Dan Marino says there’s a new addition to the QB Mount Rushmore

Who’s the greatest quarterback of all time? If there’s one question that really gets football fans riled up (with the exception perhaps of anything related to Taylor Swift), this is it. While everybody has their own opinion on the matter, real insight can be gained from the people who know what it takes to be elite: Hall of Fame QBs.

Recently, Dan Marino was asked who would be on his QB Mount Rushmore, and his initial response wasn’t too surprising. While he said he loved Joe Namath and Terry Bradshaw, he would carve spots for people he played against: Joe Montana, John Elway and Jim Kelly.

What about a former Dolphin player who’s in the top-10 all time in yards, completion percent and touchdowns, namely, himself? Marino modestly demurred and said he wouldn’t give the final spot to himself. But, on the heels of his third Super Bowl, Marino believes that Patrick Mahomes should be in the conversation, and that he now has to “be considered one of the best ever, too.”

The GOAT (or at least GOATs) debate of course can’t be complete without talking about Tom Brady, and Marino mentioned him. Perhaps most interesting are the names he didn’t bring up, including two notable QBs he played against: Troy Aikman and Steve Young. Marino also didn’t include Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers or Drew Brees.

So, who would Mahomes immortalize in stone? When he was asked a couple of years ago what his Mount Rushmore of QBs looked like, he quickly said Brady, Manning and Montana would be on it. As for that last spot?

“To me right now, it’s probably between Dan Marino and John Elway,” he said. “I don’t know who that fourth one is. I’m gonna give it to Elway just because he has the rings but Marino, if you look at the stats, his first season [second season, actually], 48 touchdowns in that era. Dude, best quarterback season, has to be in history. I don’t care what anyone says.”

At 28, Mahomes still has a lot of time to add to his resume. When it’s all said and done for him, he may not just be considered an all-time great, but perhaps the QB with the largest head on the mountain.