The dreaded Pick-Six. If it isn’t bad enough a pass finds an opponent, it is magnified when the foe takes it to the end zone. So, who are the quarterbacks who suffered the most pick-sixes? Are they mediocre ones? Or the great ones, who played on and on, giving opponents plenty of chances to snatch passes and turn them into touchdowns. There are 30 names, with three players tied at 28. The numbers via Profootballreference.com.
28. Mark Brunell, Joey Harrington, Matt Schaub (14)
The most surprising name in the trio at 14 has to be Joey Harrington. Who knew the Lions’ pick from Oregon threw enough passes to be so high — low? — on this list. Harrington threw 2,538 passes. Of those attempts, 85 were picked off. Matt Schaub threw 90 career picks among 3,281 career passes and Mark Brunell threw 108 INTs in 4,640 attempts.
22. George Blanda, Drew Bledsoe among sextet (15)
Plenty of familiar names threw 15 interceptions that turned into TDs for foes in their careers. The legendary George Blanda leads the way. Like fellow Raider, Ken Stabler, Blanda threw more INTs (277) than TD passes (236) in an amazing career. He actually threw a pick at 48, not sure if that came all the way back. Another AFL great, Len Dawson, is part of this six-pack along with Hall of Famer Kurt Warner, Lynn Dickey, Drew Bledsoe and Sonny Jurgensen.
18. Warren Moon, Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Ryan, Ken Stabler (16)
This quartet combined for 64 pick-sixes. And you can bet most teams would have loved to have any of these quarterbacks in their primes. Warren Moon was picked off on 3.4 percent of his passes, 233 of 6,823. Of course there would have been more NFL attempts had all teams not whiffed on the Washington great as he wound up in the CFL. Ben Roethlisberger is still winging in Pittsburgh as is Matt Ryan in Atlanta. The late Ken Stabler actually threw more picks (222) than TD passes (194) in a career that saw him play for three teams.
17. Jon Kitna
Jerry Jones has to hope Jon Kitna teaches Dak Prescott how to avoid Pick-Sixes, not throw them. Kitna played for four teams. He threw 165 picks and 17 of them turned into TDs for the opposing defense.
16. John Elway (18)
The best get bitten by the INT in their career. Most shrug it off and come back firing, anyway. That is what John Elway did in Denver. He finished with 300 career TD passes against 226 INTS, 18 of which became defensive TDs.
14. Jay Cutler, Babe Parilli (19)
The unpopular Jay Cutler’s interceptions — and exits — were often magnified. While with three teams, the Vandy star threw 160 picks and 19 came back for TDs. That’s well more than 10 percent! Babe Parilli played in the NFL, then the AFL, then back to the NFL. He threw 220 interceptions.
11. Kerry Collins, Steve DeBerg, Matthew Stafford (20)
Kerry Collins spent time with six teams and threw 196 picks. Steve DeBerg played forever, suiting up for a half-dozen teams, too. He started a game at 44 for the Falcons and threw one of his 204 career picks for Atlanta. Matthew Stafford puts up big numbers for the Lions but has had no postseason success, going 0-3. Twenty of his 129 picks have boosted the score for opponents.
8. Eli Manning, Carson Palmer, Norm Snead (22)
Eli Manning is the only member of the trio at 22 to have played for one team. Giants fans hope he does not add to the total this season. Eli Manning is one of four QBs to throw three pick-sixes in one game. Carson Palmer played for the Bengals, Raiders and Cardinals. He threw 187 picks on 6,307 attempts. Norm Snead played for five teams, throwing picks for all of them. Whether he threw a pick-six while in uniform for each of those isn’t determined.
6. Philip Rivers, Vinny Testaverde (23)
Philip Rivers is still leading the Chargers. Amazing to think Drew Brees and Rivers were once teammates in San Diego way back in 2004 and ’05. Rivers has thrown 178 picks but 23 of them came all the way to the end zone. Vinny Testaverde played for six teams, threw 267 picks and the same amount were returned for TDs.
4. Drew Brees, Peyton Manning (27)
The greats stick around a long time and that means they throw a lot of passes and all of them don’t find teammates. Drew Brees has thrown 9,783 passes. That means the Saints’ great will likely pass 10,000 in 2019. He has 233 picks and 27 returned for a TD. Peyton Manning also threw 27 pick-sixes. That was out of 251 interceptions. The only time he led the league was in his rookie season.
3. Joe Namath (28)
Joe Namath will forever be associated with the Super Bowl III upset of the Colts, the Jets’ lone Super Bowl appearance. The former Alabama great did have a penchant for firing the ball around the field and that could lead to interceptions. He threw 3,762 passes in a career riddled by knee injuries. Namath led the league he played in — AFL, NFL — four times in picks. Overall in his career, he threw 220 and 28 were brought back to the end zone. He also threw three pick-sixes against the Bills in a game in 1968.
2. Dan Marino (29)
Miami Dolphins great Dan Marino passes the ball 8,358 times, throwing 252 picks. Marino saw the opponents return 29 of those for pick-sixes.
1. Brett Favre (31)
Brett Favre threw exactly 10,169 passes. Of those, 336 were picked off and 31 of those were returned for touchdowns.
