Like the rest of them, Jim McMahon won't venture a guess on arguably the most important subject in BYU football history.
Who's No. 1?
Ty Detmer, Gifford Nielsen, Marc Wilson, Steve Young, Robbie Bosco, Steve Sarkisian and, of course, McMahon himself all became All-Americans while quarterbacking the Cougars. Each of them had his own set of strengths and weaknesses; good qualities and bad.
Each was a winner.
But the question still remains: Who was the best?
LaVell Edwards, the guy who coached them all, has been asked that question a hundred times over the years, probably a thousand. And, wise man that he is, he won't touch it with a 100-yard pole.
But, predictably, the subject has come alive again this weekend in Provo, where the Cougars beat Washington 23-17 Saturday at LaVell Edwards Stadium ... and BYU fans everywhere celebrated the return of their idols for what was dubbed "Y Quarterback Weekend."
All of them were there, even Sarkisian, who's now Washington's head coach, and yes, even McMahon, whose relationship with the school has been checkered at best.
"I had a great time (playing) on Saturdays," said McMahon, who played high school ball in Roy. "The rest of the week was a little rough, but Saturdays were always fun."
McMahon became a hero on Saturdays, thanks to his on-the-field exploits. Of course his off-the-field exploits the rest of the week made him something of a pariah in Provo.
But, thankfully, he came back this weekend to help raise scholarship money, see a few of his old buddies and above all to honor Edwards, the coach with whom he sometimes butted heads.
"I've always gotten along with my teammates, and most of the time with LaVell," he said prior to a Friday-morning golf event at a local country club.
McMahon was there with Nielsen, Bosco, Wilson and Edwards, looking quite un-country club-like decked out in plaid shorts, a bucket hat, the ever-present sunglasses and with a pinch of something in his lower lip.
Always the rebel of the bunch, surely Jimmy Mac would answer The Question with his usual razor-sharp frankness, wouldn't he?
Nope. Sorry.
"You can't rate them," he said. "You've got different coaches, different schemes here and there and also you've got different personnel. It's tough to rate them. They've all had success, that's the key to being a quarterback here."
And with that, McMahon added an exclamation point.
"If you can't quarterback here, you can't quarterback anywhere," he said.
Oh, McMahon could definitely quarterback in Provo ... and everywhere else, really.
Although the school itself hasn't embraced him quite like it should, BYU's fans certainly have.
Before Saturday's game, he was asked to lead the team onto the field; when it was announced over the public address system, the crowd went nuts.
Later, during a halftime ceremony in which all seven former All-Americans (plus former academic All-American Virgil Carter) were introduced, only Young seemed to draw a better response from the Cougar faithful ... and it was only slightly better at that.
Good for the fans. And good for McMahon, who deserves to be loved as much as the rest of them, regardless of whether or not he looks or acts the part.
Because the truth of it is, even though intangibles may preclude anyone from answering The Question definitively, nobody was better than McMahon. Nobody.
Nobody was gritter, gutsier or more of a gamer.
Jim Burton is the Standard-Examiner's sports columnist. He also covers the Utah Jazz and the NBA. He can be reached at (801) 625-4265 or at jburton@standard.net. He Tweets at http://twitter.com/jmb247
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