.jpg)
2 hours ago
2
Denver Broncos quarterback Jarrett Stidham will be looking to become the latest backup quarterback to win a Super Bowl. Though it's not the preferred route for a team to take, some of the best quarterbacks in league history have done it.
However, no quarterback has ever had fewer career starts than Stidham has entering a start in the conference championship round. He would also have the fewest career starts of any quarterback to ever start the Super Bowl.
But teams have had their backup quarterback lead them to the Super Bowl and win it before. There have been backup quarterbacks who have contributed to a team winning the Super Bowl, such as Brock Osweiler for the Broncos in 2015, but to get on this list, the backup quarterback had to be the one to start and win the Super Bowl itself.
Take a look at some of these names.
Backup quarterbacks to win a Super Bowl
Roger Staubach, Dallas Cowboys, 1972
Though he went on to be a Hall-of-Fame passer, Roger Staubach began his career with the Dallas Cowboys as the backup to Craig Morton.
But in 1971, he replaced Morton in the lineup and took the Cowboys to Super Bowl VI, where they dominated the Miami Dolphins, 24-3. Staubach was named Super Bowl MVP.
Jim Plunkett, Oakland Raiders, 1981
In 1981, the Oakland Raiders saw starting quarterback Dan Pastorini go down with a leg injury in Week 5 of that season, bringing Jim Plunkett off the bench. Despite a shaky start, Plunkett guided the Raiders all the way to Super Bowl XV against the Philadelphia Eagles.
In that game, he only completed 13 passes, but they went for 261 yards and three touchdowns, leading to a 27-10 Raiders victory and to Plunkett being named the game's Most Valuable Player.
Doug Williams, Washington, 1988
Unfortunately, this was one of the saddest days in Broncos history.
Doug Williams took over for Jay Schroeder in the postseason following the 1987 regular season and he helped Washington reach the Super Bowl. In Super Bowl XXII, he put on perhaps the big game's most memorable performance in history.
The Broncos jumped out to a 10-0 lead in this game, only to watch Williams throw four touchdown passes in the second quarter, something that may never happen again. Washington added a 58-yard rushing touchdown to post 35 second-quarter points en route to a 42-10 victory.
Williams finished the night with 340 yards and was named the game's MVP.
Jeff Hostetler, New York Giants, 1991
This is the game in which Stidham's situation can best be compared to.
Jeff Hostetler was a third-round pick of the New York Giants in 1984, but with Phil Simms on the roster, he was relegated to backup status and it looked like it would stay that way for the duration of his career.
But late in the 1990 season, Simms suffered a season-ending foot injury, forcing the Giants to turn to Hostetler. When Stidham starts the AFC Championship Game on Sunday, it will be just his fifth career start, a new NFL record. That record previously belonged to Hostetler, who made just his sixth career start when the Giants defeated the San Francisco 49ers, 15-13, in the NFC Championship Game.
In Super Bowl XXV, Hostetler helped the Giants to a 20-19 victory over the Buffalo Bills.
Kurt Warner, St. Louis Rams, 2000
Unlike Stidham, who will be forced into action in the conference championship game, Kurt Warner was given the entire 1999 season as the starter for the Rams when Trent Green suffered a season-ending injury in the preseason.
Still, when head coach Dick Vermeil proclaimed, "We will rally around Kurt Warner, and we will play good football", most everyone laughed.
Warner was a guy who had come from the Arena League and as the story goes, once worked at a grocery store before getting a shot to play. That store literally turned into a movie after Warner took the Rams all the way to Super Bowl XXXIV and a win over the Tennessee Titans.
Warner was selected as the game's MVP.
Trent Dilfer, Baltimore Ravens, 2001
The following year, another backup quarterback won the Super Bowl when the Baltimore Ravens, which had one of the best defenses in NFL history that season, won it all.
Trent Dilfer was along for the ride after replacing Tony Banks as the team's starter and to this day, you'll hear fans say that "If Trent Dilfer won a Super Bowl, anyone can", and things of that nature.
Tom Brady, New England Patriots, 2002
Three years in a row in which a player who started the season as the team's backup quarterback won the Super Bowl? Yes, and this year's version is possibly the most dramatic story in league history.
In 2001, New England Patriots starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe was knocked out of a Week 3 game with a horrific chest injury. The team had to turn to its sixth-round pick, a guy named Tom Brady.
The legend of the player who is now widely considered the best to ever do it started on that day. Brady took the Patriots all the way to the Super Bowl, though Bledsoe did have to come on in relief for him in the AFC Championship Game. The Patriots defeated the Rams that year and Brady would never look back.
Nick Foles, Philadelphia Eagles, 2018
The most recent example of a backup winning the Super Bowl, and also one of the most unlikely, was Nick Foles leading the Eagles to the Lombardi Trophy after Carson Wentz suffered a torn ACL late that season.
Wentz was in the MVP talks that year and Foles was considered a nice backup, but a major step backwards. However, Foles went on a tremendous run that culminated in him throwing for 373 yards and three touchdowns in Super Bowl LII.
READ: 4 under-the-radar factors for Broncos fans to watch for in AFC Championship Game
Foles was selected as the MVP of the game after the Eagles went on to a 41-33 victory, a game in which he beat the Patriots and Brady.
Can Stidham add his name to this list?
More Broncos Content
Broncos' similarities between last Super Bowl appearance and this year are astonishing
Former coach hated by Broncos fans could play specific role in derailing Super Bowl plans
AFC Championship Game Expert Picks, Predictions: Broncos vs. Patriots
Vance Joseph nominated for major award along with two other former Broncos coaches
Patriots wide receiver fires back at Sean Payton, bulletin board material is everywhere
English (US)