Who ya got: Joe Montana vs. Tom Brady

Tom Brady may have the titles, but Joe Montana is still the G.O.A.T. of the Super Bowl.

Tom Brady’s numbers certainly read like the best quarterback in NFL history: five rings, leads most statistical categories, multiple Super Bowl and league MVP’s, on paper Brady is the best.

He’s gotten it done time and time again, in situations that, if another quarterback were under center may not have been able to pull off. After all, all five of the Patriots Super Bowl wins came courtesy of a Brady-led comeback late in the game.

But people seem to forget that Joe Montana’s no slouch, especially when it mattered most.

With a perfect 4-0 record in the Super Bowl, no quarterback is more flawless than Montana in the big game. Montana never threw a pick in the Super Bowl, and when stacked up against the likes of Dan Marino and John Elway, Montana outperformed both, still holding the highest career passer rating in the Super Bowl at 127.8.

In a nine-year span Montana led the 49ers to four rings under two different head coaches, that’s almost one title every other year. Montana may not have the numbers Brady does, credit injuries and number of years in the league for that, but at his peak Joe Cool was nearly untouchable.

When Montana was injured from 1991-1992 San Francisco missed the playoffs entirely, and lost to the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship the following season, proving that Joe Montana was essential to San Francisco’s success. When Brady was suspended for Deflategate, the Patriots went 4-1 with Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett.

Not to mention, Montana played in an era that was unforgiving to quarterbacks, an era that did not have as many rules in place to protect QB’s as today’s game does. If it wasn’t for that elbow injury that sidelined him for two years, Montana could have gone on to win a couple more rings. This is the guy who, after playing in just one game over two seasons, was traded to Kansas City and proceeded to lead a Chiefs team to their first AFC Championship game since 1969.

Brady’s career has been historic, and the argument for him as the greatest QB to ever take the field is completely valid. But let’s not forget Montana did it first. Brady’s impressive, but I’ll take the undefeated, unblemished Super Bowl record with Joe Montana.