Joe Montana – San Francisco 49ers/Kansas City Chiefs:
The aptly named “Joe Cool” was just that throughout his legendary NFL career. You could argue that Manning or Brees have far bigger stats and therefore deserve this spot on the list. But that’s just not true, as only one quarterback to be named later could win the Super Bowl as Montana could.
He’s a four-time Super Bowl champion who could deliver in the most clutch moments, evident by his three Super Bowl MVP awards in those four victories. He also made eight Pro Bowls and was selected to five total All-Pro teams throughout his career. Montana won two NFL MVP awards as well. He led the NFL in passer rating twice and passing touchdowns twice. No, 3,409 completions for 273 touchdowns and 139 interceptions don’t come even close to living up to the numbers of Manning and Brees.
But he also has as many Super Bowl MVP awards as they have Super Bowl victories combined. Yes, he was surrounded by a massive amount of talent in San Fran, but he won so many big games with his ice-cold play it just doesn’t matter. Unlike Aikman and Bradshaw, he was counted on to win playoff games with his arm alone. Montana delivered again and again on the biggest and brightest stages and is the second-best quarterbacks in NFL history due to that fact.
