honestly, the stats he put were/are impressive, but the real thing was watching him; there is so much talent that didn't end in any stats but the make him The Man: vision, quick feet, pocket 6th sense, the zip, the clutchness, the leadership, the courage (didn't care if he was going to be hit), so many skills that you just can't teach, he was just the BEST, the total package.
And I am obsessive about it, but about the rules change: IMO opinion it's not so much about the rules protecting the receivers (it's an important factor, I get it), but IMO the true difference is about how the QB now can easily easily avoid being hit!
once upon a time:
1-there was no possibility to throw away (this pathetic **** that outside the pocket you can just thornw away and nothing bad happens)--> at the time, EVERY time you had a pass you have to pass to somke teammate, no matter what, or you were to being DESTROYED by some defender, also losing many yards!
2- when you were hit, every body part was fair game: no slowing down by the defender just to hit you in the chest, no, no; they copuld destroy your knees, your head, your arms...and they tried to do just that, they tried to kill the qb, no matter what
3- sliding down was simpli put, UNACCEPTABLE, something that was a sign of being scared, that destroyed your credibility as a leader of men; I mean, Brady and P. Manning were celebrated because, as they saw any defenders approaching they..just gave up, in a fetal position... oh, so smart!
Everett, Rams qb, was mocked with no end just because he did it one freaking time!!! after a game in which he took a violent beating by the 49ers D in the playoff... he was treated like a weak minded scared player (do you remember the jokes about Chris Ever?!)...because one ****ing time he dared to give up, instead of being hit...when the game was practically already over, mind you!
Now giving up in a fetal position is actually celebrated! I think this give the measure how much the game and his "values" changed: once upon a time, a Qb that was scared to be hit wasn't deserving to be a leader of a team, no matter how talented he was.
all this is to say that one thing that is changed and that is just impossible to misure is the missing of the FEAR factor, in a qb: how much brave uyou had to be to stay cool after some of those hits, keeping scanning the field and finding the open man...withouth rushing the process, without having happy feet, without being...scared...
Once upon a time, no matter what, after you were 32-33 you were done, because your body was devastated..now, you see goog/average players playing in their 40s? are they special humans? are they tougher (lol at the idea) that a Jo Montana, a Dan Marino, a Jim Kelly (that had to play against....the 85 bears D? the Giants D with Taylor and Banks and Marshall? and so many other brutally skilled Defenders) nah...iì'ts just that now they DONT' TAKE ANY BEATING AT ALL, no matter what!
A Qb had to be the leader, because he was the MAIN TARGET for the killers on the other team... even if he wasn't the most talented player on offense (and often he wans't!) he had to be a LEADER, becuase the other guys had to trust him to be brave enough every single time the coaches called a pass play
Now, it's totally different: your qb HAS to be the msot talented player on O, otherwise you practically have no chance to win anything (so freaking boring IMO, but de gustibus...)
so, yeah, the stas now are videogame, but that's not the main reason I think it's just unfair to make any comparison between then and now, it's because the MAIN DIFFERENCE for me is something that uyou can't really misure in numbers, but that was perhaps the BIGGEST FACTOR in a successfull qb: courage, coolness under phisical pressure, the ability to not being scared, no matter how hard they hit you.
sorry for the rant, but I think is oftend underestimate how much difference the change in intentional grounding rules affected the game and the way a QB can play
and sorry, as usual, for my English