The hobby of sports collectibles and NFL fans alike are grappling with the official news announcement that Tom Brady is retiring from his professional football career. It is undeniable that Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback of all-time (GOAT). Brady shattered just about every single record that is conceivable.
Now the hobby is going to have to focus on one of two paths. The “Next Goat” or the “Old GOATs.” Collectors Dashboard has already reviewed the new “GOATs” outside of Patrick Mahomes (see below) and now it’s time to review the former GOAT quarterbacks of the NFL. To keep this focused and from going endlessly we have kept this review to the former greatest quarterbacks who are still frequently seen and who are actively involved in the NFL today or who are actively endorsing products that the public still sees.
Collectors Dashboard evaluates high-end collectibles as an alternative asset class. This means collectibles are attracting the same capital that could have been invested into stocks or bonds. When sports cards of the GOATS cost $100,000 or go over $1,000,000 they are undeniably competing for investment dollars.
Outside of our review of Patrich Mahomes, this focus is on four primary quarterbacks that are retired and are still actively seen in the public. That puts Peyton Manning and Drew Brees in a very close heat, followed by Joe Montana and also Terry Bradshaw.
Was it fair to overlook or not include quarterbacks like Troy Aikman, Dan Marino and John Elway? Or what about other great QBs like Roger Staubach, Joe Namath, Bart Starr, Johnny Unitas and others? Probably not. We have already reviewed some of those greats even before Brady’s retirement but these are the four QBs we believe that the sports collectibles hobby needs to take a rekindled interest in.
PEYTON MANNING
As Tom Brady’s career was in mid-stride, many modern era football fans at the time thought that Peyton Manning was a better quarterback than Brady. He was drafted in the first round and with Archie Manning as his dad there were great expectations on Manning from day one. His winning record was 186-79 and he racked up 71,940 passing yards. His 539 TDs compared to 251 pick-offs and he had a career completion percentage of 65.3%. At the Colts he won MVP 5 times, and he did win MVP once for Denver. Missing the entire 2011 season did not help, and after a next surgery Manning went on to play four seasons for the Broncos. While his post-season record was 14 wins and 13 losses, and his 55.4% completion rate was just 51 completions from 92 attempts. That said, Manning did rack 7,339 passing yards and had 40 post-season touchdowns versus 25 interceptions. His Super Bowl record was 2 wins and 2 losses.
Manning’s top-selling rookie is the 1998 Playoff Contender Rookie Ticket Autographed Peyton Manning #87 PSA, and Heritage’s high sale for a Gem Mint PSA 10 example was $52,580.00 on Nov. 17, 2016. That said, the last offer represented by Heritage was $120,000 on October 30, 2021. The 1998 SP Authentic Peyton Manning #14 is Mannings most popular high-priced rookie thereafter with 1,112 total PSA-graded examples, with 93 at the PSA 10 Gem Mint level with recent PSA 10 sales averaging $10,000 to $11,000 according to PSA’s own sales tracking. There is also a limited 1998 Metal Universe card (#/50) that comes with significant eye appeal as well as a base Metal Universe, and there is of course the 1998 Topps #360 card that has over 1,900 PSA graded examples which sold for only $99 for the last PSA 9 and just $850 for the last PSA 10.
DREW BREES
Drew Brees might have much more of a national fanbase had his career not started with the Chargers before 15 seasons in New Orleans. This might make many collectors ask why Brees is even referenced in GOATs. He played until he was 41 years old and could have likely played another year if he chose to. Brees also only has 1 Super Bowl win and only 1 appearance on his record despite a regular season record of 172 wins versus 114 losses. What stood out in his 67.7% completion percentage was that he was the all-time passing leader for yards with 80,358 yards — and Tom Brady only passed that record up this last year. Brees also has 571 TDs and 243 interceptions. The lesson of Drew Brees for “The Hobby” is that if you play for better national franchises and have more Super Bowl appearances it just makes your cards and memorabilia more valuable.
The reality is that Drew Brees items just do not sell as much as other quarterbacks and his new job as an announcer may (or may not) help his long-term presence with sports fans. Heritage sold a 2001 Playoff Contenders Drew Brees (Autographed) #124 PSA Gem Mint 10, Auto 10 (Pop 3) for $40,800.00 on Dec. 11, 2020. It also sold a 2001 Upper Deck SP Authentic Drew Brees (Sign of the Times-Gold) Rookie #DBr PSA Gem Mint 10 (18/25) for $25,200.00 on Jan. 28, 2022.
JOE MONTANA
Joe Montana was undisputedly “THE” quarterback of the 1980s, and was a GOAT of his own right. After missing all of the 1991 season and only part of a single game in 1992 with San Francisco, Montana did have two more years with the Chiefs at the end of his career. He had a completion rate of 63.2%, a winning record of 117-47 and 40,551 passing yards. He also passed for 273 TDs versus 139 interceptions. Montana’s reputation was being a clutch QB at the end of the game, and being down by one score with 2 minutes or less was what Montana was known for. Montana has a post-season record of 16 wins and 7 losses, but he played in 8 Super Bowls and won 4 of them. And before there was Brady and Gronk and before there was Payton Manning and Marvin Harrison, there just was no better QB/WR duo than Montana and Jerry Rice.
Heritage’s high sale of a Montana rookie is the 1981 Topps Joe Montana Rookie #216 PSA 10 (Gem Mint) which sold for $69,000.00 on May 6, 2021. This card is rather available with just over 22,000 graded examples by PSA alone, but the print quality and centering and edges by Topps in 1981 was not good and only 108 of these cards exist in the pristine “10” grades.
TERRY BRADSHAW
Terry Bradshaw is a 1970s era tough as nails quarterback that remains popular in the public as a broadcaster today. The hobby overlooks just how dominant he was in the time when young NFL players had to work other jobs in the off-season. He was the first choice by the Steelers in the 1970 NFL draft. His statistics are from an era that do not sound as impressive versus the modern era’s longer seasons, more QB protection, and big explosive scoring games dominated by passing yards.
The reality is that Bradshaw’s stats and his stature are grossly under-rated versus how dominant he was in the NFL. Don’t let the stats of 27,989 passing yards and 212 TD passes versus 210 interceptions fool you. Bradshaw led the Steelers to 4 Super Bowl victories in the 1970s and he was the first NFL QB to win 4 Super Bowls. Coming into the league at 6’3″ and 215 pounds, Bradshaw was tough as nails and his 2,257 rushing yards (mostly in 8 seasons) was double that of Tom Brady’s 1,124 rushing yards for his entire 22-year career. His last full season (mostly full) was at 33 years old and he retired in 1983 at age 35. Football was a different game in the 1970s and Bradshaw would frequently have to make hard plays against large defensive players and take his own big hits down the field.
Bradshaw’s rookie is the 1971 Topps #156 card. While PSA has more than 4,150 graded examples of the rookie card alone, there are only 3 examples of the Gem Mint PSA 10 and only 20 PSA 9 Mint grades out there. The scarcity at the higher grades is because of the red border and paper cutting that Topps used for the 1971 set (similar to the black border baseball set that same year). The card shows off any chipping or corner ding immediately. Prices skyrocket in the highest grades, but the sales by whole grade were $3,480.00 for a PSA 8, then $1,050.00 for a PSA 7, and just under $500 for a PSA 6. There is a reason we believe most Bradshaw cards are undervalued!
BART STARR vs. JOHNNY UNITAS!!!
We have reviewed a prior outline about Bart Starr and Johhny Unitas. Our first assumption was that this was a very close race. It turns out that there was a clear winner in their rookie cards, Super Bowl record not counting!
