From roughly when John Elway was the first of six quarterbacks chosen in the first round of the 1983 draft, the NFL has been called a quarterback league.
But these days, it’s becoming a quarterback league in a different way.
Great quarterbacks — actually, former greats — are influencing more than the balance of running and passing. They are influencing the league’s balance of power by telling team owners what to do.
Atlanta Falcons fans called Matt Ryan “Matty Ice” because he was unflappable under pressure. Since retiring in 2023, the most prolific passer in Falcons history has been working as an analyst for CBS but is beginning a new chapter as the Falcons’ president of football. Ryan will oversee the hiring of a general manager and head coach and have influence over the roster as well.
Generations know Troy Aikman only as a network game analyst, a role he’s held for 24 years. But some of us remember him standing tall in the pocket, broad-shouldered and eyes downfield with danger inching closer, willing the Dallas Cowboys onward. Now he has a new role, as the Pro Football Hall of Famer is advising Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross. The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported that Aikman pushed for Jon-Eric Sullivan to be hired as the team’s general manager, which he was. And now he’s helping the team find a head coach.
Also assisting in the Miami search was Dan Marino, whose golden arm and fiery spirit made him the greatest Dolphin of them all. The Hall of Famer has been a special adviser to the Dolphins for 11 years.
The Las Vegas Raiders released a statement last week saying general manager John Spytek will search for the team’s next coach and lead all football operations in close collaboration with minority owner Tom Brady. It won’t be the first time Spytek and Brady have partnered on team building. Brady had a persuasive voice in shaping the 2020 Bucs, recommending that Spytek and general manager Jason Licht sign Rob Gronkowski, Leonard Fournette, Antonio Brown, Julio Jones, Richard Sherman and others.
The Bucs won the Super Bowl that season but probably wouldn’t have if they hadn’t added the players Brady wanted.
With the Raiders, Brady has a pretty sweet gig — power without accountability. Rather than go all in as a full-time front-office executive, he mostly consults remotely while earning $37.5 million annually for game commentary on Fox.
Seven rings have earned him the right to call his shots.
Quarterbacks who have attained a certain status understandably don’t want to start over as subordinates, be assigned grunt work and wait in line for promotions. They’ve made significant sacrifices for decades to achieve their athletic successes — why should they make more sacrifices when they can enjoy the spoils of fame, be present parents and cavort in the Caribbean with ravishing influencers?
We may yet see Peyton Manning in a big chair behind a big desk in a corner office of an NFL team. Manning could probably be lording over a team now if he desired. It was reported that he had serious talks with the Indianapolis Colts to lead their front office in 2017, one year after retiring. Rumors also linked him to the Cleveland Browns and New York Jets. He once acknowledged that he talked with a few teams about the possibilities.
Instead, he chose to become “Paintin’,” “Motivatin’,” and “Debatin’,” Manning, creating a lucrative, unique brand (along with brother Eli) that blends humor with analysis.
In years past, former quarterbacks were treated more like dead batteries than organizational saviors.
Otto Graham was Brady before Brady, having won seven championships as the quarterback of the Browns. After he retired in 1955, he wasn’t asked to be an overlord for an NFL team. He had to prove himself as head coach at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy before being hired by the Washington Redskins as head coach and general manager.
When the iconic Bobby Layne retired as the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback in 1962, his team gave him a job not as team president but as quarterback coach, a role he held for two years. After another season in the same position for the St. Louis Cardinals, he became a scout for the Dallas Cowboys for two seasons.
Doug Williams was a Super Bowl MVP for Washington in 1990, but before the team brought him back as a personnel evaluator 24 years later, he had to coach two high school teams, serve as an assistant for Navy and the Scottish Claymores of the World League, scout for the Jaguars and Bucs, coach Morehouse and Grambling State and serve as general manager for the Virginia Destroyers of the United Football League.
Bart Starr was a Hall of Fame quarterback for the Packers, but he wasn’t much of a talent evaluator in his dual role as Green Bay’s head coach and general manager. (Manny Rubio / USA Today)
There have been exceptions. As a true field general, Bart Starr may have been without peer. That led to his hiring as the Packers’ head coach and general manager after just one season as their quarterbacks coach.
But when Starr and others like him had chances to draft players and construct rosters, they often proved they were considerably better at passing than picking.
As a GM, Starr chose Bruce Clark with the fourth pick of the 1980 draft but never coached him because Clark refused to play nose tackle, as Starr demanded. Clark went to the CFL, where he played his preferred position, defensive end. The following year, Starr selected quarterback Rich Campbell with the sixth pick instead of defensive end Hugh Green or safety Ronnie Lott. Campbell never started a game for the Packers and was out of the league after four seasons.
After five years as a coach/general manager, Starr was relieved of his general manager duties but retained as coach for four more years. Starr was known as an extension of Vince Lombardi as his quarterback, but he clearly was not an extension of Lombardi as a talent evaluator, as Lombardi and Jack Vainisi were brilliant in building the Packers dynasty.
In his three years as general manager of the Redskins, Graham never had a winning season. His first-round draft choice in his first year was a kicker, Charlie Gogolak, and in his second year, he chose running back Ray McDonald with the 13th pick, two picks ahead of Hall of Famer Alan Page and four ahead of Hall of Famer Gene Upshaw.
Hall of Famer Norm Van Brocklin was hired as the Atlanta Falcons’ head coach in 1968. Two years later, he was given the additional responsibilities of general manager. But his most memorable draft pick came in the 17th round in 1972, when he announced he was taking Western movie hero John Wayne to make a statement about toughness. Given that the actor was 72 at the time, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle said, “Not so fast, pilgrim,” and disallowed the selection.
So why are NFL owners now entrusting big-name quarterbacks with big-time responsibilities?
When a team owner puts his arm around a recognizable quarterback, it’s an easy sell. And losing teams need easy sells.
Great quarterbacks were usually willing to outwork their peers, exhibited calm under pressure and had commanding presences. They are sought for their advice for the same reason they are sought for endorsements.
Floundering teams often lack leadership, and every great quarterback knows how to inspire followers. Leadership is a commodity that extends beyond the field. Brady, for instance, writes a newsletter in which he often sheds light on his transcendent leadership abilities.
Broadcasters Ryan, Brady and Aikman have proved they can articulate their visions in ways we can all understand. When fans listen to Aikman on ESPN, many nod along to his commentary. “Yeah, that’s right, Troy.”
The argument could be made that Aikman knows the NFL as well as or better than anyone after 24 years of attending practices, visiting NFL facilities and picking the brains of owners, general managers, coaches and players as a color commentator.
Matt Ryan, Troy Aikman and Tom Brady would love to emulate the success John Elway, above, had as general manager of the Broncos. (Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)
But that logic didn’t translate in the case of Matt Millen, who was one of the best game analysts for nine years before becoming president and CEO of the Detroit Lions. Millen, who won three Super Bowls with three teams as a middle linebacker, presided over Detroit teams that went 31-84 over eight years. Millen lacked boots-on-the-ground experience in the front office.
As a team president, Ryan will be like Millen, beginning at a top rung of the organizational ladder and skipping steps that hardly anyone else could.
Much of this trend should be laid at the pigeon-toed feet of Elway.
After delivering two Lombardi trophies to the Broncos as a quarterback, he brought another as the team’s general manager. During his 11-year tenure, the Broncos won two AFC championships, made the playoffs five times and won 56 percent of their games.
But that doesn’t tell the entire story of his impact. When he took over, the Broncos were coming off five non-winning seasons. Then they won 50 of his first 64 games. He built a team that won with offense, then built one that won with defense. The son of a scout, Elway drafted Von Miller, brought Peyton Manning to Denver and nurtured future general managers Spytek, John Lynch, Adam Peters, Darren Mougey and Dave Zeigler.
Elway’s teams didn’t make the playoffs the final five years of his tenure and he struggled to find a successor to Manning, but the going up was worth the coming down.
Now team owners are looking for another Elway — either one who could throw like him or generally manage like him.
And if Brady, Aikman and Ryan can help their teams the way Elway did, 15 years from now Drake Maye may be interviewing candidates to become the next coach of the New England Patriots.
