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GOAT, QB Category

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Dick Whitman, Jan 13, 2014.

  1. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    What was past Montana's prime? His time in KC? He took them to the AFC Championship game his first year there. They were one and done the following season, which was his last. His last start in SF was in the NFC Championship game when they lost to the Giants.

    If memory serves, Montana was one and done in the playoffs four times, 1985-87, which he followed up with back-to-back titles and 1994 whcih was his last season in the league.
     
  2. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    Your post actually triggered my thoughts on it, and I finally decided to specifically talk about '09 once LTL kept up the Favre talk.
     
  3. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    85-87 was when there was considerable concern Montana's back problems would drive him out of football. I remember being at the 1987 game the 49ers lost to the Vikings when Anthony Carter went insane and hearing the crowd cheer when Steve Young came in for Montana. That did not improve my opinion of pro football fans as a class.
     
  4. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    To be fair, and I am the biggest Montana fanboi out there, Young played out of his mind in the last three games he started that season. I think he had 9 or 10 passing touchdowns and ran for another. I was at the Rams game that year when they blew them out 48-0.
     
  5. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    (One of my more favorite conspiracy theories.)
     
  6. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    As a mind experiment, imagine threads on this board for GOAT at all the other positions. There'd be no comparable plethora of arguments for any of them except maybe linebacker, and on some, there'd be no arguments period. For running back, it'd be Brown and Payton and maybe Sanders. For defensive end, it'd be Deacon Jones, period. For wide receiver, Jerry Rice, period, and so on. Is that disparity a function of the requirements of the position, the ridiculous amount of attention it gets, or what?
     
  7. MisterCreosote

    MisterCreosote Well-Known Member

    O rly?

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 15, 2014
  8. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    Point taken. But I doubt there'd be more than those two. Gino Marchetti would get a shout out as someone to be remembered as great. It'd be Mean Joe and Merlin Olsen at tackle, I imagine, with Bob Lilly in the don't forget him category.
     
  9. outofplace

    outofplace Well-Known Member

    MC makes a good point. Even Jones is not a slam dunk. There would be arguments about running back and just about any position aside from Rice at wide receiver. Hell, I'm sure somebody would argue about that, too, but they would be wrong.

    That said, quarterback is probably the toughest, in part because the role has changed so much over time. We didn't get to see Unitas play with the rules so favorable to the passing game as they are now. Even Montana doesn't have it quite as easy as Manning and Brady in that regard.
     
  10. 3_Octave_Fart

    3_Octave_Fart Well-Known Member

    The older quarterbacks also sustained a hell of a lot more physical abuse.
     
  11. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Yeah, 4,000 passing yards and 30 touchdowns isn't exactly what it used to be.
     
  12. outofplace

    outofplace Well-Known Member

    No question about it. I tend to look at the rule changes in 1978 as the major dividing line, but rule changes since then have opened it up even more. Brady and Manning are better protected by the rules. You didn't have the Carson Palmer rule penalizing defenders for going low when Montana and Marino played and you didn't have a penalty called for any blow to the head, no matter how minor.
     
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