Above all else, Super Bowl LI put an end to the age-old debate over the best quarterback on Planet Earth.
Not according to Joe Montana, the Hall of Fame passer and 49ers legend who nimbly danced around the question during a recent interview.
"I mean, he's obviously having a tremendous career. I think it's just hard to put anyone in that bucket," Montana said of Brady during an appearance on Hallmark Channel's "Home & Family" show, per TMZ.
"Even before he got five, you look back to some of the guys some people don't even know. Sammy Baugh or Otto Graham, I can't remember which one, but one of them won like seven or nine championships -- and so far ahead of their time," Montana said. "It's hard to compare guys from then to now, how they would compare here and we would compare then."
For the record, Baugh led the Redskins to five title games and a pair of championships during a career that stretched from 1937 to 1952. Graham is the wonder Montana pointed to, as the former Browns star guided Cleveland to four championships in the All-America Football Conference and three NFL titles during a raucous 10-year run with the team from 1946 to 1955.
Having won four Super Bowl titles of his own, Montana believes the "greatest quarterback" debate remains alive and well.
"I still can't say that of -- even though people say it and I appreciate it -- I still can't say that of myself because of just what I said," noted Montana. "It's hard."
"At home you're saying that all the time!" joked his wife, Jennifer.
"And don't you forget it," Montana said.
Said Jennifer: "We are reminded constantly."
Not going quietly into the night: Joe Montana.
