Long before Tom Brady celebrated an unfathomable seventh Super Bowl victory, he was considered to be one of the all-time greats. As he began to stockpile rings, TB12 was still a couple of steps behind San Francisco 49ers legend Joe Montana as the best to ever play the position.
With seven Super Bowl rings now on his finger and the new title as the “GOAT,” Montana reportedly hates it, as told by ESPN’s Wright Thompson.
This revelation is equal parts amusing and understandable.
With a player like Montana, who was known for such a distinctly calm demeanor in high-pressure situations that earned the name “Joe Cool,” you just never know where a guy like that might stand when it comes to their place in NFL history and in the eyes of fans and media members.
So picturing the former face of Skechers getting all worked up about everyone’s all-time QB list is kind of comical and relatively difficult to envision.
Then again, this is a four-time Super Bowl champion we’re talking about and one that never experienced that ruthless feeling of ultimate failure. Stuff like that doesn’t just happen without housing an insane sense and pride and fierce competitiveness. So it’s safe to assume Montana more than likely loved being considered “The GOAT” for 20-plus years following his retirement in 1994.
Honestly, who wouldn’t? But this whole thing runs even deeper than just a ring count.
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Here’s what Thompson had to say on The Dan Patrick Show.
In addition to Montana apparently hating that his GOAT card has been rescinded, the quote that really stuck out was Thompson saying that it wasn’t Brady surpassing him in the ring department that bothers Montana as much as it is him watching “someone else sort of live his life that got ripped from him.”
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This is a bit of a stop-you-in-your-tracks quote that seems to be greatly underscored thanks to the “hates it” mention. But after hearing it, one can’t help but wonder what Montana’s true relationship is with Steve Young, who took his job as starting QB in 1991, as well as the 49ers organization as a whole.
Clearly “Joe Cool” felt — and quite obviously still feels — he had plenty left in the tank with an extremely talented 49ers roster surrounding him and feels robbed of what could have been, as he was instead traded to an inferior Kansas City Chiefs team at the time.
The more Thompson revealed, the more Montana’s pride appears to be closer to the level of Michael Jordan’s storied pettiness than most of us probably ever would have guessed.
Look no further than this rehashing of a famous dinner among four of the greatest quarterbacks to ever put on cleats.
Montana arrogantly pulling the ring card that led to Dan Marino — who won zero Super Bowls — dropping an f-bomb and reaching for the check paints an exquisite picture, mostly because we all know how legitimately annoyed the hot-headed Dolphins legend probably was during that humbling moment.
As for the Brady versus Montana argument, it was a valid comparison at one point with the argument for the 49ers legend and his four rings being a strong one as he never lost a Super Bowl and had the obscene stats to go along with those four Lombardy Trophies.
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To quickly summarize, in those four Super Bowl wins — where Montana was the MVP three times — he threw 83-of-122 passes for 1,142 yards with 11 touchdowns and zero interceptions.
Alas, the argument is no longer on the table. It’s not even in the room. Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback of all time. Just don’t make an attempt to convince Lawrence Taylor — a staunch Montana loyalist with some fair points — of what is now widely considered an NFL fact.