Former San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Joe Montana isn't ready to say New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is the greatest of all time.
Montana, a four-time Super Bowl champion with the 49ers, told James Miller of the New York Daily News that today's players have it easier. He insisted great quarterbacks are generational, and while he acknowledged Brady's game, he was hesitant to put Brady above quarterbacks of the past.
"Obviously, he's a great quarterback. You can't go into the Super Bowl and win like that and not be," Montana said. "I just say, 'Enjoy them as they come. And as the game changes, enjoy the changes along with it.' Because all the guys that played before me were saying, 'Wow, you guys got it easy,' just like everybody when I played are saying, 'Wow, you guys got it easy today.' "
Montana's four titles and three Super Bowl MVPs were the gold standard for NFL quarterbacks until Brady earned his fifth title and fourth MVP after a 25-point comeback victory over the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI, becoming the winningest quarterback in Super Bowl history.
"Everybody talks about the greatest of all time, even before he got five. It's just really difficult," Montana said of picking the best ever. "I always tell people to go back and look at Sammy Baugh and Otto Graham footage and you'll see it's really how you compare those guys to today's game and how you compare today's game back to as far back as when we played."
Step right up
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey introduced each head coach at the podium in the print media ballroom during SEC media days in Hoover, Ala.
After his introduction, Mississippi State Coach Dan Mullen remarked about the silent walk to the dais.
"It's quiet when you walk up," Mullen said. "We need to come up with walk-up music. We can sit around at the spring meetings and come up with walk-up music."
Jon Cooper and SaturdayDownSouth.com took the idea Wednesday and released a list of walk-up songs for each SEC coach.
• Alabama's Nick Saban: "The Imperial March" (Darth Vader's theme)
• Arkansas' Bret Bielema: "I Would Do Anything For Love" by Meatloaf
"Bielema first told his wife he was an MBA history professor," Cooper wrote.
• Auburn's Gus Malzahn: "Fuel" by Metallica
• Florida's Jim McElwain: Jaws theme song
• Georgia's Kirby Smart: "God, Your Mama and Me" by Florida-Georgia Line
• Kentucky's Mark Stoops: "Overshadowed" by Ashlee Simpson
"Stoops, like Ashlee Simpson, is overshadowed by an older sibling," Cooper explained. "Unlike Stoops, Simpson wrote a song about it."
• LSU's Ed Orgeron: "Born on the Bayou" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
• Mississippi's Hugh Freeze: "It Wasn't Me" by Shaggy
"Under the NCAA's cloud, this song fits Freeze perfectly," Cooper explained.
• Mississippi State's Dan Mullen: "Where The Streets Have No Name" by U2
"It was Mullen's idea, so we give him what he wants," Cooper wrote.
• Missouri's Barry Odom: "Mr. Jones" by Mike Jones
"Entering his second season, nobody still knows who Barry Odom is," Cooper wrote.
• South Carolina's Will Muschamp: "Boom" by P.O.D.
"Coach Boom brings the Boom," Cooper wrote.
• Tennessee's Butch Jones: "We Are The Champions" by Queen
"We tried to find a kid's version, because Freddie Mercury is probably too cool for Butch Jones," Cooper wrote.
• Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin: "It's the End Of The World" by R.E.M.
• Vanderbilt's Derek Mason: "Unlock The Swag" by Rae Sremmurd
Sports quiz
How many touchdown passes did Joe Montana throw in his NFL career?
Answer
273 (244 with the San Francisco 49ers, 29 with the Kansas City Chiefs).
Sports on 07/14/2017