Michael Penix Jr. named his personal favorite quarterbacks of all time. Two years later, the internet still cannot slander it.
On Friday night, B/R Gridiron resurfaced a 2024 clip of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. listing his top five favorite QBs. Detroit account Lil Woadie (@iHateYeahTeriq) quote-tweeted it with a four-word concession that immediately took off: “LMFAO my bad bro you slander proof.”
Michael Penix Jr. Names His Top Quarterbacks
The question in the original video was specific: personal favorite five quarterbacks of all time. Penix did not hesitate.
His list: Michael Vick, Teddy Bridgewater, Patrick Mahomes, Warren Moon, and Lamar Jackson.
That is not a Mount Rushmore of the position. It is something more interesting.
Why the list hits different
Penix grew up in Tampa watching Vick rewrite what a quarterback could look like in Atlanta. Vick was the first elite dual-threat star of the modern era, a left-handed cultural icon who made defenders miss in space the way few pocket passers ever have. For a young lefty who later ended up in the same city, the connection is obvious.
Mahomes and Lamar Jackson need little explanation. One is the best player of this generation. The other is the best dual-threat quarterback alive. Both belong on almost any “players I loved watching” list from someone Penix’s age.
Warren Moon is the history pick. Moon was a pioneer — a Black quarterback who dominated in the CFL before proving himself in the NFL, Hall of Famer, cannon arm, and one of the players who expanded what was possible at the position.
Then there is Teddy Bridgewater.
That is the name that makes people pause, laugh, and then decide they cannot actually roast it.
Bridgewater was a first-round pick out of Louisville, a high-school legend in Florida (Penix’s home state), and a player whose career was defined as much by resilience as production. He survived a gruesome 2016 knee injury, bounced around as a high-floor starter and backup, and became known as “Teddy Two Gloves.” He was never a superstar. He was a guy a lot of people rooted for. Putting him next to Vick, Mahomes, Moon, and Lamar is the kind of personal, regional, slightly unhinged choice that feels more honest than another recycled Brady-Montana-Manning ranking.
Replies to the viral post immediately zeroed in on it. “Teddy Two Gloves mentioned.” “You ight Penix.” The joke writes itself, and then it stops being a joke.
“Slander proof” is the point
Sports Twitter loves roasting bad lists. This one is hard to roast because Penix never claimed these were the five greatest quarterbacks who ever lived. He said they were his favorites. That distinction matters.
A greatest-of-all-time list invites arguments about rings, passer rating, era adjustments, and whether you value peak or longevity. A personal list invites questions about who you actually watched, who you wanted to play like, and who felt like they belonged to you. Penix’s answers track with a left-handed kid from Florida who grew up on Vick, admired another Florida product in Bridgewater, and then watched Mahomes and Lamar take over the league.
The 2024 comments section already had the usual complaints: no Brady, too many Black quarterbacks, Teddy does not belong. The 2026 reaction is different. People saw the same clip and mostly shrugged, then laughed, then admitted the list has a kind of integrity. You can disagree with it. You cannot really dunk on it without looking like you missed the assignment.
That is what “slander proof” means here. The take is so specific to the person that attacking it just reveals you wanted a different conversation.
The timing is not accidental
The clip first dropped in May 2024, right after the Falcons drafted Penix eighth overall. B/R Gridiron recirculated it in late September 2026, during a season in which Penix is still fighting for the job in Atlanta after injuries and a competition with Tua Tagovailoa. He had just played in a win over Green Bay. The old interview suddenly felt like a reminder of who he is when he is not being evaluated snap-to-snap.17
Penix has never been a conventional prospect. Left-handed. Injury history. Drafted over the objections of people who wanted the team to stay with Kirk Cousins. His favorite-QB list fits the same pattern: not optimized for approval, just his.
Most quarterbacks give safe answers in these interviews. Penix gave Vick, Teddy Two Gloves, Mahomes, Moon, and Lamar, in that order, with no hedging. Two years later the internet is still watching the clip and deciding it cannot be slandered.
Sometimes the most interesting list is the one that was never trying to win the argument.
