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List of Green Bay Packers starting quarterbacks

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Love in uniform wearing a Packers hat
Jordan Love was the Packers' starting quarterback for every game of the 2023 NFL season.

The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers have competed in the National Football League (NFL) since 1921, two years after their original founding by Curly Lambeau and George Whitney Calhoun.[1] They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference (NFC) and play their home games at Lambeau Field in central Wisconsin.[2][3] The early era of the NFL and American football in general was not conducive to passing the football, with the forward pass not being legalized until the early 1900s and not fully adopted for many more years.[4] Although the quarterback position has historically been the one to receive the snap and thus handle the football on every offensive play,[5] the importance of the position during this era was limited by various rules, like having to be five yards behind the line of scrimmage before a forward pass could be attempted.[6] These rules and the tactical focus on rushing the ball limited the importance of the quarterback position while enhancing the value of different types of backs, such as the halfback and the fullback.[7] Some of these backs were considered triple-threat men, capable of rushing, passing or kicking the football, making it common for multiple players to attempt a pass during a game.[8]

As rules changed and the NFL began adopting a more pass-centric approach to offensive football, the importance of the quarterback position grew.[6][7] Beginning in 1950, total wins and losses by a team's starting quarterback were tracked.[9] Throughout the late 20th century and early 21st century, the significance of the position has grown exponentially.[7] The modern starting quarterback is often viewed as the leader of the team and its player spokesperson.[5] The position is often the highest paid player on an NFL team's roster, with teams assigning significant resources in trying to draft, acquire or trade for a franchise quarterback.[10][11] These resources are based on the high expectations placed on the position, which include handling the ball on every offensive play (whether it be to pass the ball or hand it off to another player), relaying plays (or sometimes calling plays themselves) to the offense and understanding every teammate's role, formation and responsibility for every play.[5] The emergence of the dual-threat quarterback has also seen additional focus on the position, with quarterbacks like Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen leading their team in both passing and rushing yards during any given game.[12]

Prior to 1950, the Packers had numerous players identified as playing the quarterback position, including Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Arnie Herber.[13] However, the combination of unreliable statistics in the early era of the NFL and the differences in the early quarterback position make tracking starts by quarterbacks impractical for this timeframe. Since 1950 however, the Packers have had 34 starting quarterbacks in the history of their franchise. Five of those quarterbacks each made over 70 starts and between them started over 75% of the team's games in that time period, with varying levels of success.[9] Tobin Rote, who started 73 games in the 1950s, and Lynn Dickey, who started in 101 games in the late 1970s and early 1980s, saw little on-field success.[14][15] However, Bart Starr, Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers all led the Packers to Super Bowl victories, with Starr winning five NFL championships in the 1960s.[16][17] All three quarterbacks were named the NFL's Most Valuable Player at least once in their careers.[18] Favre started the most games as quarterback for the Packers, both in the regular season (253) and during the playoffs (22).[19] Favre never missed one start with the Packers, contributing to his NFL record of 321 consecutive starts by a quarterback.[20] After Favre was traded to the New York Jets, Rodgers took over as starting quarterback, a role he would hold for 15 seasons.[21][22] Combined, from Favre's first start in 1992 to Rodgers' last start in 2022, the two quarterbacks started 476 out of 495 possible regular season games.[9] After Rodgers was traded to the Jets in 2023, the Packers named Jordan Love starting quarterback for the 2023 NFL season.[23] Love started all 19 games (17 in the regular season and 2 in the playoffs) for the Packers in 2023 and began the 2024 season as the team's starter.[24]

Starting quarterbacks

[edit]
Playing card showing a picture of Rote in uniform
Tobin Rote started 73 games as the Packers' quarterback in the early 1950s.
Starr in uniform tossing a football underhanded
Bart Starr won five NFL Championships as the Packers' starting quarterback during most of the 1960s.
Favre in uniform jogging on a football field
Brett Favre started 275 straight games (regular and postseason combined) for the Packers from 1992 to 2007.
Rodgers in uniform wearing his helmet
Aaron Rodgers' regular season winning percentage (.661) is the highest of any Packers quarterback (minimum 10 starts).
Key
† Inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame
‡ Inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame

Regular season

[edit]
Green Bay Packers starting quarterbacks in the regular season
Quarterback Seasons with
the Packers 		Seasons with at least
one start as QB 		Games
started 		Record Refs
W L T %[a]
Zeke Bratkowski † 1963–71 1966–68, 71 9 4 4 1 .500 [26][27]
Carlos Brown 1975–76 1976 3 0 3 0 .000 [28]
Jack Concannon 1974 1974 2 0 2 0 .000 [29]
Jim Del Gaizo 1973 1973 3 1 2 0 .333 [30]
Lynn Dickey † 1976–85 1976–77, 79–85 101 43 56 2 .436 [31][15]
Anthony Dilweg 1989–90 1990 7 2 5 0 .286 [32]
Brett Favre ‡ 1992–2007 1992–2007 253 160 93 0 .632 [19][17]
Matt Flynn 2008–11, 13–14 2008–11, 13 6 3 3 0 .500 [33]
Joe Francis 1958–59 1958 1 0 1 0 .000 [34]
John Hadl 1974–75 1974–75 19 7 12 0 .368 [35]
Don Horn 1967–70 1969–70 6 4 2 0 .667 [36]
Brett Hundley 2015–17 2017 9 3 6 0 .333 [37]
Scott Hunter 1971–73 1971–73 29 15 11 3 .569 [38]
Randy Johnson 1976 1976 1 1 0 0 1.000 [39]
Blair Kiel 1988–91 1990–91 2 0 2 0 .000 [40]
Jordan Love 2020–24 2022–24 26 14 12 0 .538 [24]
Don Majkowski † 1987–92 1987–92 49 22 26 1 .459 [41][42]
Lamar McHan 1959–60 1959–60 11 7 4 0 .636 [43]
Don Milan 1975 1975 1 0 1 0 .000 [44]
Babe Parilli 1952–53, 57–58 1952–53, 57–58 14 3 11 0 .214 [45]
Alan Risher 1987 1987 3 2 1 0 .667 [46]
John Roach 1961–63 1963 4 3 1 0 .750 [47]
Aaron Rodgers 2005–22 2008–22 223 147 75 1 .661 [22]
Tobin Rote † 1950–56 1950–56 73 26 46 1 .363 [48][14]
Bart Starr ‡ 1956–71 1956–71 157 94 57 6 .618 [49][16]
Jerry Tagge 1972–74 1973–74 12 6 6 0 .500 [50]
Bobby Thomason 1951 1951 4 0 1 0 .000 [51]
Scott Tolzien 2013–15 2013 2 0 1 1 .250 [52]
Mike Tomczak 1991 1991 7 2 5 0 .286 [53]
Seneca Wallace 2013 2013 1 0 1 0 .000 [54]
David Whitehurst 1977–83 1977–79, 81 37 16 20 1 .446 [55]
Malik Willis 2024 2024 2 2 0 0 1.000 [56]
Randy Wright 1984–88 1984–88 32 7 25 0 .219 [57]
Jim Zorn 1985 1985 5 3 2 0 .600 [58]

Postseason

[edit]
Green Bay Packers starting quarterbacks in the postseason
Quarterback Seasons with
the Packers 		Seasons with at least
one start as QB 		Games
started 		Record Refs
W L %[a]
Lynn Dickey † 1976–85 1982 2 1 1 .500 [31][15]
Brett Favre ‡ 1992–2007 1993–98, 2001–04, 07 22 12 10 .545 [19][17]
Scott Hunter 1971–73 1972 1 0 1 .000 [38]
Jordan Love 2020–23 2023 2 1 1 .500 [24]
Aaron Rodgers 2005–22 2009–16, 19–21 21 11 10 .524 [22]
Bart Starr ‡ 1956–71 1960–62, 65–67 10 9 1 .900 [49][16]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Winning percentage is determined by dividing total wins by total games started, with ties counting as one-half win.[25]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "History of the Green Bay Packers". Packers.com. Archived from the original on June 17, 2010. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  2. ^ "2023 NFL Division Standings". NFL.com. Archived from the original on June 4, 2022. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  3. ^ Lewis, Robert (December 4, 2023). "Lambeau Field". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on September 12, 2023. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  4. ^ "Passing Through Time, a 1930s Rule Change Started the NFL on its Way to Wide Open Offense". ProFootballHoF.com. July 31, 2018. Archived from the original on November 28, 2023. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c Rumpff, Tim (director) (July 12, 2023). Quarterback (Television show). Netflix. Archived from the original on February 9, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Bent but not Broken". NFL.com. Archived from the original on February 17, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c Hogg, Curt (December 24, 2009). "5 Wide: The Evolution Of The Quarterback". BleacherReport.com. Archived from the original on February 2, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  8. ^ Christl, Cliff. "Paul Hornung". Packers.com. Archived from the original on June 7, 2023. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  9. ^ a b c "Green Bay Packers Career Passing Leaders". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on November 17, 2023. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  10. ^ "Highest-paid NFL players: Tracking most money guaranteed, per year at every position". ESPN.com. March 6, 2024. Archived from the original on February 29, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  11. ^ Laughlin, Alex (November 14, 2023). "The Cost (and Dangers) of Buying a Quarterback". Berkeley.edu. Archived from the original on March 11, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  12. ^ Epstein, Jori (January 26, 2024). "How Josh Allen helped Chiefs prepare for '3D' threat in Ravens' Lamar Jackson". Yahoo.com. Archived from the original on March 1, 2024. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  13. ^ Christl, Cliff. "Arnie Herber". Packers.com. Archived from the original on October 3, 2023. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  14. ^ a b Christl, Cliff. "Tobin Rote". Packers.com. Archived from the original on June 8, 2023. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  15. ^ a b c Christl, Cliff. "Lynn Dickey". Packers.com. Archived from the original on May 31, 2023. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  16. ^ a b c Christl, Cliff. "Bart Starr". Packers.com. Archived from the original on September 29, 2023. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  17. ^ a b c "Brett Favre praises staff and team at Packers Hall of Fame induction". Sports Illustrated. July 18, 2015. Archived from the original on October 30, 2023. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  18. ^ "AP NFL Most Valuable Player Winners". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on January 3, 2024. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
  19. ^ a b c "Brett Favre Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on May 14, 2011. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  20. ^ Hodkiewicz, Weston (November 26, 2015). "Favre: Green Bay's 'Ultimate Iron Man'". PackersNews.com. Archived from the original on March 1, 2024. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  21. ^ Nickel, Lori (March 9, 2008). "Rodgers preparing to assume control". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on October 7, 2008. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
  22. ^ a b c "Aaron Rodgers Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on July 6, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  23. ^ Vitali, Carmen (August 24, 2023). "Jordan Love is the Packers' starting QB. Here's why he's playing every preseason game". FoxSports.com. Archived from the original on August 28, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  24. ^ a b c "Jordan Love Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on August 31, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  25. ^ "NFL Tie-Breaking Procedures". NFL.com. Archived from the original on April 9, 2024. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  26. ^ "Zeke Bratkowski Stats". Pro-Fotball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  27. ^ Christl, Cliff. "Zeke Bratkowski". Packers.com. Archived from the original on May 23, 2023. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  28. ^ "Carlos Brown Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on October 7, 2022. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  29. ^ "Jack Concannon". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on January 29, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  30. ^ "Jim Del Gaizo Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on March 27, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  31. ^ a b "Lynn Dickey Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on April 19, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  32. ^ "Anthony Dilweg Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on October 2, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  33. ^ "Matt Flynn Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on April 21, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  34. ^ "Joe Francis Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on February 9, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  35. ^ "John Hadl Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  36. ^ "Don Horn Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on October 9, 2022. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  37. ^ "Brett Hundley Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on October 31, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  38. ^ a b "Scott Hunter Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on January 21, 2018. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  39. ^ "Randy Johnson Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on August 14, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  40. ^ "Blair Kiel Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on April 16, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  41. ^ "Don Majkowski Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on April 16, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  42. ^ Christl, Cliff. "Don Majkowski". Packers.com. Archived from the original on May 24, 2023. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  43. ^ "Lamar McHan Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on October 30, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  44. ^ "Don Milan Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on January 21, 2018. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  45. ^ "Babe Parilli Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on September 29, 2022. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  46. ^ "Alan Risher Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on October 11, 2008. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  47. ^ "John Roach Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  48. ^ "Tobin Rote Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on March 18, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  49. ^ a b "Bart Starr Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on March 20, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  50. ^ "Jerry Tagge Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on March 17, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  51. ^ "Bobby Thomason Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on March 22, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  52. ^ "Scott Tolzien Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on September 24, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  53. ^ "Mike Tomczak Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on May 16, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  54. ^ "Seneca Wallace Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on May 1, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  55. ^ "David Whitehurst Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on February 2, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  56. ^ "Malik Willis Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
  57. ^ "Randy Wright Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on October 15, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  58. ^ "Jim Zorn Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on July 19, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
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