Category profile
- Dominance
- 82
- Peak
- 88
- Longevity
- 88
- Honours
- 86
- Statistics
- 88
Career timeline · Touchdowns per season
| Season | Touchdowns per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1983 | 7 | |
| 1984 | 18 | |
| 1985 | 22 | |
| 1986 | 19 | |
| 1987 | 19 | |
| 1988 | 17 | |
| 1989 | 18 | |
| 1990 | 15 | |
| 1991 | 13 | |
| 1992 | 10 | |
| 1993 | 25 | |
| 1994 | 16 | |
| 1995 | 26 | |
| 1996 | 26 | |
| 1997 | 27 | |
| 1998 | 22 |
Data sources
- NFL
- Pro Football Reference
- Olympics.com
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why John Elway ranks #18 in American Football
John Elway ranks 18th among American Football athletes on GOAT Rank and 443rd of 1063 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 86.1 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 82, Peak 88, Longevity 88, Honours 86, Statistics 88. Those categories are normalised against the full American Football reference universe of 378 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.
The record covers 1983–1998 with 16 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1997, which sets the Peak component at 88. Peak is the defining strength of the profile at 88 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes super bowl titles 2, super bowl mvp 1, mvp awards 1, passing yards 51475.
Immediately ahead sits Ray Lewis on 86.6, a gap of 0.5 points. Directly behind is Rod Woodson on 85.6. The position moves whenever the verified record moves: new titles, new seasons or a corrected source all feed straight back into the same formula, and every change is dated on this profile.
John Elway GOAT Score explained
- Dominance82/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Elway stood above the field while competing. Scored 82/100 against the full American Football cohort.
- Peak88/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1997. Scored 88/100.
- Longevity88/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 15 years of competition and 16 recorded seasons. Scored 88/100.
- Honours86/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 86/100.
- Statistics88/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 88/100.
Top Elway comparisons
John Elway — frequently asked
- Is John Elway the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. John Elway ranks 18th in American Football with a GOAT Score of 86.1, behind Tom Brady on 97.2.
- What is John Elway's GOAT Score?
- 86.1 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 82 (25%), Peak 88 (20%), Longevity 88 (20%), Honours 86 (20%), Statistics 88 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does John Elway rank all time?
- 443rd of 1063 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 18th within American Football.
- John Elway vs Ray Lewis: who ranks higher?
- Ray Lewis, on 86.6 against John Elway's 86.1 — a margin of 0.5 points.