Joe Montana once admitted Tom Brady is the GOAT despite having a 100% Super Bowl record himself

Joe Montana put an exclamation point to all the comparisons that have been made with Tom Brady when he called Brady the greatest of all time.

Joe Montana once admitted Tom Brady is the GOAT despite having a 100% Super Bowl record himself

Joe Montana and Tom Brady (Image via APN News and SI)

The debate about who is the “Greatest of All Time” still creates a lot of ruckus amongst the fans. A few names will always pop up in the discussion, such as Tom Brady, Terry Bradshaw, Charles Haley, and Joe Montana. Not too long ago, Montana himself tried to end the debate by declaring that Brady was the best NFL player of all time.

“I think Tom has taken his place on the top up there a long time ago,” the San Francisco 49ers Hall of Famer said in an interview with ESPN’s First Take. He also admired Brady and said that he had an incredible and unparalleled career. Therefore, he believes that it keeps him at the top of the list.

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Montana is definitely up there with the best of the best because of his four Super Bowls (XVI, XIX, XXIII, and XXIV). The great 49ers teams of the 1980s, besides Montana, consisted of Joe Craig, Tom Rothman, and Jerry Rice. He also praised his predecessors, saying, “There are a lot of great guys, before me. You go back to Otto Graham, 10 or 11 championships. It’s hard to compare them, but yeah, definitely Tom at that point.”

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During his 15-year playing career, Joe Montana was a beast, winning 117 matches and losing only 47. He threw for 40,551 yards, 273 touchdowns, and 139 interceptions, with a completion percentage of 63.2. In 2000, the NFL inducted Joe Montana into the Hall of Fame.

Since his draft in 2000, Brady has won seven Super Bowls (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX, XLIX, LI, LIII, and LV), becoming MVP in five of them. In his 23-year career (20 years with the New England Patriots and three years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers), Brady recorded 246 wins and 80 losses.

He threw for 89,214 yards with 649 touchdowns and 212 interceptions. Brady is undeniably ahead of Montana. However, the two players played in a different era, so the comparison is somewhat invalid.

Related: Emmanuel Acho STRONGLY believes Aaron Rodgers will produce the same results like Tom Brady did with the Bucs

How would Tom Brady have fared if he had played during Joe Montana’s 1980s NFL?

Joe Montana and Tom Brady
Two teams in the field (Image via AP and USA Today)

Football back in the day compared to now was rough, and the referees were less lenient when it came to calling a foul. The quarterbacks were targeted nonstop as the opposing defense would routinely charge in as there was no “strike zone.” They could tackle others anywhere they wanted, even in your delicate areas.

This meant quarterbacks like Montana took a lot of beatings. Most suffered career-ending injuries, which meant early retirement. Playing past 40 like Brady was a pipe dream at best. Only a few were able to continue past 30, and that too was rare. Medical facilities weren’t that advanced, which meant a lot longer recovery times, and the pitch used to be horrendous.

Even though Brady had longevity, he was mostly immobile during his later years. His horrible knee injury in 2008 while playing against the Kansas City Chiefs restricted his movement. This prompted the NFL to make changes and give more protection to quarterbacks. Something similar in Montana’s time was unthinkable.

However, Brady, in his own right, just by sheer accuracy, managed to score all those touchdowns. His abilities on the ball were unreal at times. For now, Joe Montana has passed the Goat torch to Tom Brady until someone breaks it in the future.

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