Tom Brady and Peyton Manning… Peyton Manning and Tom Brady… in whatever order, are the biggest stories of the 2008 NFL season… as they have been for quite some time.

In fact, in these two guys, we’re looking at the greatest professional quarterbacks of all time.

Their similarities are striking … both are dominant, durable 6-foot-5 athletes with laser arms and the versatility to go deep, hit the side route or find the short receiver wide open under last-millisecond pressure. Both have led their teams to Super Bowls; their teams would be losers without them. On top of it all, they’re actually quarterbacks…that means instead of being the coach’s robot like almost every other team is these days, they go to the line of scrimmage and call the play. What a concept!

I miss you 1a and 1b of all time. The rest of my top 10:

3 — Steve Young. It may surprise some to see him so tall, but he is considered the most powerful all-around threat at his position. With his speed of 4.5 and 205 pounds, his running ability matched that of many runners; he rushed for an incredible 537 yards in 1992. As a passer, he led the league in touchdown passes four times for the 49ers and was the passing leader in four consecutive seasons. More than the stats, the long passes from him to Jerry Rice were beautiful… always with perfect calm.

4 — Joe Montana. Four Super Bowl wins and three Super Bowl MVPs with San Francisco provide compelling evidence. He led the NFL in completion percentage five times and set a record with a QB rating of 112.4 in 1989.

5 — Johnny Unitas. From the late 1950s to the early 1970s, the Colts ranked as one of the best teams in the NFL, and Unitas was their unquestioned leader. He threw a TD pass in 47 consecutive games and finished his career as the NFL leader in passes attempted (5,186), yards gained (40,239) and TD passes (290).

6 — Terry Bradshaw. He may be goofy as a TV commentator, but on the field he demonstrated his greatness by leading Pittsburgh to four Super Bowl titles.

7 — John Elway. He will be remembered for leading the Broncos to back-to-back Super Bowl crowns…a rare and difficult feat…and leading them to 47 winning or tied series in the fourth quarter…a decisive player.

8 — Dan Marino. He used a strong arm and fast pitch to set many NFL records for the Dolphins, including most attempts, most completions, most yards, and most TDs.

9 — Otto Graham. He led the Browns to three titles, throwing four touchdown passes in the 1950 game, three in 1954, and two in 1955.

10 — Sammy Baugh. Okay, so we go back a long way, but Baugh was the first great QB in the NFL. He threw 187 touchdown passes for the Redskins and as a two-way player he racked up 31 career interceptions and averaged 45.1 yards as a kicker. Does that make him a three way player?

Among today’s quarterbacks, maybe Ben Roethlisberger could join this list one day…he’s dominating when he’s on. Coming out of college, it seemed like Vince Young could too… but no way yet. Joe Namath (calling him down), Roger Staubach (late start), Sonny Jurgenson (what a passer) and Bart Starr (what a leader) are our honorable mentions.