Joe Montana

Eat your heart out Marino, this guy's got you bet. Walk-in hall of famer right here!!

You can't take away the Super Bowls, but the greatest ever--give me a break!!! Montana was the Virgil Carter of his era--Master of the Three Yard Toss. Dr. Dink and Dunk. Played in a bad division for most of his career. In no particular order, the list of quarterbacks who were better than Montana includes Elway, Unitas, Marino, Favre, Bradshaw, Kelly, Otto Graham, Sammy Baugh, Starr, Manning. There are probably a few others as well. I rated him as average, and that might not be completely fair, but in the 80s (thanks in no small part to the brutal Steeler teams of the 70s) the game changed radically. If Montana had played ten or twenty years earlier, his career would have been cut in half. That dinky passing game worked because defenses were barred from physical play. Bill Walsh understood this and developed the pinball offenses that won games and bored true football fans to death, and Montana was Walsh's guy. Montana was the ultimate System Quarterback. When the 49ers were ... Read more

I am a NY Giant fan, but Joe Montana was the best ever,and there is no ifs,ands, or buts about it. When Joe Cool was on the field he could change the game. Check out both Superbowls against the Bengals.People say he was great on a great team, but when he went to KC he became mortal.Could it be that they were the last 2 years of his career? Hall of Famer and the Mr. Clutch of the NFL.

great quarterback but stint in Kansas City proved he is mortal.

Hall of fame of course and well deserved

A Master of Football. 4 rings in the 80's. Created the Legend Jerry Rice, and his nice Supporting cast has helped him to his Legendary Status. His true testoment was going to KC and making it to the playoffs and wining in the first round. The Comeback King, Montana never lost pose and nearly always won. #1 QB!

THE BEST EVER!!!

I guess this guy is the greatest quarterback of all time... all I know is that my global teacher used to play basketball with him and he always mentions it.

Played w\ a all star cast.. When playing with a average team the fell hard.

Overrated!! Besides Troy Aikman and Terry Bradshaw, I can't think of another quarterback who benefited more from being drafted by the team that selected him. Montana had at least a top 5 defense almost EVERY year he started for the 49ers. What other QB can say that? Let's not forget he also had the revolutionary (at the time) west coast offense to use, and always had a good running game to work with. I gave him 3 stars because while he was great, he was great because he was drafted by the 49ers. The guy simply gets too much individual credit for winning 4 Super Bowls, when he won them because the 49ers always had a great team around him. Hell, if Elway or Marino would have had the advantages Montana had with San Fransisco, they could have won 7 or 8 rings each. I'm not saying he's bad by any means... just overrated.

Joe Cool is all I have to say.

Freakishly effective. As many rings as anyone has, good numbers, and he was better in the clutch than ANYONE.

not even a pro arm - succeeded solely because of the system and starts around him - steve young's numbers were far superior with the same team around him

Someone down there wrote "Give me Dan Marino any day". Well I gotta day for you buddy. How about January 20th 1985. This is all i need to say when it comes to rating the best quarterback ever.Now don't get me wrong I love Marino too. When it comes to the best regular season quarterback Marino is hands down the best of his time. There is not even any competion to Marino besides Favre and Manning, but Favre throws too many interceptions, and Manning is still on his way.Elway was good too and does deserve to be mentioned but he didn't become a champion till he finally handed the responsibilty to TD and that running game. Not like Joe Montana though. Joe is the best because like all GREAT players he was at his best in the clutch. In 4 superbowls this man never threw an interception. Not one. There are quarterbacks who can't go 4 series' without throwing an interception. Joe Montona was the epitamy of coolness under pressure.So I say to you Marino fan give me Marino on a day I want to set r... Read more

The "Comeback Kid". Joe won in college, pros anywhere the guy played he won, for crying out loud the guy brought the Chiefs to the AFC Championship Game in the twlight of his career. Al Davis would have loved to have Joe on his team because Joe would "Just Win, Baby!".

How many wives did this guy divorce and beat anyway?

Cool under pressure. I remember back in 1989, when the 49'ers were playing the Iggles at the Vet. I was at college in New Hampshire and my roommate was from Northeast Philadelphia. Anyway, the Niners are down three scores in the 4th Quarter. Totally awesome!

Like an earlier lister, I too saw the game where Joe Montana (after getting beat viciously for 3 quarters) dusted himself off and scored four fourth quarter TD's to come back against the Philadelphia Eagles at the Vet. . .It's trendy to say that Joe had a HOF supporting cast, true. . .but was anyone better in a big game than Joe Montana?

IMO, the best ever.

The ultimate field general

Get's too much credit dudes. Give me Dan Marino any day over Montana. He wouldn't even go to the SuperBowl unless he got paid, what a stuck up dude.

he was the best qb ever

IMO, he is the best QB of all time. If Dan Marino won a SB ring, maybe that honor would go to him, but he doesn't and I give the title to Montana. He was responsible for 4 of the 49ers 5 SB wins in franchise history. The guy was just amazing.

How great is joe? Let me put it to you this way; Joe was over the hill, been through about a million surgeries, replaced by steve young, and plays for kansas city with average receivers. Monday night game: Everyone and their momma swore that Elway came from behind and won that game, hell, I saw tears coming from elways eyes, but it aint over until the fat wine drinking singing lady sing. Proven just by this game, and his retirement soon after that it was all JOE. We all know about the superbowls, stats, and great team. Montana proved again he can beat the big boys with average players. A god among great men!

te only ever quarterback to win 4 superbowls

A legend! He DOES deserve the 'all time' rating. Gotta love Montana

This is the only guy that I would rate over Ken Stabler in his prime, While is true that systems often make the quarterback and Joe had the best system and the greatest array of offensive talent that a quarterback ever enjoyed, this guy was so cool, so accurate, and so artistic in the pocket that he could have won with any team. How could you not rally around a guy who'd been there so many times and always came out on top? He was the same magnificent wizard with Notre Dame that he was with the 49rs. Never the guy that was the preseason pick to start, but always the guy who ended up with the job. For once the numbers don't lie and the hype turns out to be true. He was the best there ever was.

Unmatched in touch and finesse.

Montana is simply the essence of what a Legend is. When I look at a NFL QB, Stats aren't as important as how he commands the offense. Bottom line, The QB controls the whole offense and is the glue that holds it together (not the RB, not the O-Line, not the O-coordinator....NO!). If the QB can't command the team in all aspects (poise, mental awareness, physical strentgh, decision making and raw talent), then He is not and should not be considered the greatest QB. You have to have them all and Joe Montana has/had it all.

You can't deny the guy was great. Come on. He looked like a stick out there, but he came through everytime it was close. No one better in clutch situations.

Some stream of consciousness divinations on the matter...It's Montana, due respect, Johnny U-nite-us...but Joe even bested the coolest QB NAME! So Cool a city in Montana even changed its' name...but seriously, the 4 Supes, the 3 that should've been 4 Super Bowl MVP's (if he'd chosen to spread the ball around a little more this way or that, Rice doesn't set a Bowl record for yards, and Joe goes 4 for 4 in MVPs)...like several of you have already said, the genius of Walsh aside, the Niners weren't sh--, til Montana arrived--defeating Marino, and Elway, what, twice? 55-10? Talent discrepancy aside, can anyone honestly fathom Joe Montana getting whupped 55-10, in a Super Bowl? Some other tidbits: Roger Fumble-Craig doesn't pull that number in the Championship game, Niners already up, late...the Giants don't likely dominate Buffalo the whole super bowl only to watch scott norwood miss that 41yder...no, likely what would've been was a 5th Joe Montana SuperBowl victory, and a spanking of big... Read more

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i dont know why people are comparing tom brady to JM cos there aint and never will be a "BETTER" QB than MONTANA! LEGEND

After analyzing every conceivable performance measure for NFL quarterbacks, I conclude that Joe Montana, John Elway, and Johnny Unitas are the top 3 of all time - the NFL's QB Triumvirate, the top tier of the Elite. When all is said and one and all the results are in, other NFL quarterbacks come close (Graham, Young, Favre, Marino, Staubach, Starr, Bradshaw, Baugh); but Montana, Elway, and Unitas - each in his own unique way - are unsurpassed in their accomplishments on the gridiron. Raw statistics are one important measure, but they are not the final arbiter, not the true measure of greatness. Fact is, it's not hard to find other quarterbacks, many non-Hall-of-Famers, who had better QB ratings, more passing TDs, more yards, and higher completion percentages than Monta, Elway, Unitas and other all-time greats. But who had more Super Bowl victories and performed better in the big games than Cool Joe? Who won more NFL games, more championships combined (SB, conference, divisional), ... Read more

Joe Montana 4 super bowls, 4 rings 11 touchdowns, 0 int 3 super bowl MVPs 127.8 passer rating (which is the kind of QB rating you will only see again when a top QB for some college team like USC or Oklahoma is pounding some college like Southeastern Backwater State 60-3). He is also the author of 31 4th quarter comebacks. You can't say he did it because of a system like the West Coast Offense. Is Michael Jordan a bum because he played in Phil Jackson's Triangle Offense? 49er offensive coach Mike Holmgren says it didn't work until the right QB came along, Joe Montana. Many one-hit wonders came along, like the Jim McMahon Chicago Bears, and Phil Simms' NYGiants, but teams adjusted. Still, year after year, teams saw teh 49ers and knew what was coming, but were confounded by Joe Montana. And Montana was no sissy, either. . .who can forget him coming back to the 49ers after major back surgery to win 2 more Super Bowls, or him playing another time with the bursa sac on his elbow swollen ... Read more

The Best who ever played the game. Cool calculating intelegent nimble accurate touch leader vision poise accuracy. The best of all these traits.

Much more key to 49ers dynasty than Rice.

Watching Joe play was always a pleasure. His grace under pressure was amazing. He's the passer to take when the pressure was greatest.

Could always come through in the clutch when his team needed him to.

the best quarterback for the sf 49ers. i hated when he went to the chiefs it just wasnt the same

In my eyes best quarter back that ever lived. He had it all but speed, but his extreme skill made up for all fault which were few and far fetched.

A very in-depth QB who could call a defensive action just by the linemens setups. It is arguable though, that if he didn't have the team he did, he wouldn't have been half as great. Even Steve Young did better statistically then montana, why, because they both passed for the same team.

One of many great Notre Dame quarterbacks!

What makes Joe the greatest QB of all time? For all those people who want to argue over stats, I will say this - Statistics, while based in fact, are largely circumstantial - All of you would probably feel pretty good about yourselves throwing 8 TD's in a game against a team of 10 year olds... Evidence of Montana being the greatest of all time is that he consistently produced in big game situations, and often, produced from a deficit... THERE IS NO GREATER EXAMPLE OF GREATNESS THAN AN ABILITY TO WIN WHEN YOU ARE DOWN. PERIOD. The fact that his stats (Passing Yards, TD's, Superbowl Rings, etc) are pretty extraordinary is just icing on the cake. Don't believe me? Then go back to playing your games with 10 year olds and leave the tough stuff to Joe.

oh please, JOE MONTANA was the best to ever play the position, i have this argument w/ my uncle and brother, who make every excuse in the world for marino. marino was a great passer, and i would say he had a great/greatest arm of anyone in the nfl.....but montana was the better quarterback, he played the position and knew the game better than anyone. it's like comparing a brawler and a boxer, and most boxing experts agree, the boxer usually wins. anyways, for everyone riding the JERRY RICE excuse.....first things first, marino had some excellant recievers himself (the mark's brothers, and they made him look good many times climbing invisable ladders to catch balls) and elway had the 3 amigos (who were an excellant trio as well).....montana won 2.....2.....once again,2 superbowls w/o jerry rice (i think rice was still in high school when he won his first).....joe took over a team that was considered the joke of the league, they were 2-14 before joe and were consistantly bad, when joe to... Read more

a team leader and a fantastic Quarterback.

Best QB ever

The greatest quarterback of all time. Joe could look down the field and see the play before it happened with out tipping his hand. A constant professional and an excellant roll model. Its to bad that we don't have more professional athletes like the great Joe Montana.

Along with Johnny Unitas, Joe Montana was the greatest quarterback ever. I really cannot say who was better between these two, but both were heads and shoulders above the rest in this list of great quarterbacks. But what made the great Joe Montana standout was his ability to stay calm during the big games and deliver a victory. Montana was the ultimate master of the two-minute drill, as evidenced by his masterful drive to glory in Superbowl XXIII against the game Cincinnati Bengals. Not blessed with a rifle arm, Montana more than compensated with great intelligence and an uncanny on-field vision. With three Superbowl MVPs to boot, is it any wonder why 'Joe Cool' is considered by many to be the greatest ever? Yes, there will be better quarterbacks with greater physical attributes. But there will never be a quarterback as cool in the clutch as Joe Montana.

Incomparibly the greatest quarterback the NFl and the 1980's has ever seen. The comback kid used Bill Walsh's unique west-coast style of offense like nobody has ever had.