Happy birthday, Joe Montana (ever heard of him?)!
The legendary 49ers quarterback and Pro Football Hall of Famer turned 67-years old on Sunday.
While the conversation around athletes and the evolution of athletic performance has pushed some all-time, pre-social media greats into the background. It’s understandable, especially now since athletes are bigger and faster and stronger than they were in Montana’s era. However, it’s hard to deny Montana’s place in history as perhaps the greatest quarterback to ever put on pads.
Any definition of ‘greatness’ in a sports context is going to vary depending on the person. With Montana he fits virtually any and all definitions. His accomplishments don’t require caveats that buoy his era against a more offense-friendly, pass-happy version of the NFL.
Montana won four Super Bowls and was the MVP in three of them. He was a three-time First-Team All-Pro, a two-time MVP, a Comeback Player of the Year, an Offensive Player of the Year, an eight-time Pro Bowler and a member of the Hall of Fame’s 1980s All-Decade Team.
He was the most prolific passer of his era who also set a new standard for efficiency, leading the NFL in completion rate five times and in touchdown rate twice.
Montana finished his career with 117 wins in 164 starts, giving him a whopping .713 winning percentage as a starting QB. That carried over to the postseason as well where he made the playoffs 11 times and posted a .696 winning percentage, including an undefeated record in the Super Bowl.
Counting stats and the gaudy passing numbers of the modern NFL will cause some to try and erase or diminish what Montana did in one of the league’s toughest eras. Doing so is pointless. Montana is still one of the greatest to ever put on an NFL uniform, and his birthday is a good time to remember that.