Tom Brady’s idol, Joe Montana, says it’s DAN MARINO who is the ‘best’ quarterback ever… despite the fact he never won a Super Bowl in Miami

Tom Brady’s idol, Joe Montana, thinks Miami Dolphins legend Dan Marino is the “greatest” quarterback ever.

In an interview with Men’s healthThe four-time Super Bowl champion argued that Marino is the best pure quarterback in the game, and had he played in the current NFL, his name would be in the league’s record books instead of Brady’s. In addition, the NFL is now cracking down on quarterback late hits, something Marino and Montana have fought against throughout their careers.

“Put Marino in today’s game where he gets free release… and his receivers, holy cow, weren’t very tall,” Montana said of Marino, who terrorized the NFL defense with a pair of six-foot receivers, Mark Clayton and Mark Duper. “Now these guys are 6-4, 6-5. I think (Marino) is probably one of the most unsung heroes in the game. People don’t talk about him enough and don’t realize what numbers he’s published in the time he’s published them.’

A 46-year-old California native, Brady grew up cheering for the San Francisco 49ers, who won four Super Bowls with Montana at the helm before the Hall of Famer was traded to Kansas City in 1993.

Naturally, Marino’s resume doesn’t include a Super Bowl win, while Brady has seven: six with the New England Patriots and one with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

But much of that can be attributed to Marino’s teams, which were often at the bottom of the NFL defense-wise.

On the other hand, Brady retired with the most wins (251), completions (7,753), and touchdown passes (649), while ranking second in NFL history in quarterback rating (97.2).

Marino, 61, has similar numbers. He retired in 1999 at age 38 with a 147–93 regular season record, a 59.4 percent completion rate, 420 touchdowns, 252 interceptions, 4,967 completions, and 61,361 passing yards.

But for many — including 67-year-old Montana — there’s never been a better wallet-passer than Marino, whose arm strength remains legendary even by today’s standards.

“He was released quickly,” Montana said of Marino, whom he defeated in Super Bowl XIX. ‘I had to intervene a lot to get enough (power) on the ball. He had the perfect upper body torque and power to deliver the ball quickly and accurately.”

Montana added a slight wrinkle to his argument, explaining that Marino is the “greatest” quarterback ever, rather than the “greatest.”

For many, like Montana (left), there has never been a better wallet passer than Marino (right)

For Montana, there is a distinction between the two because the “biggest” quarterback has to have the best performance, which Marino clearly doesn’t have from a team success standpoint.

As far as the current NFL goes, Montana sees one player who could retire as the greatest QB ever: Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes.

“The things he does and can do are so different from anything any other quarterback does,” said Montana.

Mahomes has three Super Bowl appearances and two rings, making him the most successful active quarterback in the NFL.