Gresh & Zo: Montana Says It's 'Hard' To Compare Himself To Brady
INDIANAPOLIS (CBS) – If Tom Brady wins on Sunday, he'll join Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana in the exclusive club of quarterbacks with four Super Bowl victories. Naturally, that possibility leads to discussion of which quarterback is the best of all time.
Montana, though, doesn't like comparing himself to quarterbacks of different eras, and he discussed that with Gresh & Zo on radio row on Thursday.
"It's nice when people put you in the same categories, but it's hard to compare guys," Montana said on Gresh & Zo. "I'm just happy that I'm being mentioned, I mean he's probably playing at the top of his game right now.
"There's not a whole lot [to compare], because he's 6'5", got a big arm," said the 6-foot-2 Montana. "He's just a different style quarterback. You look at the offense he's in, and we never took a snap out of a shotgun. … It's just too hard [to compare]. He's a pure pocket guy, and I wasn't. There are some similarities, mainly because of the Bay Area I think is what really brings the comparisons more than anything."
Brady, of course, grew up in the San Francisco area idolizing Montana as he led the 49ers to those four Super Bowls.
"We were just a little bit different styles, because I didn't like staying in [the pocket] too long if I didn't have to," Montana said. "He gets the ball out of his hand and he understands that and his ability to move in the pocket is probably as good as anybody's."
While Montana was hesitant to compare himself to Brady, Andy Gresh offered his own take.
"Where they both beat people," Gresh said, "is brains and accuracy."
Regarding Sunday's game, Montana unsurprisingly said that Brady's performance will decide the outcome.
"I think that's the whole key to the game. Tom's the key," Montana said. "If [the Giants] can do what they did to Tom last time they played [in Week 9], then they'll have success. But you know how difficult it is to beat a team twice in one year."
Listen to the interview here:
