Joe Montana Article

[Deebo]

Lengthy interview, but some good stuff in here. Can't paste the entire thing bc of character limits

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/356 ... super-bowl
Wright Thompson
Senior Writer

MY LATE FATHER bought me a Joe Montana jersey when I was a boy. Home red with white stripes. I don't remember when he gave it to me, or why, but I'll never forget the way the mesh sleeves felt against my arms. The last time I visited my mom, I looked for it in her closets. She said it'd been put away somewhere. On trips home I half expect to still see my dad sitting at the head of the long dining room table, papers strewn, working on a brief or a closing argument. He was an ambitious man who had played quarterback in high school and loved what that detail told people about him -- here, friends, was a leader, a winner, a person his peers trusted most in moments when they needed something extraordinary. Lots of young men like my father play high school quarterback, roughly 16,000 starters in America each year. Only 746 men have ever played the position in the NFL and just 35 of them are in the Hall of Fame. What my father knew when he gave me that jersey was that only one of them was Joe Montana.

Tom Brady Sr., bought his son, Tommy, a No. 16 jersey once, too. They sat in the upper deck of Candlestick Park together on Sundays. They looked down onto the field and dreamed. Tommy enrolled as a freshman at Michigan the year Joe Montana retired from football. Forced out of the game by injuries, Montana left as the unquestioned greatest of all time. His reputation had been bought in blood and preceded him like rose petals. Everybody knew. But over time the boy who sat in the upper deck idolizing Montana delivered on his own dreams and built his own reputation. Here, friends, was a threat. The boy, of course, went on to win his own Super Bowls. A fourth, a fifth, a sixth and a seventh. Parents now buy their children No. 12 jerseys because there can only be one unquestioned greatest of all time. No. 16 is no longer what it once was. Joe Montana now must be something else.

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[langer]

Met him at Hills up at Village Square over in Bethel. He was cool.

[gojira5150]

What I don't understand is TB12 won 4 SB 1st and he's Never considered an All-Time great. He won 2 SB MVP's and is 4-0 in SB. Yes, I know he had a Legendary Defense, but Montana had a damn good D behind him. I don't get the hate for TB. He had a rocket arm, stood in there when QB's were getting pummeled. I don't think Montana or that Punk Beotch Brady could with stand what TB went thru.

[Pickett's Platoon]

Yeah Bradshaw was the toughest of all time. I don't think anyone can dispute that.

[JackLambert58]

What I don't understand is TB12 won 4 SB 1st and he's Never considered an All-Time great. He won 2 SB MVP's and is 4-0 in SB. Yes, I know he had a Legendary Defense, but Montana had a damn good D behind him. I don't get the hate for TB. He had a rocket arm, stood in there when QB's were getting pummeled. I don't think Montana or that Punk Beotch Brady could with stand what TB went thru.

DISCLAIMER: I believe Terry is a top 10 QB all time. Let's get that out of the way first.

The problem that Brad has is his first five seasons weren't that good. He threw far more interceptions than touchdowns. Even in the first Super Bowl winning season of 1974, Coach Noll benched him in Spring Training in favor of Joe Gilliam. After he came back to start he was okay, but the New England game in Foxboro is what turned the light on for him. After that, he was lights out in '74. Montana was never bad. From the get-go his completion percentage was over 60% every season except 1988 when it was 59.9. Joe never threw more INTs than TDs on any season he played. I love Terry but Joe was a better QB.

[Baltostiller]

Could you imagine Montana in today's NFL. His numbers would dwarf the cheating bastards. Montana took "0" snaps from the shotgun in his career. Watch the hit he took in the 1990 NFCCG and think how Brady would have taken it. Dude was tough as nails and smart as hell. My HS football coach (graduated in 1987) told me about how great Montana was in FB and basketball. He never looked the part but at the end of the game he threw 3+ TDs or scored 25+ with 10 assists. Brady can't carry Joe's jock.

[jeemie]

What I don't understand is TB12 won 4 SB 1st and he's Never considered an All-Time great. He won 2 SB MVP's and is 4-0 in SB. Yes, I know he had a Legendary Defense, but Montana had a damn good D behind him. I don't get the hate for TB. He had a rocket arm, stood in there when QB's were getting pummeled. I don't think Montana or that Punk Beotch Brady could with stand what TB went thru.

I think Terry is recognized as someone who stepped up his game when the lights were brightest, but his spotty regular season career keeps him out of the convo as an all time great the way Montana is talked about.

[Stlcrtn1974]

I really don't think many of today's stars would of lasted very long back then, especially playing by their rules.

[955876]

Watch the hit he took in the 1990 NFCCG

Was that the game where Jim Burt demolished him??

I started liking the Giants as an NFC team because they took down the Niners a couple times

[Kodiak.]

I really don't think many of today's stars would of lasted very long back then, especially playing by their rules.

Game is safer, but certainly not better. All the rules changes favoring the passing game have brought the NFL closer and closer to the Arena League.

And I'm really not sure if the likes of Brady and Manning would have been good enough athletes to play the position in the 70's.

[Stlcrtn1974]

I really don't think many of today's stars would of lasted very long back then, especially playing by their rules.

Game is safer, but certainly not better. All the rules changes favoring the passing game have brought the NFL closer and closer to the Arena League.

And I'm really not sure if the likes of Brady and Manning would have been good enough athletes to play the position in the 70's.

They were definitely good enough. Taking the beating, rule changes is what would make both pedestrian. Imagine the qb's from the 70's and 80's playing today.

[fractalsteel]

I really don't think many of today's stars would of lasted very long back then, especially playing by their rules.

This took me back to the 70's with Kolb and S. Davis. Both fantastic players but each played at about 260-265 pounds. Todays monsters have a size advantage.
And Kolb was a steroid abuser and weight lifting freak.

[Kodiak.]

They were definitely good enough. Taking the beating, rule changes is what would make both pedestrian. Imagine the qb's from the 70's and 80's playing today.

No, they would have been pedestrian because they didn't have the mobility/athleticism to be a star in that era.

You had to have the athleticism to even give your arm talent a chance to shine.

[Pickett's Platoon]

They were definitely good enough. Taking the beating, rule changes is what would make both pedestrian. Imagine the qb's from the 70's and 80's playing today.

No, they would have been pedestrian because they didn't have the mobility/athleticism to be a star in that era.

You had to have the athleticism to even give your arm talent a chance to shine.

It didn't have anything to do with being 'athletic'. Most successful QB's of that era were less athletic than average by todays standards.

The problem for them would have been possessing a pair of testicles. They don't, and wou't have been running for their lives while not making a throw.

[Kodiak.]

[The problem for them would have been possessing a pair of testicles. They don't, and wou't have been running for their lives while not making a throw.

That's a dumb argument. Today's QB's growing up in that era aren't as big or athletic as they are today. Same stupidity as saying Lambert would be too small today. If Jack Lambert had been born in 2000, he'd be terrorizing the league today at about 6'6 and 260.

Which means Brady and Manning would be even more of a sitting duck in the 70's.

Not saying they don't have the ability to adapt to not having that extra half second to throw without fear of being hit, or receivers mugged up and down the field pre-Blount rule. But they don't have the ability to really move around and buy time. I do not think they are athletic enough to be stars in that era (talking about Brady and Manning, specifically).

[Pickett's Platoon]

[The problem for them would have been possessing a pair of testicles. They don't, and wou't have been running for their lives while not making a throw.

That's a dumb argument. Today's QB's growing up in that era aren't as big or athletic as they are today.

WTF????

[SteelPro]

In todays NFL QBs make the team. In 70’s teams made the QBs. Manning and Brady would work fine in the 70’s on any of the great teams. They would have been destroyed if they landed on the dregs. What would Archie Manning have been on a good team?

[Stlcrtn1974]

In todays NFL QBs make the team. In 70’s teams made the QBs. Manning and Brady would work fine in the 70’s on any of the great teams. They would have been destroyed if they landed on the dregs. What would Archie Manning have been on a good team?

Yea, I can see Brady or Manning getting slammed on their heads by Turkey Jones.
There is no doubt in my mind that defenses today are told to not hit the qb hard. How do you stop a running qb, ask James Harrison, but that old school style is gone now.