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Backup quarterbacks who outshone the starters
#3 - Earl Morrall
In the annals of backup quarterbacks, few have made an impression as Earl Morrall did with the Baltimore Colts and the Miami Dolphins.
Earl Morrall was the backup quarterback to Hall of Famer Johnny Unitas. In 1968, he played the entire season after Unitas was injured and lost after only one game during the regular season.
He threw for 2,909 yards and 26 touchdowns, numbers that were enough to make him the NFL MVP for that season. They reached the Super Bowl that year but were defeated in an upset by the New York Jets.
He eventually reverted to being the backup quarterback but would get his redemption a couple of years later in Super Bowl V. Trailing 13-6 against the Dallas Cowboys, Unitas exited the game with a rib injury.
Earl Morrall took over and led the Colts to a 16-13 victory.
He was also an important part of the Miami Dolphins' legendary 1972 team as a backup quarterback to Bob Griese. He replaced Bob Griese against the San Diego Chargers in October and led the team to an undefeated regular NFL season.
He remained the starter until the AFC Championship game, during which Bob Griese took over midway. He remained the backup quarterback in Super Bowl VII as the Miami Dolphins became the first, and so far only team, to win all of their NFL games in a season.
#2 - Doug Williams
The Washington franchise has always been notorious for its racially backdated views, becoming the last NFL franchise to integrate, insisting on carrying a racial epithet as their franchise name and lately tolerating a racist work culture as evidenced from the leaked Jon Gruden emails to their former president Bruce Allen as part of the NFL's investigation into their workplace culture.
It almost seemed a quirk of logic that they were somehow responsible for one of the most seminal moments in league history.
But Doug Williams was not just a backup quarterback for them. He turned out to be a Super Bowl winning quarterback.
More importantly, he became the first black quarterback to win a Super Bowl, shattering the notion once and for all that black athletes were not cerebral enough to play the quarterback position.
Doug Williams was the backup quarterback to Jay Schroeder and in 1987 he substituted for him in three games and started another couple of games. Due to his superior passer rating of 94, he got the nod as the starter for the playoffs.
He led the Washington franchise to victory in the postseason, defeating the John Elway-led Denver Broncos 42-10 in Super Bowl XXII. He threw for 340 yards and four touchdown passes and became the first black quarterback to be named Super Bowl MVP.
#1 - Jim Plunkett
The gold standard for backup quarterbacks remains Jim Plunkett. He joined the Oakland Raiders in 1978 and with them he made history.
He was the backup quarterback to Dan Pastorini in the 1980 season and came in the fifth week to substitute for him after an injury. He became the starter the following week and led the Raiders to nine victories in eleven games to clinch a wild-card berth.
They then became the first team to win the Super Bowl as a wild-card, winning the Super Bowl XV 27-10 against the Philadelphia Eagles. Jim Plunkett became the first Latino quarterback, and indeed the first minority quarterback, to win the Super Bowl MVP award.
He reprised the role of a backup quarterback in the subsequent seasons, but in 1983 after starter Marc Wilson was injured, he again took the reins and guided the Los Angeles Raiders to victory in Super Bowl XVIII.
From his two Super Bowl wins and his legacy as the first minority quarterback to win the Super Bowl and its MVP award, he remains arguably the greatest backup quarterback ever to have ever played.
