San Francisco 49ers radio color analyst Tim Ryan joined "Murph & Mac" on KNBR and chimed in on the never-ending Joe Montana versus Tom Brady debate. 49ers fans will, obviously, side with Montana while New England Patriots fans will side with Brady. Of course, to a lot of NFL fans, Brady sticks out as the greatest ever because his accomplishments are more recent. He is headed to his seventh Super Bowl having already won four, which is a win total that ties Montana. Although, Montana has never lost in a Super Bowl, going a perfect 4-0. As Ryan explained, Montana played in a tougher era as well.
"You guys know my line for this," Ryan said. "Am I in the mood for steak or lobster? It just depends on your preference. The game has changed so much, as we know. Joe had great receivers, as we know. Tom has done it with a bunch of guys, with the exclusion of Randy Moss. That's a hard one.
"I will say this -- I will bring the style of play and the era of football in the quarterback position, I mean, it's basketball on grass now, it's so much different, but quarterbacks, back then, ask Joe about Leonard Marshall and Jim Burt and those guys giving him spinal taps any time they played and some of the hits that he endured and receivers getting beat to hell all the way down the field, going over the middle and getting their heads taken off.
I think, for that, because of the style of the game then, and you compound that with Joe's performance and success and ultimately bringing the party to Lombardi here back to the Bay Area over and over again, I'll say, right now, it's Joe."
You can listen to the entire interview on KNBR.
In November, the 49ers played the Patriots during the regular season. During the week leading up to the game, Bay Area reporters asked Brady about the comparison to Montana. Brady grew up a 49ers and Montana fan and was even in the stands at Candlestick Park for "The Catch," the legendary play that sent San Francisco to their first Super Bowl.
"I don't ever see myself like him," Brady said. "He was so spectacular. I think he's in a league of his own...He was a winner. Every time he took the field, it felt like the 49ers were going to win. I remember rooting for that team when Joe was playing quarterback and you always felt that they were going to win no matter who they were playing, where they were playing at."