Yeah, I understand what great quarterbacks folks like Griese, Staubach, Unitas, etc., were. Great quarterbacks. But again, the reason Montana is my pick is something quite intangible and if you weren't there you perhaps cannot appreciate it. He took "cool" a couple steps beyond McQueen. Again, if you think I'm exaggerating then you weren't there. And aside from having ice water in his veins, he was reliable. if it were a regular season game against a so-so team, there was a chance he might not win. But if it were a strong team and there is a roman numeral in the title of the game, then the result was a foregone conclusion.

No question Montana was the coolest.
You could tell on certain pass plays when the ball left his hands, before they showed where he was throwing it that it was going to be a touchdown.

Unitas called his own plays !
Graham invented the passing game.

You make the call.

Griese - not on the same page.

What about Bradshaw?

Like Griese and the Dolphins , the reason the Steelers were so great was not the QB.
Though Bradshaw was a damn good QB., the Steel Curtain was awsome.
Dolphins it was the running game.
Same with Dallas of the 90's. Great offensive line. Very good defense. But Aikman not an all time great QB.

If you're talking best ever TEAMS then yes sir, Steelers one of the best ever.

Joe
 

wow... im surprized to hear so many "JOE" fans here.....

i am a native san franciscan born and bred, and was a teen in the 80's, so you can imagine how much of a niner fan i am/was. back then there was so many people hating on the niners cuz we would win,.... no one gave JOE the credit he deserved if you werent from the city, we all knew it at the time.

i think the difference with joe is that feeling of "knowing" the niners would win, just plain and simply win if JOE was playing... its the passion. i think SUPERMAN hit the nail on the head when saying, if you werent there watching, you wouldnt get it.....

its so great to read how many people have changed and now aknowledge the intensity of emotions joe provided week in and week out for years!

now that i bought a home in socal (4years)..... never talk about my roots in the city, my beloved giants and "the niners".... everyone is passionate about their teams..... i understand that..... its just nice to read that other "get it" when it comes to "JOE"

cant seem to get myself to go to the "blue house" here in LA... my nephews would hate me..........

sorry you had to go, joe.

Let's not forget who made Joe. Bill Walsh. Montana was a third round pick. But Walsh saw in Joe a man who could implement his planned offensive system. Picking Joe for the job was part of Walsh's genius. Bill made Joe the best ever, and Joe made Bill the best ever. It was a beautiful thing.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/suppo...ys/smlove2.gif

Having good pass protection, open receivers, and some sort of running game (poor Marino), enables Quarterbacks to look fantastic. Not taking anything away from the QBs listed, especially Montana, but even the best QB would look like crap without the support of the critical cast. How many QBs would give up their left nut to have Jerry Rice catching their throws - 15 yard screen goes 80 for a TD.

http://www.mcmillenandwife.com/images/turkey_joe.jpg

how can bradshaw compare to joe?... you never EVER saw joe standing on his head during a game........ even though breakdancing was super popular back then......... "NO HEAD SPINNING during the games" was posted on the lockeroom entrance...... joe followed that rule.....

I would put Montana and Unitas together on the podium.

They both had "IT" whatever that may be and were winners. I never did believe the story about Joe and the refusal to show because of an appearance fee, that just is not him.

All true.
But Aikman, Bradshaw, Griese had great offensive lines. Excellent receivers and superb running backs - and though they were very good passers they did not have that extra something that transcends numbers. They didn't even have the #'s.
Part of that may have been offensive strategy. But you could fit a few QB's into those systems and they prob would have won Super Bowls. Miami did.
Fran Tarkington, Dan Marino , The guy in Buffalo, Elway (before the running game) and Manning all had fantastic numbers but they also are missing that something. They had good teams and had shots at championships but couldn't pull it off.
The early niner teams were unspectacular.
Unitas had a solid team but not great teams.

So that brings me to the Patriots. To Brady.
Until this year hardly the greatest team assembled. No great receivers. No great running game.
They have been underdogs in almost every championship game they have played.
And yet Brady - along with Belichick - but Brady with the ball WINS. Refuses to lose. Makes the rest of the team winners.
How many other QB's in any era could have won three Super Bowls with those Pats teams ?
Unitas, Montana, but Griese ? Bradshaw ? Marino ? Aikman ? - Doubtful.

I am glad I have been able to closely follow Brady's career - Now I know how my brother and the rest of those San Fran and Bay Area niner fans felt watching JOE.

Throwing the ball up for grabs doesn't make a great QB. You can't place Brady in with the greats like Graham, Montana, Unitas, and Sonny Jurgensen. He's just not that good yet. He doesn't scare other teams or fans, he's just one of eleven on the offensive side of the football.

Oh, you wouldn't be mentioning "great QB Major Tom" if it wasn't for the foot of Adam Vinatieri. He's right there with Jim Kelly, no better, no worse. Still quite possibly HOF material, but not one of the best ever when his time expires. He did have a great season, and he does have some awfully good receivers catching his balls though.

As for Montana, I'm glad I got to see quite possibly the best QB ever play the game.

Been drinking the Hater-ade a little early tonight have we?

I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with you on that one.

One other thing about Montana, he is totally over-rated and never faced any real competition, because he didn't play in the SEC ;)

Now THAT'S funny.

And I'm going to disagree with you, I think. Guys like Brett Favre win games too, by refusing to lose. Grit. But again, that's not what we're talking about here. And again, if you weren't there you probably don't see the intangible and......how starkly tangible it was! You probably can't see where we're coming from when we say there were times when we KNEW the game would be won. You could FEEL it.

It was a sort of magic. Montana was the Steve McQueen of football. In a world of testosterone, he had the biggest 'nads.

Sonny Jurgensen ? !
HA, HA - he wouldn't even make the top 25 !

My favorite Brady moment this year.
Against the Jets (2nd time around).
I spent the whole game screaming at the tv.- LOOK FOR SOMEONE ELSE (beside Moss ) FOR SONNY JURGENSENS SAKE !!!!
His worst game of the year. He stunk.

Then, 4th quarter up by only 7 and Pennington looking solid with MO.
3rd and 16.
Brady drops back and as he is getting taken down he throws the ball to Welker for a 17 yard gain.
I don't know if it was shocking because for once he wasn't looking for Moss (though he probably checked him 2 or 3 times)
or because he was sideways and almost on the ground when he threw a perfect pass between two close defenders.
The most amazing pass I saw all year by any QB ( OK - that I saw - OK).
OK , Red, it was against a bad team (though the Jets were playing well) but that is beside the point.
In that situation 10 out of 10 QB's don't make that play when they are playing badly.
7 out of 10 don't make it when playing well.
The great ones pull the rabbit out of the hat so regularly that eventually it just seems routine.
And then they do something that blows your mind.

"I KNOW EE WEEL"

Jurgensen was thrown in for fun. Good catch, lol. OTOH, he was and might still be better than Brady. He definately had a better arm, and is arguably the finer of the two when compared in a pure passer sense.

Not at all. Do facts really hurt your feelings so bad that all you can come up with is that I'm a hater?

I like the Patriots (attended 2 of their Super Bowls and cheered for them big time) however they played in the absolute worse Division in the NFL this year.

And the 89-90 Niners (two consecutive 14-2 reg season and Super Bowl Victories with two 12-4 teams in the same Division in 90 and one in 89) with Montana at QB stack up against anything the Patriots have YET to do. If all you can do is hang your hat on the 16-0 record and call me a hater, there's probably nothing to talk about with you. I'm an avid historian of this game and league and have likely forgotten and know more than you can google this evening about the NFL.
Peyton Manning would easily do just as well (perhaps better) than Brady has done with this offense. In addition Brady far from carried the Pats in the first SB victory. That game was won by the defense and kicker. I think Brady is a great QB however do not think he is the best of all time. If you have a different opinion, that's fine and it doesn't make me a hater. I just think you have a blind love for your favorite team and there's nothing wrong with that. Again it doesn't mean I'm a hater nor does it mean I'm wrong.

A historian of the game would know that San Fran didn't play in the Super Bowl after the 1990 season. Your teams were 88-89 49ers. I agree with the other stuff.

Manning had a better team than the Pats every year they played for the Championship.
He finally won ONE last year (thanks to TWO dropped passes)

Yup, I was very impressed by the way "the kicker' led them down the field .
And how "the kicker" scored all those touchdowns.