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Alright, as a 49er fan who loved Joe Montana and got to watch him play, and claimed he was the GOAT, it's time to admit that the Mighty Montana has been replaced. Even though I hate to say it, I have to admit that Tom Brady is now the Greatest Of All Time. Brady has done it longer and better than Montana did. This season, at his age and with this team, Brady has excelled.
Yes I know Montana never lost a Super Bowl, and he never threw a pick in the Super Bowl (hello, Lewis Billups). But
So, Tom Brady is #1, and Joe Montana is #2. Hate to say it, I love the 49ers and Joe, but it's true.
Thoughts? Of all the NFL QBs, of all time, who is the GOAT??
Alright, as a 49er fan who loved Joe Montana and got to watch him play, and claimed he was the GOAT, it's time to admit that the Mighty Montana has been replaced. Even though I hate to say it, I have to admit that Tom Brady is now the Greatest Of All Time. Brady has done it longer and better than Montana did. This season, at his age and with this team, Brady has excelled.
Yes I know Montana never lost a Super Bowl, and he never threw a pick in the Super Bowl (hello, Lewis Billups). But
So, Tom Brady is #1, and Joe Montana is #2. Hate to say it, I love the 49ers and Joe, but it's true.
Thoughts? Of all the NFL QBs, of all time, who is the GOAT??
Yeah, I'm a lifelong 49ers and Raiders fan (add in that I can't stand Brady, nor the Patriots) who has gone through the same progression you list above, and I have to agree with you. Until last year I hung onto Montana as #1...saying he has never cheated and that gave him a leg up. Then last year, as a comment re Brady's pending suspension IIRC, Montana made a boneheaded comment that essentially boiled down to 'you (any successful QB) do what you can get away with'. What made Montana's comment especially boneheaded was that he thought the comment bolstered the case for himself as GOAT .
I still don't wan't Brady to ever get another ring, nor the Patriots to ever get another Lombardi trophy to move into a tie with the 49ers (and unfortunately, the Cowboys....and I don't want the Cowboys to ever win another Lombardi trophy either).
We've had this discussion many times and it is really hard to pick one QB as the greatest. You have to consider ALL the QBs going WAY back, not just the SB ones.
I always consider the team around the particular QB, plus win/losses, number of playoff or SBs wins are not a QB stat.
Next thing is rule changes, protections for the QBs as the game has changed since the 60s when the first SBs were played.
I have to agree that there have been discussions like this in the recent past, and they usually seem rather subjective to me. QBs which have been excellent some years are then not as wonderful the next few.
Superbowls shouldn't always be the only way to measure a QB. There have been way too many great ones who never "arrived". Also, too many great old timers which are rarely if ever mentioned as well.
All-time is a long time. Most current day NFL fans have poor long term memory. It's too hard to decide who is the greatest. Too many changes to the game have happened.
Totally agree, like the poor long term memory part. I've been watching football a very long time (hint graduated high school in 1965), and I don't want to pick the greatest of all time!
there are a lot of great QBs over the decades, YA title for instance, or how about dan marino, rodger staubach, george blanda, johnny unitas, among many others.
in the end, who is considered the best depends on who you talk to and what standrd you use. marino practically rewrote the record books, and then brett favre came along and changed a lot of those entries, as did tom brady. jim kelly led the bills to four straight super bowls, granted he lost all of them, but there you are. and how about fran tarkington? troy aikman?
Alright, as a 49er fan who loved Joe Montana and got to watch him play, and claimed he was the GOAT, it's time to admit that the Mighty Montana has been replaced. Even though I hate to say it, I have to admit that Tom Brady is now the Greatest Of All Time. Brady has done it longer and better than Montana did. This season, at his age and with this team, Brady has excelled.
Yes I know Montana never lost a Super Bowl, and he never threw a pick in the Super Bowl (hello, Lewis Billups). But
So, Tom Brady is #1, and Joe Montana is #2. Hate to say it, I love the 49ers and Joe, but it's true.
Thoughts? Of all the NFL QBs, of all time, who is the GOAT??
I've never understood this argument (not sayin' you're making it, OP).
It's like claiming that the sprinter who won four medals - all golds - in the dozen events in which he competed, is better than the other sprinter who won four golds and two silvers. How on Earth does finishing off the podium entirely rank better than finishing second? How is losing a conference championship game (like Montana did in 1990, arguably his best non-championship season) better than winning a conference championship game before losing the Super Bowl? How is getting bounced out in the divisional round by a wild card team (like Montana did in 1987, probably his second-best non-championship season) better than winning a divisional game and a conference game before losing the Super Bowl?
It makes no sense. None at all. Yet I have frequently heard this argument made.
Back to the question - I would give it to Brady. Why? The championships, yes. The six trips. The constant winning every single season. The game-winning drives. The tens trips (so far) to conference championship games. The amazing 11-2 record in opening playoff games. The juggernaut of 2007. The durability (missing 15 games due to injury in 16 seasons as a starter is extremely durable for a modern NFL quarterback). The winning with so many receivers and never a great running back.
That said, I think it's entirely reasonable that Montana is in the conversation.
Look at the historic Redskins rosters. You'll have a plethora of choices.
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