While hard-throwing lefties are in high demand on the baseball diamond to pitch and give batters a different look, left-handed quarterbacks aren’t nearly as coveted.
Of the 84 pitchers in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, 18 of them are left-handed, or 21%.
Out of the 36 quarterbacks in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, in contrast, only two are left-handed: Steve Young and Ken Stabler, 5.5%.
The percentage of quarterbacks currently in the NFL is even lower.
There are 32 teams in the NFL and every team has at least two quarterbacks. Only two quarterbacks currently in the league, however, are left-handed: Tua Tagovailoa of the Miami Dolphins and Seattle Seahawk backup Holton Ahlers.
Tagovailoa threw for 3,548 yards and 25 touchdowns last season. But while Tagovailoa throws the ball with his left hand, he is right-handed outside of football.
Young, a three-time Super Bowl champion and seven-time Pro Bowl player, was the first left-handed quarterback inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005 and is widely considered the best left-handed QB to play the game.
Other lefties have also made big impacts with their backward spirals.
Boomer Esiason was the 1988 league MVP with the Cincinnati Bengals. Michael Vick, Frankie Albert and Mark Brunell were all Pro Bowl selections. Vick, however, is probably more known for his running aptitude than his throwing.
Kellen Moore has the most wins in NCAA Division I FBS history with 50 at Boise State, and then played five seasons in the NFL.
Matt Leinart won the Heisman Trophy in 2004 for Southern California.
Tim Tebow also won a Heisman Trophy, and two national titles at the University of Florida, before the Denver Broncos drafted him in 2010.
Tebow, the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner, replaced Kyle Orton after the Broncos started the 2011 season 1-4 and led Denver to the postseason. Tebow took the Broncos on six game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime that season to help them win the AFC West.
After the Broncos traded for Peyton Manning that offseason, however, Tebow was traded to the Jets and only started two more games.
Chris Simms is the only other left-handed quarterback to suit up for the Broncos. He only played three games for Denver in 2009, completing five passes in 17 attempts. Simms, however, tossed 10 TDs one year for Tampa Bay.
