If there's anyone who would know how Tom Brady is having such seamless success in going from the Patriots to the Buccaneers, it would be his boyhood idol, Joe Montana.
The 49ers' legend also went from his first team, where he enjoyed the ultimate Super Bowl glory, to helping the Chiefs get to the other's conference's championship game. Seeing what Brady is doing with Tampa Bay channels how smooth Montana's late-career move to Kansas City was.
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"The biggest thing is that we work so much with the wide receivers, the little things make a big difference," Montana said in an interview with Sporting News. "It takes time to get them to understand what's happening.
"The first game I played with Kansas City actually was against Tampa. I kept telling one of the wide receivers, 'We may call this play right here and it's not supposed to come to you, but if the safety leaves the middle, I'm throwing it and it's coming your way.' Sure enough, they blitzed, I think to this day, he is still surprised he dropped it in the end zone.
"Those things take time to understand — this is the way I want you to run the route and get open. Those things need to happen a few times in a game to work it out, because there's such a little difference between a completion and incompletion."
When Montana joined the Chiefs in 1993, he inherited a few speedy big-play receivers in Willie Davis and J.J. Birden, who provided a boost. Even with some injuries, Brady has benefited from having very talented wideouts, expanding from Mike Evans and Chris Godwin to Scotty Miller, Tyler Johnson and, soon, Antonio Brown.
Another hurdle Brady has cleared is meshing his sensibilities of getting the ball out quickly for the short-to-intermediate passing game with the aggressive downfield approach of Bruce Arians. As for Montana, he had it easier because the Chiefs were already indoctrinated with classic West Coast offensive concepts he executed with the 49ers.
"I was fortunate because that blend happened already. The offensive coordinator, Paul Hackett, was my quarterbacks coach with the 49ers for three years. The offense that was being run was sort of a blend between what we had done in San Francisco and what Marty Schottenheimer had done wherever he'd been."
Another key for Montana was the Chiefs upgrading other positions to tailor to his needs, much like the Bucs have done with Brady — investing more at running back, offensive line, tight end and wide receiver. For Montana, a key move Kansas City made at the same time was adding running back Marcus Allen to give him a better pass blocker in the backfield.
As both Brady and the Buccaneers had a good transition plan, Montana isn't surprised at all that it didn't take long for everything to click.
"Look what they've loaded him up with. It's crazy what he has at wide receiver, and then you add Gronk into that mix. That's part of the reason he left New England — there were some things he wanted to do and they weren't allowing him to do them. Down there, they gave him free reign to run the offense, doing what he wanted to do.
"A similar thing happened in San Francisco, when we got Jerry Rice and John Taylor. It became easier for me to push the ball downfield. Look at the numbers the Bucs put up last year — it was insane. That's why he went there."
Montana retired after the 1994 season, his second with the Chiefs. Twenty-six years later, Brady is part of an offensive explosion the NFL has never seen. Montana points to several reasons for the passing boom.
"When you let those guys have free release off the ball and knowing the things you can and can't do to a wide receiver, I wouldn't want to be a defensive back today. It's hard enough to cover those guys when you can get your hands on them. Now you give guys like Jerry and John a free release, you would have a field day throwing the ball because you can't cover them for that long.
"Everyone now wants to see the ball being thrown and touchdowns being thrown. That's why you're getting these numbers these quarterbacks are putting up now."
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Montana was considered a good athlete for the position during his playing days. Brady avoids the pass rush with his good footwork and quick release. Knowing that, even with a lot of quarterbacks running more in 2020, for Montana, it still comes down to being able to work efficiently out of the pocket.
"The read option guys can't make it very long just doing that, because they don't read defenses as much. There are guys with great mobility, but they still spend most of the time in the pocket. Mobility is just an extra asset when there's trouble. In most cases, like Russell Wilson, they still want to sit back and throw the ball.
"You do have to be more mobile today, because how can you stop that when you can't cover guys long enough? When you have to get to the quarterback to stop the passing game, mobility is big. Just like every other position, everyone's getting bigger, faster, stronger. Then you look at Tom, he's not going anywhere fast, but he's extra special to overcome that."
Montana retired at 37. For him, seeing what Brady is doing again at 43, it's hard to tell when Brady should hang it up.
"As long as your arm doesn't let you down and you can make all the throws, you can play a long time, because you're just not taking the same pounding. That's usually what gets to most of the guys, the physical part of the game. You don't need to think as much about 'I need to protect myself' because you know you're not getting hit as much. That makes a difference for guys at that level. As long as the arm keeps working and you can stay healthy, guys like Brady and Drew Brees can think about playing forever."
Montana talked to SN on behalf of Guinness' "Good Things Come to Those His Wait" campaign. The ad features an appropriate throwback to Montana's college playing days with the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.
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"We both want to see the world become a better place. This partnership made sense from both ends — it was a long time coming. I ended up falling in love with Guinness over in Dublin over my first real pour. My friend turned me on it. Every day we were there I was like, 'Let's go get another pint.'"
As for No. 4 Notre Dame's chances in Saturday's big matchup with No. 1 Clemson, Montana knows the Irish defense needs to have another big game.
"It will be a real test and measuring stick of where they go this season. If you can keep the game low-scoring and close and not let them have the ball too many times, you have a better chance of winning. If you try to get into a scoring match with them, it's going to be tough."
