Joe Montana may no longer be the GOAT, but to deny him top 5 status is ludicrous
Maybe Dan Orlovsky had consumed some of Aaron Rodgers’ herbal, mind-altering drugs.
Maybe he hadn’t had his daily cup of coffee yet, or missed an early-morning workout and wasn’t feeling himself. Maybe the buzzing media circus known as Super Bowl Week had left him dazed and confused.
Or maybe he actually believes wholeheartedly in what he says.
Either way, Orlovsky, an NFL analyst for ESPN, made a guest appearance on the Dan Patrick Show earlier this week and dropped a mystifying stink bomb of a statement that left football fans across the country (especially those of a certain age), shaking their heads.
He does not consider Joe Montana to be an all-time top five quarterback.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” a perplexed Patrick asked Orlovsky. “This is going to follow you the rest of your career.”
To be fair, Orlovsky knows a thing or two about the quarterback position. Mostly a career backup, the UConn grad played on four different teams through a seven-year NFL run. After retiring in 2015, he jumped into broadcasting, landing a prominent gig in Bristol. Orlovsky, along with fellow NFL retiree Marcus Spears and host Laura Rutledge, has helped form a very solid trio on ESPN’s “NFL Live” show. He’s grown into his position and is considered a smart and savvy analyst, breaking down the game for viewers.
In this maddening age of sports talk television where shouting heads making ridiculous claims get the most attention (see: Skip Bayless), Orlovsky doesn’t seem to fit this mold. He appears generally measured and reasoned. But his denial of Montana as an all-time great is bonkers.
Orlovsky, who posted a 2-10 record as a starter. …Orlovsky, who, while playing for the 0-16 Lions in 2008, bone-headedly ran out of the back of the end zone, causing his team a safety and the difference in a 12-10 loss… does not think Joe Montana is top-five worthy?
“He’s not top 20 in yards or touchdowns. That has to matter somewhat,” Orlovsky told Patrick. “And then, everyone goes to the Super Bowl record — respectfully as they should. The (49er) defense gave up 15 points per game (heading) into those four Super Bowls.”
Full disclosure, I have to separate the head from the heart here. When I fell in love with football in 1989, Montana was THE MAN. “Joe Cool” was winning Super Bowls for the San Francisco 49ers and winning MVP trophies. Every kid playing QB on the playground wanted to be Montana. He was one of my boyhood heroes. But there comes a time when most of the great ones have to step aside, conceding the top spot to somebody else.
For years I held out. No way Tom Brady is better than Joe. However, with seven Super Bowl rings, 10 Super Bowl appearances, and enough records to fill a 10-foot-tall filing cabinet, I had to admit it: Tom has ascended to GOAT status. He’s the best ever, but that doesn’t diminish what Montana accomplished in his glorious 15-year career. Four-time Super Bowl champion, three-time SB MVP, two-time Associated Press league MVP, three-times named All-Pro, eight Pro Bowl nods, and a member of the 1980s All-Decade Team. In 2000, Montana was enshrined at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
Let’s put aside all the stats and accolades for a moment. The bottom line — Joe was a winner. Twenty-six career comebacks. Twenty-eight game-winning drives. Perfect 4-0 in Super Bowls. Never tossed an interception in a Super Bowl.
That’s still not enough for Orlovsky.
“You can’t just sit there and say, ‘Well, he’s top five because he went to four Super Bowls,’” Orlovsky said. “You can’t do that. There’s so much more attached to the game.”
Perhaps Orlovsky has never seen this. Or this. Certainly not this.
Sure, numbers don’t lie but the performances speak for themselves. Montana shined on the biggest stage, four times. How many great quarterbacks can say that? Not Dan Marino, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers, John Elway. All those QBs won titles, but not as many as Joe. Also, Montana played in an era when quarterbacks faced savage hits on nearly every play. While they still face brutal shots, the rules protect QBs way more than they did in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Joe cooly stood in the pocket and absorbed hellacious blows for 15 years, and still delivered. Despite all the noise swirling around him, he still threw the ball with pinpoint accuracy. He was never the biggest. Didn’t have the most powerful arm, but almost always found a way to get the job done. Jim Burt’s hit in the 1986 Divisional Round Playoffs would be borderline assault in today’s game.
Another head-scratcher from Orlovsky — he placed Patrick Mahomes at No. 2! Yes, Mahomes, the newly minted NFL MVP, is making his third Super Bowl appearance. He could be on his way to being considered one of the all-time greats, but maybe we could wait, oh… 10 years. Let’s see what Mahomes does in the next decade before we carve out a spot for him on the Mount Rushmore of signal-callers.
After Brady and Mahomes, Orlovsky rounded out his top five with Elway, Manning and Marino.
“I could probably put (Troy) Aikman and Brees into that conversation,” Orlovsky said. “This isn’t a ‘dump on Joe Montana’ thing for me.”
“Sounds like it is,” Patrick said.