Is Tom Brady the GOAT?

Now in football: after winning his fifth Super Bowl, people now are discussing with renewed fervor whether Tom Brady is the best quarterback of all time or if he comes up short in comparison to the previous legends. So who is the greatest of all time (GOAT)? The sport of football was started almost a century ago, and more and more talented players continue to come along through the ages and make it increasingly difficult to decide who is the greatest.Although many think he is, Tom Brady is not the GOAT. Tom Brady may have the most Super Bowl rings and a recent comeback-fashioned win. But even still, Joe Montana is better. Granted, Brady is certainly in the toss up for greatest of all time. These quarterbacks are amazing in their own sense but only one can be the greatest of all time. Though many lead now towards Brady being the best due to having the most Super Bowls, which is a fair argument, my opinion remains unchanged. It may make sense to determine the “best” by the amount of Super Bowls they’ve won, but I believe that there are many factors that are truly important. I contest that Joe Montana is the best of all time, and Tom Brady is a close second.Brady is currently favored as the best right now for two simple reasons. First, his victorious rein in football is fresh in fans’ minds, so many can forget the previous glory of Joe Montana. Secondly, stats and number of Super Bowls favor Brady. Tom Brady has statistical advantage when you look at the league in their respective eras but Montana led the NFL in passing yards, passing touchdowns (only Dan Marino was even within 40 of him), completions (nobody was within 400 of him) and completion percentage (minimum 100 attempts) during his career from 1979-1990. On the other side of the spectrum, Brady is fourth in passing yards, second in passing touchdowns, fourth in completions and ninth in completion percentage (minimum 100 attempts) during his career. These stats go to show that Montana could and was outclassing every quarterback in the league as Tom Brady never has and most likely never will.To the people who have been riding the Tom Brady glory train for the past decade, I would advise recollection over Joe Montana’s amazing accomplishments. He had the best franchise for the 49ers (one that will never be replicated), assisted Jerry Rice as number 1 in receptions, touchdown receptions, and receiving yards, and was the iconic image of the best quarterback of all time, no question, until now. So statistics are not as important as the era they played in. Montana always played better, Tom just has better stats due to how the league is shaped compared to when Montana played. It has changed because the league has leaned to passing, Which mean Montana played in a developing period in which the league was transitioning between styles, making it was harder to play compared to now. With that, many referees were also learning how to referee appropriately with the changes of the game. Tom Brady has played with a more complete state of the game than Montana.Considering Tom Brady as the best of all time is by no means a ridiculous claim but even in light of the most recent Super Bowl I firmly believe that Montana is the best of all time just in pure skill not true statics and the non-sports related aspect of being the by that meaning that he gave off the vibe and ideals of being best in the most respectable way. Tom Brady has always been a little scandalous with the debacle of the Deflategate, a case where Brady and the Patriots were accused of deflating the balls for strategic advantage.This only goes to show that Brady doesn’t hold the image of the best because of his poor morals. The greatest can’t be seen as a villain. With all of the aforementioned factors in mind, I ultimately consider Joe Montana the true GOAT.