Marino vs Payton
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Payton wins: Dominance, Honours
Marino wins: Peak, Longevity, Statistics
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Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Payton leads in 2 of 5 weighted categories. Sweetness: 16,726 rushing yards and a 275-yard afternoon in 1977.
Category breakdown
Season form · Touchdowns per season
Career timeline · Touchdowns per season
Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.
GOAT pace tracker
Career stage · GOAT pace
Through season 5 · Touchdowns per season| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 Marino | 0 | 0 | 20 | 68 | 168 | 266 |
| 🇺🇸 Payton | 0 | 0 | 679 | 2,069 | 6,926 | 11,625 |
Careers are aligned at debut, so a rookie's first 5 seasons are measured against the same window in a legend's career — Yamal against Messi at the same age-stage, a tour rookie against Tiger Woods in 1996.
| Metric | MarinoRetired | PaytonRetired |
|---|---|---|
| MVP awards | 1 | 1 |
| Passing yards | 61,361 | — |
| Touchdown passes | 420 | — |
| Pro Bowls | 9 | 9 |
| Single-season TD record | 48 | — |
| Career wins | 147 | — |
| Super Bowl titles | — | 1 |
| Career rushing yards | — | 16,726 |
| Rushing touchdowns | — | 110 |
| Rushing titles | — | 1 |
| Dominance w25% | 84 | 87 |
| Peak w20% | 93 | 90 |
| Longevity w20% | 88 | 86 |
| Honours w20% | 80 | 85 |
| Statistics w15% | 94 | 91 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
What do you think?
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