If Tom Brady wins another Super Bowl, is he the greatest quarterback of all time?

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If Tom Brady wins another Super Bowl, is he the greatest quarterback of all time? image

If Tom Brady wins another Super Bowl, is he the best QB of all-time?  originally appeared on Quora: The best answer to any question. Ask a question, get a great answer. Learn from experts and get insider knowledge. You can follow Quora on  Twitter Facebook , and  Google+ .

Answer by Jonathan Brill , Patriots fan

No, it will still be Montana . Before making my case I should note that although I watched Montana growing up and have always been a Niners fan, Brady's is the only jersey I own, I'm an unapologetic Pats fan, and Brady is probably my favorite current player.

When I saw this question, three other questions immediately popped into my head:

Having their careers laid out in front of me, which would I draft? It's very close here, but I'd narrowly choose Brady. Although Brady has a better career QBR so far, it's important to mention that Montana's includes his last two years with the Chiefs (sub 90) which were his 13th and 14th years (subtracting his two DNP years). Overall, their QBRs are close to a wash. But you can't ignore that Brady is likely going to last longer than Joe, probably by at least 3 productive years and he's not showing any sign of slowing down now.

If I had a single game to play, which would I start? Montana. This is the biggie. Brady showed remarkable poise in his first Super Bowl campaign and was known as iceman to Peyton Manning's Choker for his first few seasons, but it hasn't been that way since 2007. As great as Brady is, it's not unfair to say that Adam Vinatieri was as key to all of his early Super Bowl wins as he was. After all, from the Raiders game all the way through their second Super Bowl win against Carolina, it wasn't touchdowns that clinched it but field goal kicks. Brady has a good, but not great 85.7 QBR in the playoffs (dragged down by a horrible 49 in 09). Montana on the other hand averaged a 127.8 QBR in four Super Bowl wins with 0 INTs. That's worth mentioning again: in four Super Bowl games Joe didn't throw a single interception. Joe Montana was the coolest of the cool.

How were they ranked against their peers? Montana. Although throwing purists might rank Elway or Marino as better throwers than Montana, that would be silly. Montana was a winner. As we learn more about sports it's becoming apparent that locker room chemistry and willingness to sacrifice for teammates are significant factors in whether a team wins or loses. Montana was known for inspiring his teammates and building camaraderie on both sides of the ball. Even the mercurial Jerry Rice didn't start making noise until Joe was out of the picture. Brady? Brady is my favorite player in the league and although I'd choose him over Manning for a lot of the same reasons I'd choose Joe, its not clear that he's actually a better quarterback. I wouldn't blame someone for arguing that Peyton Manning was a better QB than Brady for most of the years they played each other and more valuable to his team.

For Brady to be better than Montana, he'd have to be better than Montana at what Montana was good at: winning big games flawlessly. If he were to beat a stacked Packers team with the anemic defense he has now but playing flawless ball, this conversation may go a different way. Right now, I'm still picking Joe first.

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