Joe Montana recorded a statistic in all his Super Bowls that neither Patrick Mahomes nor Tom Brady never did.
By now, even San Francisco 49ers fans have acknowledged quarterback Joe Montana is no longer the GOAT.
That honor has passed to one of Montana's greatest fans, quarterback Tom Brady, who long since surpassed Montana's four Super Bowl championships with the Niners. With Brady retired, perhaps the lone threat to GOAT status is the Kansas City Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes, who already owns three Super Bowl rings, two of which came at San Francisco's expense, and is on the cusp of a fourth.
No one will question Brady and Mahomes' greatness, just as no one questioned how clutch and cool Montana was under center, especially in the biggest of games.
But, while Brady has more Super Bowl victories to his credit than Montana, and Mahomes could eventually surpass the 49ers legend, Montana nevertheless holds one major bragging right over his subsequent contemporaries.
Joe Montana never threw a Super Bowl interception, Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes have
True, both Brady and Mahomes have been on the losing end of Super Bowls. Montana never was.
But, digging deeper, let's point out a much more individual accomplishment that separates the Niners' Hall of Famer from both Brady and Mahomes.
Montana never tossed an interception in the NFL championship. Not one.
Putting that into context, Montana attempted 122 passes during his four Super Bowls, including 29 in his fourth and final Super Bowl outing against the Denver Broncos, who owned the No. 1 scoring defense in the league that season.
San Francisco won the game 55-10, by the way.
Super Bowl interceptions by quarterback
Quarterback | Number of Super Bowls played | Interceptions thrown |
|---|---|---|
Joe Montana | 4 | 0 |
Tom Brady | 10 | 6 |
Patrick Mahomes | 4 | 5 |
Related story: How many touchdowns did Jerry Rice score in his NFL career?
It's a pretty incredible stat, one that neither Brady nor Mahomes could ever erase.
Perhaps even more incredible, Montana's overall Super Bowl passer rating was a combined 127.8.
Brady's was 97.7, and Mahomes' was 85.2 prior to Super Bowl 59 against the Philadelphia Eagles.
So, possibly, fans may want to rethink which legendary signal-caller is the ultimate Super Bowl GOAT.
Numbers don't lie.
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