#10 - Roger Staubach
It pains me a bit to have my highest ranked 70s QB at #10. I'm not a full believer in the distortion of 70s stats and winners and all that bunk, but I do realize also how dramatically different the game was in 1973 compared to 2018. Roger Staubach is the best QB of the 70s in my mind, putting up numbers that would have fit right in in the 1990s, and when you look at his numbers adjusted for his era, they stand out to a ridiculous agree. The real comp for Staubach, to be honest, is Steve Young, a player whose efficiency was far ahead of his time, but also didn't have the volume due to a late start.
Quickly on the numbers. Staubach had years with QB ratings of 84.9, 87.0, 92.3, 94.6 and 104.8(!) in his career. Adjusted for era, all those seasons ended up with a QB rating+ (similar to OPS+/ERA+ in baseball) at 125 or above. That is really good. How good? Tom Brady only has four such seasons in his career (2007, 2010, 2011, 2017). Brees also has just four. Rodgers has three (admittedly, two more at 124). Peyton had five. Now, I don't fully trust these numbers because while Staubach was amazing, the bottom-tier QB play in the 1970s is just so much worse than it is today, it skews downward a bit. That said, Staubach was playing a different sport than most 1970s QBs, and doing it exceedingly well.
Now let's look at the volume side of the equation - Staubach's career only really started at 27, and he didn't become a full time starter until he was 29. He's not alone it that type of late start. Unlike similar players though, while Warner started late because he wasn't all that good earlier, or Steve Young playing in the USFL, Staubach started late because he was serving in the military. I'm not going to give him additional credit for missing years for that, but I will give him all the credit in the world of being a phenomenal human being.
Roger Staubach was termed Captain America early in his career, and the combination of his military service, his charm, his great looks, and you realize he truly was a quasi-precursor to good ol Cap Steve Rogers. Staubach had personality as well - long contrasted with Joe Namath, given Staubach's status as having married his highschool sweetheart and living a most Christian life, Roger took it on himself during a live TV interview once to proclaim "I enjoy having sex just like Joe, I just do it with one woman"
Staubach was a humbly great player, with a great arm, a scrambler mentality inherited from Tarkenton, and another similarity he shares with Steve Young. Staubach also played a very controlled game, a career interception rate of 3.7% (again, very good for the 1970s - Bradshaw was at 5.4%). Staubach wasn't surrounded by amazing talent, relative to some of his contemporaries, but he had his share of great connections - including Drew Perason, who he memorably found in the 'Hail Mary' origin story.
Roger Staubach is America, but hyping him up as some hero is not doing his actual career justice. He was a hyper-smart QB who was playing a very 1980s-1990s type game in the pit of the deadball era in football. He did well in the playoffs, did well at home or on the road, and did his best work in December (a lifetime 97.3 passer rating in the month). Staubach was just excellent in every way.
Staubach's understated personality may make his legacy and memory more lost over time, but I think he comes out well in the end. He may not be Namath or Bradshaw, but if the alternative is a universally beloved and highly regarded player, a not-too-overblown symbol of Americana, who lived a comfortable family life, and opened a series of real estate operations that netted him upwards of $100m, I think Staubah did A-OK.
