Joe Montana overrated or the best NFL QB ever

[paranoyd androyd]

montana extremely underrated if anything

[london2k]

Ok lets hear who you think is the greatest and better than he was, then lets hear why thats realistic?

For a start....Steve Young was a better QB. It is WELL known in the NFL that opposing defenses tried to make sure NOT to knock Montana out of games because doing so would mean that Young would come into the game. No defense wanted to face Young.

[nyplayer33]

This is really really difficult to say who was the best as there are alot of enternal factors. He played in a weaker division then the NFC EASt..you can't just look at his numbers as he had the best player of all time..yes I said that. In a recent ranking..Jerry Rice was considered the best ever number 1. The old time QB's who didnt have the trainers and film like they have today are always going to get alot of mention. I'd say he has to be among the best..but to say without certain he is the best is very difficult.

[nyplayer33]

If he had played in a tougher division, would injuries of changed his ability and longevity?? Look at Troy Aikamn, he had what 5 concussions??

[MHawk]

You can't compare athletes from the past to today's athletes. May be cliche but its the truth. The competition they play against is always different. That said, Montana was one of the best, especially in big games. I think he would have been the same against today's players.

[rsnnh12]

Montana is the best ever. Brady has a good chance to pass him, but I'll wait til he retires or wins another ring before looking at that. Montana had what, 11 TDs to 0 INTs in his 4 Super Bowls? That's just amazing, and the definition of clutch.

[darkhat]

Montana is number one..

[SportsPedagogy]

BART STARR (Green Bay, 1956-71) Best season (1966): 156 for 251 (62.2%), 2,257 yards, 9.0 YPA, 14 TD, 3 INT, 105.0 passer rating
Career: 1,808 for 3,149 (57.4%), 24,718 yards, 7.8 YPA, 152 TD, 138 INT, 80.5 passer rating
Championships: 1961, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1967
Overview: That's right. Bart Starr. The greatest quarterback in the history of the game.

Sit down and take notes:

History has done a grave disservice to the legacy of Starr, the 17th-round draft pick out of pre-Bear Bryant Alabama who turned into the most clutch and most cruelly efficient passing assassin of his or any other generation.

History remembers Starr's legendary coach, and the bevy of Hall of Fame talent that surrounded him. It forgets that Starr was Lombardi's second in command, a tremendous big-game performer, and that the Packers of the 1960s would have been just another team without the prolific Starr as their beloved on-field leader. Instead, they won five NFL championships, with Starr at the helm of every single one of those title teams, while he crafted an NFL-record 9-1 postseason mark. The rings say it all: Starr is the only quarterback in history who has one for every finger on his throwing hand.

And even if you listen to teammates today, they make it pretty clear that they would have fallen on a grenade for Starr. Leadership is an elemental piece of quarterbacking – probably more important than gaudy passing stats. And that love his teammates had for their field general is an incredible sign of his leadership.

But forget, for a moment, the team accomplishments and the "intangibles" of leadership.

If you want to talk passing and statistics, we'll put Starr up against anybody. Anybody.

He led the NFL in passer rating five times. Johnny Unitas led the league in passer rating just twice. Ditto Joe Montana. Only Steve Young surpassed Starr's mark (six).

And, lest we forget, Starr was the best postseason passer in NFL history, as evidenced by his record 104.8 playoff passer rating and 1.41 percent interception rate, also a postseason record (CHFF readers are well aware of the importance of not throwing picks in the playoffs). Starr played in an era when 80 was a decent passer rating. Yet he still performed more efficiently in the playoffs than folks such as Montana, Brady, Manning, Marino, Young and ... well, anybody, ever.

There's a cause and effect here, folks: NFL's greatest dynasty, only winners of three-straight title games, and a record 9-1 postseason mark. And there, underlying it all, is Starr with his postseason passing records. The two are intricately intertwined.

History also remembers Starr's Packers as a great running team, and that's certainly true of their earlier years. But the truth is that they typically passed the ball more effectively than they ran it, especially during their run of three straight, when they were a below-average running team.

In their 1965 championship season, the Packers were 11th in the 14-team league with an average of 3.4 yards per rushing attempt. They were second in the league, with an average of 8.2 yards per passing attempt.

In their 1966 championship season, the Packers were 14th in the 15-team league, with an average of 3.5 yards per rushing attempt. They were first in the league, with an average of 8.9 yards per passing attempt.

In their 1967 championship season, the Packers were 4th in the 16-team league, with an average of 4.0 yards per rushing attempt. They were first in the league, with an average of 8.3 yards per passing attempt (Starr himself that season averaged 8.7 YPA).

Starr averaged a remarkable 7.85 YPA over the course of his entire career, the 8th-best mark in history, and better than that of a slate of quarterbacks who are generally regarded as the best passers in history, including Dan Marino (7.37), Joe Montana (7.52), Roger Staubach (7.67), Dan Fouts (7.68), Sonny Jurgensen (7.56), Fran Tarkenton (7.27), Y.A. Tittle (7.52), Terry Bradshaw (7.17) and Joe Namath (7.35).

Six times in the 1960s, Starr surpassed 8.2 YPA for a season. To put that into context, Peyton Manning has surpassed 8.2 YPA just twice in his brilliant 10-year career.

And, if you want drama, don't forget that Starr scored the winning TD in the Ice Bowl, probably the most famous game in NFL history. Sure, Montana led his team 92 yards for the game-winning score in Super Bowl XXIII. But he did it on a 68-degree night in Miami. Turn down the thermostat by 86 degrees (it was 18-below in the fourth quarter of the Ice Bowl) and you begin to approximate the conditions under which the greatest quarterback in NFL history operated during his greatest moment in the sport's greatest game.

And Starr was brilliant on that drive, in the decisive moments of the sport's most famous game: he completed 5 of 5 passes in ball-busting cold, and then called a run play for the winning score. But instead of handing it off, he decided in his mind, without telling his teammates, that he was going to punch it in himself. It was only fitting: the game's greatest signal-caller taking matters into his own hands in the sport's signature moment.

To cap his career achievements, Starr earned MVP honors in the first two Super Bowls after shredding the best the AFL could throw his way for 452 yards on 47 passing attempts (9.6 YPA). Among those victims were the 1967 Raiders, perhaps the AFL's greatest single team. He posted a combined 106.0 passer rating in those two games. If you think it was no small feat to beat up on "upstart" AFL teams, just look at how NFL quarterbacks fared in Super Bowls III and IV. (Here's a hint: they were embarrassed.)

When it comes to a combination of leadership, victories, big-game performances and statistical supremacy nobody – NOBODY – put together a more total package than Bart Starr, the greatest quarterback in NFL history.

You should learn to quote sources ...

http://www.packerhq.com/forum/index.php/topic,575.0.html

[Chi_archie]

Montana was the best I've seen, but it's almost impossible to to compare QB's from different eras. Brady, Starr and Sammy Baugh are in my Top 10, but if I had to win one game and could pick any QB to start it would be Montana.

Like it's been already stated, the rule changes have really skewed the stats for the current era of QB's. Outside of pulling out a baseball bat and clubbing a QB there wasn't the late hit, helmet to helmet, hit below the knees, driving into the turf etc. penalties to protect the QB's. Add in the rule changes against the Defense for how they could hit or defend receivers and rule changes that allow the QB's to throw the ball away and not have to take an intentional grounding penalty. Today guys like Harrison and Suh are labeled dirty players and villains for their play, but guys like Butkus, Jack Ham, and NightTrain Lane are thought of as some of the game's all time greats. How many of today's WR's or TE's are going to be eager going over the middle with Butkus or Ham waiting to lay them out or NightTrain on the outside ready to twist their head off like a bottle cap, without the modern rules protecting them? The other factor to be taken into consideration is modern technology, the advancements in training and medical procedures.

A lot or wr's today are much. Bigger than ham or lambert were.

[paranoyd androyd]

For a start....Steve Young was a better QB. It is WELL known in the NFL that opposing defenses tried to make sure NOT to knock Montana out of games because doing so would mean that Young would come into the game. No defense wanted to face Young.

you're a fukkin idiot young was an enormous choker lost numerous big games

[meader99]

Montana's Super Bowl performances probably push him over the top. The top 2 quarterbacks I have ever seen under pressure, in the clutch are Montana and Elway. People say you can't win Super Bowls by yourself, and that's probably right, but Elway took some putrid Bronco teams to the Super Bowl with his clutch playoff performances.

[Roadtrip635]

A lot or wr's today are much. Bigger than ham or lambert were.

That may be true, but it doesn't necessarily make them tougher. It does make it harder to keep focus and catch passes when you have to keep your head on a swivel, knowing that you have to pay the price for going over the middle. Before all the rule changes, they would get hit whether the ball came their way or not, even the biggest guys get alligator arms when subjected to that kind of punishment.

[Chi_archie]

he's still got it

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/nfl-joe-montana-confronts-home-intruder-grandchild

NFL great Joe Montana confronts home intruder who allegedly grabbed grandchild: report

The suspect fled the scene but was captured by police, who happened to be in the area for an unrelated matter, just a few blocks away

[Fred The Hammer]

For a start....Steve Young was a better QB. It is WELL known in the NFL that opposing defenses tried to make sure NOT to knock Montana out of games because doing so would mean that Young would come into the game. No defense wanted to face Young.

Thats bs. Montana 4 Young 1

[Checkerboard]

Joe Montana, Johnny Unitas.