I was reading some throw down on Sports Illustrated and found a link that really caught my attention.  I used to record statistics for my university's women's volleyball team (why women don't wear spandex more often is beyond me). We had an athlete that simply was unstoppable but many schools and conference officials started to send their own stat people to ensure the integrity of the sport was being neglected.

What I learned in the next two months of having a complete stranger standing over me was that even when the rules are clear, it comes down to interpretation of any said rule.  Sadly, I had to explain that discretion is normally offset if you eliminate all biases and follow the flow of any sport and record information for what it is. 

This led me to the comeback victory list.

QB                      Reported Actual
John Elway              47         34
Brett Favre               42         27
Dan Marino              37         36
Peyton Manning       37         28
Drew Bledsoe          32         24
Joe Montana            31         31
Johnny Unitas          31         34
Tom Brady                28         20
Roger Staubach       23         15
Ben Roethlisberger  19         15
Chad Pennington        7          7
Jay Cutler                   7           5

This is a list compiling comeback victories. Please take note that each team constitutes this stat differently and for that reason alone I think it's not as important versus passer rating, touchdowns/interceptions and 3rd down %.  I'm sure this varies from fan to fan as well.

It led me to ask a simple question, why hasn't the NFL adopted a Standard Order Procedure?  I know sacks were recorded later down the line but I think the fans are owed that.  Personally I'd love for Elway to be the comeback king but in the end of the day, its about the integrity of the sport, right?  We can't be picky, we have the drive against Cleveland.  Drive II against Houston.  We have Rod Smith's 44 yarder against the Redskins.  Shouldn't the list also be extended to kickers as well?

Anyway, something I felt compelled to share w/my community of football loving junkies that can never get enough.  I like how Unitas and Montana were very solid at their position in an era where defenses were very physical and stating that really does it no justice (Leonard Marshall really laid the entire lumber industry on Montana in that one playoff game).

Here is the link for those interested in adding a more detailed take.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/blog/?p=3401