New England Patriots

New England Patriots: Joe Montana Isn't Ready to Call Tom Brady the GOAT

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 3:22 p.m. ET

Fansided, Michael Hudson/FanSided via Musket Fire

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady recently just won his fifth Super Bowl trophy, allowing him to stand alone as the quarterback with the most championships in the Super Bowl era.

But one of the men he passed, Hall of Fame quarterback and Brady idol Joe Montana, was reluctant to name Brady the undisputed greatest of all time in a recent interview with the Hallmark Channel.

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Montana, when asked point blank if he believed that Brady was the GOAT, he deferred to not comparing different eras against each other.

“I think that it’s really hard to put anyone in that bucket,” Montana explained. “Even before he got five–you look back to some of the guys some people don’t even know, Sammy Baugh or Otto Graham, I can’t remember which one but one of them won like seven or nine championships and so far ahead of their time. It’s so hard to compare guys from then to now, how they would compare here and how we would compare back then.”

For all of those keeping score at home, the quarterback that Montana was referring to was in fact Otto Graham, who won seven championships with the Browns when they were apart of the All-America Football Conference and then the NFL.

But while Montana certainly has a point about how different the game is played between eras, it’s interesting to hear his explanation in almost defense against why Tom, or anyone for that matter, is the best ever.

So, in that vain, does Montana think he’s the greatest to ever play the game?

“I still can’t say that of–even though people say it and I appreciate it–myself because of just what I said,” Montana explained.

But as he answered that, his wife Jennifer, who was also being interviewed, shared some candid information regarding how Joe views himself by saying that he calls himself the greatest ever while at home.

“At home you’re saying that all the time!” she joked

“And don’t you forget it,” Montana retorted.

“We are reminded constantly,” she said.

To be fair, Montana has been mostly complimentary of Brady throughout his career and the two have met on many separate occasions amicably, but it’s always difficult to pass on the guard of your reign to someone else, and perhaps that’s why it’s difficult for Montana to go quietly into the night and admit that Tom is, in fact, the greatest ever.

For Brady’s part, Tom has always said that no one will ever be better than Joe Montana and still says that some of his best memories were watching 49er parades after they won the Super Bowl when Brady was young.

So while the debate may be closed among fans, at least we know there is still some old, wily Hall of Fame QB out there who just can’t let go.