San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young (8) - Peter Brouillet/USA TODAY Sports
Life is harder for a left-handed quarterback. The world was designed for right-handed people in general, and the game of football is no different. Although they are few and far between, there are some amazing talents who throw with their left hand. We will discuss five of the most well-known below.
1. Frankie Albert (1946-1952)
Mr. Albert was a unique guy. He both threw with his left hand and was only 5’9′. Talk about beating the odds. The young man was the first T-formation QB in ‘Modern’ football and possibly the first left-handed one. In a newspaper story written in 1948, we can get an understanding of how he was perceived in his own time. It was fairly close to his Pro Bowl year in 1950.
The individual writing the story wondered if Albert was five years ahead of his time or 50 years behind it. This is a thought-provoking question that could describe a lot of players in the quarterback position over the years, including on this list. Albert was also described as one of the most spectacular T-formation QBs and was as brainy as Sid Luckman. That is high, high praise on both counts.
The wear and tear of the game affected Frankie Albert—possibly because he was so small. He didn’t hold up well physically and had to hang up the clothes at 33. That feels particularly late, but it wasn’t entirely unusual, especially for players who were busy defending their country in WW2 when they would have been in their ‘prime’. The game for a QB during Albert’s era was downright dangerous at the least and life-threatening each and every week at the most. He passed away at 82 years old of Alzheimer’s.
2. Ken Stabler (1970-1984)
Stabler ‘the Snake‘ is the first left-handed long-haired QB to win a Super Bowl in 1977 and be crowned the NFL’s MVP in 1974. Way to go, Stabler. He also was known for smoking on the sidelines often and passing away at 69 with a brain that resembled Swiss cheese more than the typical organ. He was diagnosed posthumously with stage-3 CTE. His contributions to the NFL and to science will never be forgotten.
3. Steve Young (1985-1999)
Young is the first lefty to be elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. If he is ever enshrined into a golf HOF, he will have to be a right-handed winner there. He does everything with his left paw except for golf. Apparently, he wasn’t particularly committed to the game of golf and only played casually, so he never got golf clubs intended for lefties. As a result, he learned how to do that particular sport with his right. This ironically correlates with an honorable mentioned NFL player we will mention later.
Steve Young is a three-time Super Bowl champ and a two-time MVP. He had an overall passer rating of 96.8%! Young is one of those inspiration stories that proves that you are not a dud if your first seasons in the NFL don’t go well and you get traded away from your drafting team. Young’s initial debuts in the NFL fell flat, but after being traded to the San Francisco 49ers, he showed just how talented he was. The former QB is also a vocal advocate for left-handed people in general, and especially fellow football players.
4. Michael Vick (2001-2006, 2009-2015)
Michael Vick is unique for a multitude of reasons. He is, of course, a lefty, took a break to go to prison, and is a black quarterback. Quarterbacks of color are still discriminated against in 2024, but in 2001 it was much, much worse. He was never supposed to be a QB if the haters had their way anyway; they had an eye for a defensive role for him—how shocking. His mother was a fantastic mother and advocate for her son and helped move the needle to keep them in his role.
Was there anything less likely than a left-handed, black quarterback succeeding in the NFL? No. Particularly since he spent his second stint in the NFL with a felony. But Vick carves his own path and takes his future into his hands, and he will never allow the masses to decide which ‘box’ he will fit in. He is a very special addition to this list, indeed.
5. Tim Tebow (2010-2013, 2015, 2021)
Tebow isn’t one of the best lefty QBs in the league by any stretch of the imagination. An argument can be made that he is one of the best to ever do it at the collegiate level, which is also fantastic. However, despite his NFL talents being lackluster, he is extremely well-known for mostly off-the-field things. Some but not all of those things include his religion, political prowess, and his uncanny ability to resemble a founding father. All things most people would normally avoid talking about, except for Tim Tebow himself.
Honorable Mentions – Left-Handed QB
Tua Tagovailoa (2020-Present) will be featured on this list as a honorable mention. He did not make the list because he is not technically left-handed, he is a right-handed left-handed thrower. Tagovailoa can throw with his right-hand, but it’s not an instinctual skill like when he uses his left.
Tua turned out this way because of his dad. Galu Tagovailoa explains it himself: “I just always wanted someone to be a lefty with me. … It just became fluent, and he just grew into it. That’s the crazy part about it. I never thought I could make him adapt to that. As we constantly kept putting the ball on his left hand, eventually he grew into throwing the ball with his left.” That’s kind of awful for little Tua, but it certainly makes for a good story.
Conclusion
Left-handed people catch a lot of flack for no reason. Like most things, people are scared of things that are different from themselves or rare. It’s especially unusual for a quarterback. There have only been 33 of them since 1950. What’s possibly even more unique is a right-handed individual who throws footballs with their left hand, like Tua Tagovailoa. Who cares which hand a QB throws from, as long as they can throw it, right?
