Brett Favre reveals his pick for greatest quarterback of all time

By Ross Kelly January 10, 2018 at 11:04am

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Regardless of how you feel about him, Brett Favre is in the conversation for the greatest quarterback in NFL history.

The Packers legend retired as the game’s all-time leader in both passing yards and passing touchdowns. He’s also one of four players to win at least three NFL MVP awards and the only one to win the award three seasons in a row.

If anyone has credibility in the conversation about the greatest quarterback ever, it’s old No. 4.

Favre called in to the NFL Network’s “Rich Eisen Show” on Tuesday and gave his opinion on who the GOAT is.

“I was not surprised by anything — now or in the future — that Tom [Brady] does,” Favre said to Eisen. “I never thought I’d say that somebody was better than Joe Montana, but Joe Montana’s always been the best quarterback that I’ve ever seen, and Tom has surpassed that. And not taking anything away from Joe, Tom just gets better, you know, regardless of who is in there playing with him, which it’s hard to find chemistry when you’re plugging guys in there.

“But he and [Bill Belichick] have managed to do it at the highest level as consistent as anyone has ever done it. And I don’t see any reason why Tom will diminish anytime soon.”

In the post-merger age of the NFL, it’s usually Brady and Montana who are bandied about as the best. Brady’s continued excellence despite his age gives him something over Montana.

Montana won his last Super Bowl at 33 and won just three more playoff games after that age. Brady has won two Super Bowls in his late 30s and racked up 11 postseason victories after the age of 33.

Brady can add to both of those totals this season, and Favre sees exactly that happening.

“I don’t foresee [New England] being beat,” Favre said. “I think they have the team to win it all this year, and I wouldn’t bet against them next year.”

Brady turned 40 in August and he already has the third-most passing yards and second-most passing touchdowns for a player after turning 40. His 13 wins in his 40s is also tied for most all time alongside Favre.

Favre’s assertion that Brady has now surpassed Montana is a bit different from what he was saying just a year ago. Just before the Patriots defeated the Falcons in the Super Bowl, Favre was asked where Brady ranked among the best quarterbacks in NFL history.

“I’ve always said that Joe Montana is the best QB I’ve ever seen play,” he said. “I would put those two on the top of the pedestal, side by side. There’s no other class. It’s those two.”

Brady then led the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history and had an MVP-caliber season at the age of 40, which clearly has shifted Favre’s pedestal.

Favre is one of the few people who know what it’s like to play quarterback at the age of 40, and that’s likely another reason he’s shifted toward Brady.

But who does Montana think is the greatest? He was asked that question before the 2017 season and he subtly reminded everyone that the game has changed since he played.

“Obviously [Brady’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.’ …

“Everybody talks about greatest of all time, even before he got five. It’s just really difficult. 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.”

Just as Favre was right about Brady’s longevity and consistency, Montana is right about how difficult it is to compare quarterbacks from two different eras.

Even if Brady goes on and wins a sixth Super Bowl ring this year, his detractors will always point to his two Super Bowl losses, which is two more than Montana. It’s a never-ending debate, and one that can’t be settled that easily.

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