter when Benny Malone ran it in from 23 yards out. But as my dad warned me via our long-distance hook-up back in Philly, the Dolphins left too much time on the clock.

And sure enough – Kenny “Snake” Stabler drove the Raiders down the field. With time running out, he found Clarence Davis in the end zone from eight yards out for the winning score. Stabler went 20-for-30 for 293 yards and 4 TDs – and as a result the Snake knocked the Dolphins out of the Playoffs.

And that one play propagated the end of the Dolphins four-year dynasty. Two months later, running backs Larry Csonka and Jim Kiick and wide receiver Paul Warfield defected from the Dolphins, and the NFL, to sign with the Memphis Southmen of the parvenu World Football League. The deal was a financial windfall for the three stars – but a death-knell to the Dolphins.

So Stabler was on my list and Y. A. Tittle was off

Then, later on, Bill Furman brought up some Hall of Fame quarterbacks who hadn’t been mentioned yet – Bart Starr, Bob Griese, Bobby Layne, Norm Van Brocklin, George Blanda, Sonny Jurgensen, and Len Dawson – and Troy Aikman and Warren Moon.

Bart Starr’s name stood out and earned consideration. I eventually decided to add Starr and also to put Tittle back on the list – which means I wound up with seven quarterbacks instead of five.

Otto Graham – Prior to joining the NFL, the Cleveland Browns played in the old All-American Football Conference. Graham led the Browns to four consecutive AAFC Championships from 1946 thru 1949. Once the Browns joined the NFL, Graham led the team to NFL Championships in 1950, 1954, and 1955. He’s a Hall of Famer. The guy was a flat-out winner.

Joe Montana won Super Bowls XVI, XIX, XXIII, and XXIV. He threw for 11 TDs without an INT and was Super Bowl MVP three times. He was league MVP twice and he’s a Hall of Famer. Enough said – my greatest of all time.

Johnny Unitas invented the two-minute drill. He won three NFL Championships with the Baltimore Colts – 1958, 1959, and 1968 – and he won Super Bowl V in 1970. He was league MVP four times and he’s a Hall of Famer. For me, he comes in right behind Montana.

Tom Brady won Super Bowls XXXVI, XXXVII, XXXIX, and XLIX. He was Super Bowl MVP three times and league MVP twice. Inflated ball, deflated ball, or Nerf ball – Brady’s one of the best ever. He will be a Hall of Famer.

Y. A. Tittle quarterbacked the 49ers from 1951 thru 1960. He was blessed with some tremendous offensive weapons – Hugh McElhenny, Joe “The Jet” Perry, and John Henry Johnson as running backs and Billy Wilson and Gordy Soltau as receivers. But he became the Jim Kelly of his generation. He got to championship games, but didn’t win.

– In 1957, he led the 49ers to the Western Division title game, but the 49ers lost 31-27 to the Lions. That Lions team, led by Bobby Layne, went on to smoke the Browns 59-14 – with Jim Brown – in the NFL Championship Game.

– By 1961 Tittle was playing in New York and leading the Giants to three consecutive NFL Championship Games. But that first year, the Giants got spanked 37-0 by Bart Starr and the Vince Lombardi Packers.

– In 1962, the Giants lost a 16-7 rematch with the Packers.

– And in 1963, the Giants lost 14-10 to the Bears – Mike Ditka caught 3 passes for 38 yards.

Despite never winning a championship, Y. A. Title was voted league MVP four times and was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Kenny Stabler won Super Bowl XI 32-12 over the Vikings. He was league MVP once – but he’s been ignored by the Hall of Fame. Yes, his choice is very subjective because he was such a villain to the Dolphins. I saw all those games and he was great.

Bart Starr was the quarterback on Vince Lombardi’s heralded Green Bay Packers. Prior to the advent of the Super Bowl, he won NFL Championships in 1961, 1962, and 1965. He won Super Bowls I and II and was voted MVP both times. He was also voted league MVP once and he’s a Hall of Famer.

Sorry, but I couldn’t trim my list down to five. That’s my list of the best NFL quarterbacks of all time – and it stands at seven.

Barry Bowe is the author of Born to Be Wild and 12 Best Eagles QBs.