For most in the media, the Tom Brady versus Joe Montana debate has been over for some time. The former will appear in his ninth Super Bowl and his third straight as he tries to earn the New England Patriots their sixth Lombardi trophy with a victory over the Los Angeles Rams on February 3.
A win would give Brady two more rings during his Hall of Fame career compared to Montana. Brady would also become the first player in NFL history to be part of six Super Bowl championship teams, surpassing Charles Haley's five.
To the Niner Faithful, Montana will always be king of the quarterbacks. After all, the 49ers legend played in an era that was less protective of quarterbacks and was undefeated in his four Super Bowl wins. Then you have all the "gates" associated with the Patriots like "spy-gate" and "deflate-gate."
Still, you can't deny Brady has been impressive during his illustrious career. So what does former NFL tight end Brent Jones, who played six seasons with Montana in San Francisco, think about the whole Montana versus Brady debate?
"In my career, I said there will never be anybody greater, cooler, more relaxed, more precise, more accurate, more of a guy that can rally the team (than Montana)," Jones said Thursday on the "Murph and Mac" show on KNBR. "Now, I'm staring face-to-face with at a guy that's going to his ninth Super Bowl."
Jones notes that Montana took a relative cast of then-unknowns to the Super Bowl during the 1981 season. After that, the quarterback got to work with Pro Bowlers and superstars during his Hall of Fame career.
"Tom Brady, other than one or two years with Randy Moss, you look at those guys on the Patriots, and they're all JAGs," Jones continued. "They're all 'just a guy.' Holy cow, how do these guys get back year after year? Obviously, as much credit as I want to give Tom, (Bill) Belichick is just -- those guys are precise. They don't screw around. They don't make dumb mistakes."
Jones went on to compare Belichick's coaching philosophy with legendary 49ers head coach Bill Walsh, whom Jones had the privilege of playing for in 1987 and 1988.
"When you are going to your ninth Super Bowl, and you are about to win your sixth, and you've broken all these records, and you're a million years old, you have to put the guy right there with Joe," Jones added. "I don't know. I don't ever want to put words in Joe's mouth, but I think Joe would accept Tom as 1B."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Jones below.
