Joe Montana - For his career with the 49ers, Montana completed 2,929 of 4,600 passes for 35,142 yards with 244 touchdowns and 123 interceptions. He had 35 300-yard passing games including 7 in which he threw for over 400 yards. His career totals: 3,409 completions on 5,391 attempts, 273 touchdowns, 139 interceptions, and 40,551 yards passing. He also rushed for 1,676 yards and 20 touchdowns. When Montana retired, his career passer rating was 92.3, the highest all time; he has since been surpassed by his 49er successor Steve Young (96.8), as well as five other players - which now ranks his QB rating at 7th of all-time. Montana also had won 100 games faster than any other quarterback until surpassed by Tom Brady in 2008.[33] His record as a starter was 117-47. His number 16 was retired by the 49ers on December 15, 1997 during halftime of the team's game against the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football.

Montana holds post-season records for most career touchdown passes (45), games with a passer rating over 100.0 (12) and games with 300+ passing yards (6, tied with Peyton Manning and Kurt Warner), and is second in passing yards (5,772). In his four Super Bowls, Montana completed 83 of 122 passes for 1,142 yards and 11 touchdowns with no interceptions, earning him a passer rating of 127.8. Montana led his team to victory in each game, and is the only player ever to win three Super Bowl MVP awards. He played in eight Pro Bowls. Montana also holds the record for most passing yards on a Monday night game with 458 against the Los Angeles Rams in 1989.

Highest Passer Rating - Ever. Steve Young (born Jon Steven Young on October 11, 1961 in Salt Lake City, Utah), is a former American football quarterback, best known for his time on the NFL's San Francisco 49ers. He also played for the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Los Angeles Express of the United States Football League. Young was named the Most Valuable Player of the NFL in 1992 and 1994, the MVP of Super Bowl XXIX, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2005, the first left-handed quarterback to be so honored. He holds the NFL record for highest career passer rating and won six NFL passing titles.

Brett Favre may or may not be playing when you read this but here are a few things to consider for a sense of career perspective, as of Nov 2009:

Favre has completed more passes than all but 7 QBs have attempted passes...
Favre has won more games than all but 8 QBs have played ...
Favre has thrown more INTs than all but 3 QBs have thrown TDs...
Favre total YDs is at least twice that of all but 15 QBs...
Favre total TDs is at least twice that of all but 13 QBs...
Favre attempts are at least twice that of all but 16 QBs...
Favre completions are at least twice that of all but 11 QBs...
Favre is the only QB to amass 70000 total yards, 3000 TD points, and 500 total TDs

Top 5 Passer Rating - All Time. Manning holds NFL records for consecutive seasons with over 4,000 yards passing and the most total seasons with 4,000 or more yards passing in a career. Manning holds the third-highest career passer rating (95.2) among active quarterbacks, and ranks fourth all-time behind only Steve Young (96.8), Phillip Rivers (95.8), and Tony Romo (95.6). He is the all-time Colts franchise leader in career wins, career passing yards, pass attempts, pass completions, and passing touchdowns.

Elway is regarded as one of the top quarterbacks ever to play the game. He has one of the best winning percentages in league history (148–82–1), and is tied for second most Pro Bowl selections for a quarterback (nine). He is third to Brett Favre and Dan Marino in career passing attempts, passing yards and completions. His four total rushing touchdowns in his Super Bowl games are the most ever by a quarterback. Elway is the only quarterback to have started in five Super Bowls. He is also the second player ever to score a rushing touchdown in four different Super Bowls (running back Thurman Thomas was the first).

Marino became one of the most prolific quarterbacks in league history, holding or having held almost every major NFL passing record. Despite never being on a Super Bowl-winning team, he is recognized as one of the greatest quarterbacks in American football history. Remembered particularly for having a quick release and a powerful arm, Marino led the Dolphins into the playoffs on numerous occasions. Marino was selected to play in nine Pro Bowls (1983-87, 1991-92, 1994-95), seven times as a starter, but due to injuries he only played in two of the games (1984, 1992). (Marino usually had knee surgery following every season.) He was named first- or second-team All-Pro eight times and earned All-AFC honors six times.

John Constantine "Johnny" Unitas; (May 7, 1933 – September 11, 2002), nicknamed the Golden Arm and often called Johnny U, was a professional American football player in the 1950s through the 1970s, spending the majority of his career with the Baltimore Colts. He was a record-setting quarterback, and the National Football League's most valuable player in 1959, 1964 and 1967. His record of throwing a touchdown pass in 47 consecutive games (between 1956-1960) remains unsurpassed as of 2009. He has been listed as one of the greatest NFL quarterbacks of all time.

One of the Highest Passer Ratings. Warner first attained stardom during his stint with the St. Louis Rams from 1998-2003, where he won two NFL MVP awards in 1999 and 2001, as well as the Super Bowl MVP award in Super Bowl XXXIV. He also led the 2008 Arizona Cardinals to Super Bowl XLIII (the franchise's first-ever Super Bowl berth), and owns the three highest single-game passing yardage totals in Super Bowl history. Warner is ranked among the top QB's all-time in career passer rating, behind Steve Young, and several active players.

Terry Paxton Bradshaw (born September 2, 1948), also known by the nickname "Mr. Steel Arm", is a former with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League (NFL). He played 14 seasons. In a six-year span, he won an unprecedented four Super Bowl titles with Pittsburgh (1974, 1975, 1978 and 1979), becoming the first quarterback to do so, and led the Steelers to eight AFC Central championships. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1989, his first year of eligibility.

A tough competitor, Bradshaw had a powerful – albeit at times erratic – arm and called his own plays throughout his football career. His physical skills and on-the-field leadership played a major role in Pittsburgh Steelers history. During his career, he passed for more than 300 yards in a game only seven times, but three of those performances came in the post-season, and two of those in Super Bowls. In four career Super Bowl appearances he passed for 932 yards and 9 touchdowns, both Super Bowl records at the time of his retirement. In 19 postseason games he completed 261 passes for 3,833 yards.

Fouts was a 6-time Pro Bowl selection (1979-1983 & 1985) and compiled passer ratings over 90.0 for a 3-year stretch (1981-83). Fouts threw for over 4,000 yards for 3 consecutive seasons (1979-81), led the NFL in passing yards in 4 consecutive seasons(1979-1982) and 6 times eclipsed the 20-touchdown mark with a career high 33 in 1981. His career high of 4,802 passing yards during the 1981 season was an NFL record at the time.

In 1982, a season shortened to 9 games because of a strike, Fouts averaged what is still a record of 320 yards passing per game. Highlights that season included back-to-back victories against the 1981 Super Bowl teams San Francisco (41-37) and Cincinnati (50-34) in which Fouts threw for over 400 yards in each game to lead the Chargers to shootout victories.

Fouts garnered All-Pro selections in both 1979 and 1982, while also being named 2nd Team All-Pro in 1980 and 1985. In addition Fouts was also named 2nd Team All-AFC in 1981 and 1983. However, Fouts and the Chargers lost both AFC Championship Games in which they played.

In his 18 NFL seasons, Tarkenton completed 3,686 of 6,467 passes for 47,003 yards and 342 touchdowns, with 266 interceptions. Tarkenton's 47,003 career passing yards rank him 6th all time, while his 342 career passing touchdowns is 4th all time in NFL history. He also is fifth on the all-time list of wins by a starting quarterback with 124 regular season victories. He also used his impressive scrambling ability to rack up 3,674 rushing yards and 32 touchdowns on 675 carries. During his career, Tarkenton ran for a touchdown in 15 different seasons, an NFL record among quarterbacks. He ranks fourth in career rushing yards among quarterbacks', behind Randall Cunningham, Steve Young and Michael Vick. He is also one of two NFL quarterbacks ever to rush for at least 300 yards in seven different seasons; the other is Tobin Rote. Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986. Vikings head coach Bud Grant flatly called Tarkenton "the greatest quarterback who's ever played." When he retired, Tarkenton held NFL career records in pass attempts, completions, yardage, and touchdowns; rushing yards by a quarterback; and wins by a starting quarterback.