Dave Krieg Gets Dissed Again

Poor Dave Krieg. Although disrespected and unappreciated throughout his career--even by many misguided Seahawks fans--I had hoped he might fare better in retirement.

He hasn't. The most recent outrage came when NFL Films failed to mention him on Top 10 Backup Quarterbacks, which aired last week.

NFL Top 10 is a guilty pleasure. Subjective rankings naturally spark debate, but generally the top 10 lists reflect sound reasoning. But not this time. (Spoiler alert: I'm going to publish the list so I can complain about it. If you haven't seen the program, yet, and you like narrative tension, stop reading now.)

Here is the list:

1. Kurt Warner, for coming off the bench to lead St. Louis to victory in Super Bowl XXXIV (Warner was MVP), and for getting off the pine again to get Arizona to Super Bowl XLIII.

2. Earl Morrall, for effectively relieving Johnny Unitas and then Bob Griese, for taking the Colts to Super Bowl III, for leading Baltimore to victory in Super Bowl V, and for sustaining the Dolphins' perfect season while Griese recovered from injury.

3. Jim Plunkett, who rose from the bench to lead the Raiders to victory in Super Bowls XV & XVIII.

4. Jeff Hostetler, for helping the Giants win Super Bowl XXV.

5. Don Strock, for 14 years of backup work in Miami, for an inspired relief performance in the epic 1982 AFC divisional duel between the Dolphins & the Chargers, for mentoring Dan Marino, and for coming out of retirement to help the Browns make the playoffs in 1988.

6. Frank Reich, for leading the greatest comeback in NFL history over the Oilers in 1993, and for getting the Bills to Super Bowl XXVII.

7. Brett Favre's backup quarterbacks, because they never had to play, and because some of them (Mark Brunell, Matt Hasselbeck) went elsewhere and played well. (Evidently, this was meant as a sort of joke.)

8. Doug Williams, the first black quarterback to win a Super Bowl.

9. Tom Brady, from the bench to Super Bowl MVP.

10. Trent Dilfer, for leading the Ravens to victory in the Super Bowl.

It is hard to argue with most of the entries on the list. My problem is with #7. Why waste a spot in the top 10 for a lame joke, when you could recognize someone who is truly deserving? Moreover, if #7 is a joke, does that mean that Williams, Brady and Dilfer rank lower than a joke?

However, even if NFL Films had come to their senses and made a serious selection for #7, it wouldn't have been Dave Krieg.

In addition to the top 10 list, the program mentioned other distinguished backups in their "Best of the Rest" segments. Here they are:

Johnny Unitas & Brett Favre, because they began as backup quarterbacks.

Vince Ferragamo, who came off the bench and led the L.A. Rams to Super Bowl XIV.

Steve Young & Randall Cunningham, who became backups in mid-career, but then came off the bench to play their best football.

Matt Cassel, who filled in nicely for Tom Brady in 2008.

Doug Flutie & Bubby Brister, because each was a backup quarterbacks on 5 different teams. (Yes, I'm serious. That's what they said.)

Gus Frerotte, for spraining his neck by head-butting a padded wall to celebrate a score, and for playing for more teams than any backup mentioned on the program (7)

Among the "Best of the Rest," only Ferragamo rivals Krieg as a claimant to a spot in the top 10. Even by the frivolous criterion of playing for a lot of teams, Mudbone deserves mention: he played backup for 5 different teams, just like Flutie and Brister.

Consider Krieg's resume as a reliever:

1981: Zorn went 4-9 before getting injured; Krieg finished 2-1.

1982: Zorn struggled in the season finale vs. Denver, Dave came in to win the game.

1983: Krieg came off the bench to lead Seattle to its first playoff appearance, its first playoff win (over Denver), and its first appearance in the AFC Championship Game.

1986: Mudbone rose from the pine to engineer a 5-game winning streak, was named AFC Player of the Month.

1993: Playing for the Chiefs, Krieg ably and repeatedly relieved a fragile Joe Montana.

1994: Now a Lion, Mudbone took a Detroit team that was 4-5 and led them to a 5-2 finish. Statistically, it remains the greatest season performance ever by a Lions quarterback.

1996: Krieg inherited a Bears team that was 1-3 and led them to a 6-6 finish. (Making a miserable team mediocre is as miraculous as making a good team great.)

1998: When an injury momentarily sidelined Tennessee Oiler quarterback Steve McNair, Krieg played so well that when McNair was ready to re-enter the game, Coach Jeff Fisher kept him on the bench because "Dave was in the zone."

This track record compares favorably with the great backup QBs listed on the top 10, and is substantially better than every passer mentioned in "Best of the Rest," except perhaps Ferragamo.

So, while it is entertaining to watch Frerotte sprain his own neck, or to hear them explain why Unitas and Young don't really belong on the list, they should have given some air time to my man Mudbone.

So why was Krieg slighted? Perhaps it's East Coast media bias.

The secret to Dave's success coming off the bench was that he never thought of himself as a backup. Mudbone was a competitor who didn't look impressive in practice, but knew how to turn it on at game time. Fortunately, when people disrespected and underestimated him, Krieg reliably rose to the occasion to prove them wrong.


Postscript: Does Dave Krieg belong in Canton?

Krieg posted Hall of Fame-calibre numbers during his career. Retired since 1998, and having last started a game in 1996, he still ranks 13th in all-time passing yards, ahead of contemporary Canton enshrinees like Troy Aikman, Jim Kelly, and Steve Young.

Mudbone ranks 10th all-time in touchdown passes, outpacing not only Aikman, Kelly, Young, but also Dan Fouts.

Krieg's career passer rating has fallen to 33rd all time (quarterbacks from the current era--like Matt Hasselbeck--dominate the list), but he outranks contemporary Hall of Famers like Fouts, Warren Moon, and John Elway.

Of course, Krieg will never make the Hall of Fame. Most of the quarterbacks in Canton have won championships, or have at least appeared in Super Bowls. Fouts and Moon are obvious exceptions, but Moon made the cut as a racial pathbreaker, and because he won five Grey Cups with the Canadian Football League. (Canton is the Pro Football Hall of Fame, not the NFL Hall of  Fame). As for Fouts, he spent half of his career in 14-game seasons before the Blount rule, so it's no wonder that Krieg outranked him in passer rating and touchdowns.

Dave Krieg was a very good journeyman quarterback. He may not belong in Canton, but he deserved at least a mention on Top 10 Backup Quarterbacks.

On my all-time Seahawks team, Matt Hasselbeck gets the starting nod, but if his play is anything less than stellar, I'd bench him in a heartbeat for my man Mudbone.