Listening to Colin Cowherd in the mornings on my way to work, I hear a lot about quarterbacks. Specifically spotlight quarterbacks. Cowherd is in love with Brady, he hates blind Rodgers worshipers and he talks a lot about Vick because novelty-loving Americans can't shut up about him.

Cowherd almost invariably refers to playoff records, total wins and number of Superbowl rings as pretty much the only evidence of true success and talent at the quarterback position. With this in mind, I want to discuss a pet peeve of mine growing up in Northern California. As a child I remember watching Joe Montana win 4 Super Bowls. Ok, maybe I only remember 2 of them, but he won 4. Toward the end of his career, Montana injured his elbow and Steve Young was his back up. After playing for a full season, with Montana heading toward retirement, it made sense that the 49ers organization would opt to continue to develop Young as a starter. What was interesting was that living in Northern California during the Steve Young era, you couldn't hear anything other than the idolization of Steve Young as the second coming of Christ born of a virgin with a football in his hand. It was ridiculous. But in the end, the messiah of California football only won one ring, after the 1994 season.

Something that I found interesting that ties into all the Vick discussions of present and Cowherd's opinions of quarterbacks was the number one comment I always heard about Steve Young when I was younger. "But he's the league's leading rushing quarterback." Even as an early teen I was smart enough to reply, "Who cares? He's a quarterback. Can't he throw the ball?" In all fairness, Steve Young wasn't exactly a slouch of an arm, but all I ever heard about was how amazing Steve Young was because he could run. Wait, your receiver core is comprised of Jerry Rice, John Taylor, Nate Singleton and Ed McCaffrey and you have to run more than any other quarterback in the league? And that makes him a good quarterback?

Again, Steve Young was actually a good passer. I think that he was overrated by fans in the north state. I also think that people didn't even know why they liked him. Statistically, Steve Young generally performed just a little better than Joe Montana. However, Joe Montana seemed to make more clutch plays and get more marquis wins. Who won San Francisco's last Superbowl? Young. So who is the only quarterback anyone ever talks about around here? Young.

I would personally argue that long-term stats are a more accurate indicator of greatness than something as superficial as Superbowl rings. However, when the statistical comparison shows negligible difference like the passing statistics comparing Montana and Young, it only makes sense to look at important wins. When Joe Montana and Steve Young are essentially the same to me on paper, but I see Montana's playoff resume next to Young's, I'm going to pick Montana.