Ken O’Brien

Brady Cook's got the arm talent and mobility O'Brien never quite had, but Ken was a legitimate two-time Pro Bowler who threw for 25,000 yards when that actually meant something. Cook's got higher upside, but O'Brien was a craftier operator who made fewer catastrophic mistakes. Different eras, different demands—Cook needs to prove he can sustain it like Ken did over a decade.

No, O'Brien never made Canton. Two Pro Bowls and 25,094 passing yards should've gotten him closer consideration, but he arrived in an era glutted with great quarterbacks and never won a Super Bowl. He's in the College Football Hall of Fame as a UC Davis standout, which tells you something about how his pro résumé fell short of immortality.

The search results don't provide current 2026 information about O'Brien's activities. Based on available data, he settled in Sacramento after his playing career and became a broadcaster, but I cannot confirm his specific 2026 pursuits without current sources.

O'Brien's 80.4 career passer rating would look pedestrian today, but his mechanics were sound and he'd benefit enormously from modern spacing and rule changes favoring receivers. He'd probably be a mid-tier starter—good enough to win games, not quite elite. The real question: would he have lasted longer in an era where arm talent gets protected like it does now?

Namath's 40.81 rating absolutely demolishes O'Brien's 28.17, but that's misleading—Joe played in a wilder, more chaotic era where stats got inflated. Namath was flashier and won the Super Bowl; O'Brien was more efficient and durable. Broadway Joe's the legend, but Ken was the better quarterback.