The absence of a superbowl ring does not mean that the QB isn’t great. After all, even the best of teams lose games. The question then may come down to the lack of “clutch” players on the Cowboys roster, including the lack of a “clutch” QB. Dallas is able to produce wins, in 2007 Romo proved that and he may have done the same had he not been injured in 08.
 Unlike some people, I do not believe that clutch players are simply born with that ability. I believe that anyone with love for the game and enough determination can make plays happen when it counts. That is what Dallas needs more of…… That is what Romo, a great QB in my opnion, needs more of.

… who is the greater basketball Player, Robert Horry (7 rings) or Michael Jordan (6 rings)?

because SB rings makes teams great, not players. Individual players, espeically qbs, get way too much credit for being on championship teams.

Trent Dilfer, Brad Johnson, Jim McMahan, Jim Plunkett, Jeff Hostetler, Doug Williams and Mark Rypien were all SB winning qbs, however, are any of them better than HOFers Dan Marino, Dan Fouts, Fran Tarkenton, Jim Kelly or Warren Moon??

I think we all know the answer to that question which is the same answer to your question Einstein.

Look, I know the Marino and Elrod arguments make for good fodder, but they are the exceptions that prove the rule.

Whose a better QB? Aikman or Steve Young or Brett Favre or Jim Kelly?

Montana or Boomer or Marino or Elway?

Staubach or White or Fran Tarkenton?

There are good QBs and there are great QBs. Great QBs make their whole teams better and win…no matter what. Great QBs are defined by their championships (whether fair or not).

Does that mean a QB that wins a championship is automatically a great QB? Of course not. (too many to list) But not winning one does bring up a major stumbling block for most QBs.

will remember the REASON a team failed to win in the post-season whe it comes time to recant history. But they will remember that the team LOST. The QB (and sometimes the Coach) will get ‘loser’ labels until they win.

It really is a simple, if barbaric, formula that won’t change just because we want to insert our own fanlogic into the discussion.

This is Romo’s cross to bear, and largely his alone.

Romo is a popular QB and gets alot of media attention. He is a big story and plays for a big name team. He is exciting and blah blah blah.

With that comes the hype and pressure and all the responsibility to handle it.

The worst part is being a fan and have to listen to the unfair analysis and lame statistics of not winning a playoff game and choke-artist.

I definitely agree with Terry too, its a team sport. He isn’t gonna win it by himself.

Can a guy be a great QB without a SB? Yes. There’s no logic behind any other argument. The whole “carry your team” and “will them to win” sound great on an NFL films sound bite, but they don’t mean much because the QB is one player of 53 and there are far too many examples of that not being the case. Big Ben1, Dilfer, Eli, and a host of others were along for the ride. Others like Big Ben2, Young, Aikman and Staubach were partners in a great team. Some guys really have been the most important player – Montana for example. What does that say about greatness? Not much. To boil it down to one example, Warren Moon will always be superior to Eli Manning.

And Elway is the case study. It isn’t coincidence that he suddenly became capable of winning the SB once his team found a RB and a defense. Had he never won he would have been exactly the same leader, same QB with the same “will to win”. Warren Moon on the Cowboys of the early 90s? He’s sporting rings too.

Can a guy be a HOF without a SB win? Only if he matched numbers with Dan Marino. This violates my rule to be rational in favor of being empirical. In other words, I’m accepting reality. Most players either have to set THE record or win one or more SBs. And I can’t gripe too much about that. The line is pretty hard to draw as it is. So I look at it as a hole in the resume. You are left not knowing whether he could have under other circumstances.

The fairest measure of an individual player are his stats. Even those have other dependencies, but they give you an idea. Championships measure teams because they are simply too difficult to win and one guy has no shot of being the single reason for winning or losing, even at the critical position of QB.

I wouldn’t call Brad Johnson or Trent Dilfer great at all. They still have rings.

At the end of the day, and I know it’s been said already, SB rings belong to great TEAMS. An individual can be below average and still manage to win a Super Bowl because of the team around him. Also, a player can be above average and fail to win, thanks primarily to the quality of the team around him.

Romo will get one, I’m fairly confident. The team around him is too talented to continue to fail. It might not come this year, but I have all the faith in the world it will at one point or another. Sooner than later.