According to Andrea's Kramer's 2009 article, 15 Hall of Fame quarterbacks, thought Indianapolis Colts' Peyton Manning was the greater quarterback in the Manning-Brady debate. Manning took home 13 1/2 votes over Brady's 2 1/2 votes. The Hall of Famers that voted for Manning were Troy Aikman (Class of ’06), George Blanda (’81), Len Dawson (’87), Dan
Fouts (’93), Bob Griese (’90), Sonny Jurgensen (‘83), Jim Kelly (’02),
Warren Moon (’06), Joe Namath (‘85), Clarence (Ace) Parker (’72), Fran
Tarkenton (’86), Y.A. Tittle (’71), Charley Trippi (’68). The legends that picked Brady were Terry Bradshaw ('89) and John Elway ('04). Joe Montana ('00) cast a split vote. Steve Young ('05), Marino (05), Starr ('77), and Roger Staubach ('85) registered absentee votes.
Personally, I think Manning is better than Brady. Like Aikman said, "Manning is an offensive coordinator in practice". Manning directs, corrects, coordinates, and coaches routes to his running backs, receivers, and tight ends. Manning's accuracy, arm strength, and leadership is superior to Brady.
Critics tend to picked Brady over Manning. Solely for the fact that Brady has three Worlds Championships to Manning's one. However, Worlds Championships is a team accomplishment. Not an individual accomplishment. Between 1998-2004, the Colts were notoriously known for giving up points faster than the Phoenix Suns under Mike D'Antoni. Whilst the Patriots won three Super Bowl on the strength of their defense.
Don't get me wrong. Brady is a great quarterback. However, he tends to lose accuracy on deep
throws, doesn't improvised well, doesn't know how to run, and has bad
footwork. Critics would disagree with me on the latter comment. However, when you look at tapes, Brady doesn't always set his feet before throwing the ball. The only reason Brady's a great quarterback is because of his cerebral abilities. Brady's ability to manipulate defenses with play-action fakes and dismembered zone coverages like Jeffrey Dahmer make him great. Nothing else.