It's clear that Young had the "stronger arm, better wheels" that you point out. Plus he (eventually) was crazy accurate. Walsh saw Young from a distance and recognized a prototype; brought him in to surpass Montana. In some ways he did. Walsh's scouting eye was damn good.
It's also striking that Young put together his HOF stats in a career where he didn't become the starter until he was already 30. Past his athletic prime! Imagine if he'd gone from BYU straight to San Francisco, with none of the nonsense in between. He'd own ALL the records.
It's just hard to push Young *all the way* past Montana without adding asterisks. My two sticking points are:
1. Montana gets extra credit for inventing the position of "QB in the Bill Walsh Offense". (Yeah yeah, Virgil Carter, whatever.) You made some of this point with your discussion of the difference between "influence" and "greatness"; but the other part of it is that Young to some extent was "standing on the shoulders of giants." He walked a trail that Montana had blazed.
(Montana also held off Young for a couplefew extra years, when it was pretty obvious Walsh wanted to give the starting job to Young.)
2. Montana had that "unflappable" thing that Tom Brady later showcased. "Coolness" under pressure, but that understates it: more like a psychotic imperviousness to the pressure of big moments. By contrast, Steve Young was more of a normal human being; flappable. Not a "choker" by any means, but with a normal human response to big moments.
That said: the '94 Niners squad with which Young got the monkey off his back – I'd never seen a *good* team (championship caliber) that was MORE dependent on its quarterback for every yard of its offense, pass game and run game. It was striking how Young-centric that offense was. Not until Lamar ~20 years later have we seen a high-power offense where the QB makes absolutely everything go. (Er: maybe I forgot Cam Newton.) Even Mahomes occasionally hands off with no option threat and no backside defenders frozen in place, afraid to believe the handoff.
(BTW Young is my most-frequent comp for Lamar.)
If I had to pick one of these guys to power my rebuilding franchise for the next dozen years, it would be Young. But, if I had to win ONE GAME – like a lot of guys who watched football in the 80s, it would be very hard for me not to pick Montana.
I believe this is entirely possible, but here's another angle: if Montana's name helped him, how much was, say, Jimmy Clausen held back by his? Was Dave Krieg's ceiling established by his lack of a mellifluous moniker? Was Rick Mirer destined to be mired in failure? Is Brock Purdy a brilliant anti-hero's name or a boat anchor around the young man's neck?
Of course, Brady Quinn and Trey Lance shoot giant holes in this theory.
I remember a news article about a Montana town in the 90s that changed its name to Joe, Montana. A Google Maps search indicates either the rebranding did not prevent the town from succumbing to the rural hollowing out or that it was a publicity stunt quietly reversed later.
I remember that as well, and also a contest held by one of the SF papers to come up with an appropriate nickname for their QB, which led some columnist to suggest that if your name is Joe Montana, what you need is a real name, not a nickname.
The Chronicle held a contest and the winning entry indeed pointed out that Joe Montana already sounds like a nickname, and therefore Joe needed a real name: David W. Gibson. Joe apparently found this very funny and had it stenciled above his locker for a while.
I have toyed with the idea of making it a book, but even then it would not be hardcover because of production costs! And the thought of reformatting everything makes me want to take to my bed with the vapors.
I think the Purdy season you're referring to in the DYAR performances is 2023, not 2003. Going from Montana to Young to Garcia to Purdy would have saved the 9ers a lot of suffering.
Thank you for writing this reminder of how great Steve Young was.
I'm left-handed and Chinese. Even though I was born in NYC, the belief that being southpaw is a sin is so embedded in Chinese culture that my mom attempted to convert me by tying my left arm behind my back and forcing me to write right-handed. It didn't work.
Steve Young was one of my favorite athletes when I was a kid because he was unapologetically left-handed, he was great, and he competed like his life depended on it. The image of him surveying the field for a receiver or a running lane after his helmet got knocked off in a PRESEASON GAME remains etched in my memory.
I didn't grow up around a lot of other Chinese Americans, so I was usually one of a few of the only Asian American kid in the group. Starting in the first grade, I got bullied on a daily basis by a multicultural group of boys that included Polish boys, Irish boys, Italian boys, Latino boys, and Black boys. The first three groups boys constituted the majority of the school and neighborhood. The last two groups of boys followed the majority lest they be singled out and bullied themselves. Sometimes they would chase me and the other Chinese boy. I was fat, and the other Chinese boy was skinny and fast, so they'd catch me and push, slap, punch, and kick me- usually in the schoolyard in full view of the parents. Most of the time, they'd yell "ching chong", pull up the sides of their eyes with their index fingers, steal things from me, and find ways to remind me that I was different and would never be one of them.
Around the third or fourth grade, I started watching "In Living Color" and "Married with Children". I realized that jokes could be weaponized to insult people. The first time that I repeated the "your mamma's so fat" jokes verbatim from "In Living Color" at my bullies, they were confused and amused. Eventually, I started coming up with my own insults. The leader of the bullies moved away, and I gained the reputation for being the class clown.
I started writing Top 10 lists in middle school because I wanted to be David Letterman. One day, my chemistry teacher, who was also a Letterman fan, caught me passing around one of my lists during class. He made me read it to the class, told me it was funny, and encouraged me to continue writing them. So I did. And he kept letting me read them to the class. I never did become David Letterman, but I've explored my creative side, and taken refuge there. My sense of humor has grounded me during some really dark periods in my life. I'll always grateful to my chemistry teacher for recognizing that I'd never be a genius chemist, and telling me that it's okay, and enough, to be the funny guy.
Another little factor in Steve Young's favor: in the 80s only 49ers ran Walsh's system. In the 90s his scheme was all over the place. Except for 81 the 80s niners had a great rush attack and defense. NFL films says bullshit about "finesse" and "replacing the run with the short pass" a development that's usually seen in the 21st century whenever a good QB has a bad run blocking unit. Which is common...
Montanas postseason successes are usually with top 3 defense. Similar to Brady.
Watching them as a kid, Young just looked better. Faster, more live arm. A lot of fake Niners fan bandwagoneers around me in nyc claimed they abandoned the team for letting montana go and choosing to roll with Young. Thats fine; they watched almost the same number of zero games before and after. Niners not being in SBs meant they didn't see 49ers 89-94 and the rest of the 90s niners is still a mystery.
Child of the 80s here who IDOLIZED Montana (the Oilers were bleak in those days), and I found this fascinating and thought-provoking because, again *to me*, Montana is THE standard. Interesting to reconsider Young who, yeah - played under a very dark, very long shadow, for sure.
Do I have some space to push back on the Mahomes/Black quarterback take, though? I'm not buying it, in large part because Mahomes' race has never, ever been an issue. Who talks about Mahomes being Black?
I would argue Moon is the most important Black QB. Yes, I'm an Oilers fan - but I loathe Warren Moon (his off-field behavior is abhorrent, and, way less important, but he came up way short in the playoffs.) IMO, Moon's '87-'93 seasons forever changed the narrative.
Moon went *undrafted* in 1979. After Williams in '78, there was not another Black QB selected in the first round until 1990 (Andre Ware), which perfectly coincides with Moon's peak.
Altogether, 31 Black QBs have been drafted in the first round since 1990; 16 prior to Mahomes in '17. And while true, it wasn't a distinguished list, it did include McNair, McNabb and Newton, all 3 played in a Super Bowl. And McNair, Newton & Cunningham (not a first rounder) won MVPs.
This is a heck of a topic to cover in a response to a comment, but as of 2018 we still had "Lamar Jackson should work out at WR" and Kaepernick blowback in the form of "Let's all tell Albert Breer that we only want pocket passers now." And then Mahomes won MULTIPLE Super Bowls, erasing pretty much any broad-brush stigmas and labels that could still be applied. The fact that Mahomes' race has never, ever been an issue is that Mahomes achieved so much multi-faceted success so quickly that implicit biases could never catch up to him.
You’ve convinced me-Mahomes’ greatest successful isn’t winning Super Bowls but being so good that racists won’t even waste time trying to publicly tie him to black stereotypes. Mind blown
It is not my place, as an old white guy, to pick what is and is not racist. I can't speak to Jackson's credentials as a prospect - I'm not a college football fan nor a pretend-draft scout. And the rhetoric that he might make a better WR is certainly rooted in racist ideas that permeated the NFL in the not-too-distant past.
But there was no "WR" talk when Andre Ware or Michael Vick or Vince Young or Cam Newton entered the NFL, and they all pre-date Mahomes. (Kaepernick feels like it's own thing - racist, of course - but it goes so much deeper than the racism that saw Moon go undrafted - why am I assigning levels to racism? Anyway, hopefully, you get where I'm coming from?)
I would just offer that there is a sustained period, post 1990/Moon, in which more Black QBs were drafted, drafted higher, and started games. Maybe, being a fan of a team with a Black QB, it felt less... unique to me? But we've had several Black QBs start Super Bowls, and it was NOTHING like when Doug "How long have you been a Black quarterback" Williams started the Super Bowl. I don't remember it being an issue for McNair or McNabb or Newton...
Patrick Mahomes is, easily, a top 3-5 QB all-time - I just don't think he needs, nor has earned, "cured NFL racism" (being cheeky here) on his resume.
Rich Gannon (& Taysom Hill) faced the same critiques except Lamar was a better athlete. It’s more accurate to question why teams fell in love with Darnold or Rosen or Zach Wilson. People only questioned Stroud if he was athletic enough. Mike, I respect your justice instincts, but it seems sometimes you’re arrested in the 80s or 90s with these narratives. Hell, no one thought of moving EJ Manuel to tight end.
If there were no Joe Montana, Ken Anderson's Bengals would have won SB XVI. So there would still have been a "West Coast Offense" revolution, but it would have been called the "Licking-Ohio Confluence Offense".
Maybe the name would have been a barrier to adoption.
To me, there's just something Garoppolo-ish about Young's super-gaudy DYARs. (mind you, I'm positing Garoppolo as a street person's Steve Young; or perhaps Young as Warren Buffet's Garoppolo). And I do assign post season games extra extra credit when you're talking about great greatness. So I definitely have Montana above Young. A bit.
I remember learning about the true history of the West Coast Offense from Dr. Z. He couldn't say the words without also pointing out that it didn't really start on the west coast.
1. “ Montana was more influential than… He’s not tied to his coach and team”. Fail. Of course he is. No one thinks of Montana other than as a 49er under Walsh running the WCO.
2. Happy you put Young first. He took over Montana’s team and had a higher passer rating and a higher winning percentage. He was just unfortunate in his timing with who he had to go up against, like the Raiders in the 70s.
He is tied to Walsh, of course, but also won a Super Bowl without him and became the brand ambassador for Walsh's scheme when he left for Kansas City. I didn't write it here (probably should have), but "West Coast Offense" became common parlance when the meme became "Montana will bring a west coast offense to the stodgy midwestern town of KC."
2. Thanks
3. I think TJ Simers called them The Wowboys. Or maybe Kindred.
Dave Kindred used to write columns for the Washington Post.
It's impossible to overstate how good the WaPo sports page was, once upon a time. Kindred, Ken Denlinger, Thomas Boswell, Kornheiser & Wilbon, Sally Jenkins, David Justice, David Aldridge, Feinstein; hell, Shirley Povich. And a ton more that I'm not remembering at this moment.
Joe Montana abandoned his teammates and 1,500 fellow union members by crossing the picket line in 1987. He got his paycheck and ruined any possibility of being recognized as a leader ever again.
Mike. Wow. I honestly can’t believe you rank Mahomes 3rd most influential (he fully deserves that, btw) BECAUSE OF HIS RACE. That’s honestly shameful. Stop fucking mentioning race, Mahomes is a god regardless. What happened to individualism?
Great, as always. Thoughts on greatest nfl dynasty? My default has always been the 80's 49ers due to across the board greatness. I guess a case can be made the 70's Steelers would beat them under the old passing rules.
Worth mentioning that Montana brought his Cool Mr. Clutch reputation with him from college, having led Notre Dame back from a 34-12 4th quarter deficit in the '79 Cotton Bowl to a 35-34 win. (There. That's my for-the-decade quota of nice things said or written about Notre Dame.)
Actually, the Niners won 4 Super Bowls across 9 seasons. I suppose 8 calendar years if you want to get technical, but 4 Super Bowls out of 9 Super Bowl opportunities.
Bold.
It's clear that Young had the "stronger arm, better wheels" that you point out. Plus he (eventually) was crazy accurate. Walsh saw Young from a distance and recognized a prototype; brought him in to surpass Montana. In some ways he did. Walsh's scouting eye was damn good.
It's also striking that Young put together his HOF stats in a career where he didn't become the starter until he was already 30. Past his athletic prime! Imagine if he'd gone from BYU straight to San Francisco, with none of the nonsense in between. He'd own ALL the records.
It's just hard to push Young *all the way* past Montana without adding asterisks. My two sticking points are:
1. Montana gets extra credit for inventing the position of "QB in the Bill Walsh Offense". (Yeah yeah, Virgil Carter, whatever.) You made some of this point with your discussion of the difference between "influence" and "greatness"; but the other part of it is that Young to some extent was "standing on the shoulders of giants." He walked a trail that Montana had blazed.
(Montana also held off Young for a couplefew extra years, when it was pretty obvious Walsh wanted to give the starting job to Young.)
2. Montana had that "unflappable" thing that Tom Brady later showcased. "Coolness" under pressure, but that understates it: more like a psychotic imperviousness to the pressure of big moments. By contrast, Steve Young was more of a normal human being; flappable. Not a "choker" by any means, but with a normal human response to big moments.
That said: the '94 Niners squad with which Young got the monkey off his back – I'd never seen a *good* team (championship caliber) that was MORE dependent on its quarterback for every yard of its offense, pass game and run game. It was striking how Young-centric that offense was. Not until Lamar ~20 years later have we seen a high-power offense where the QB makes absolutely everything go. (Er: maybe I forgot Cam Newton.) Even Mahomes occasionally hands off with no option threat and no backside defenders frozen in place, afraid to believe the handoff.
(BTW Young is my most-frequent comp for Lamar.)
If I had to pick one of these guys to power my rebuilding franchise for the next dozen years, it would be Young. But, if I had to win ONE GAME – like a lot of guys who watched football in the 80s, it would be very hard for me not to pick Montana.
Had Young started earlier, he would've been concussioned out of the NFL earlier.
Joe Montana’s name alone earned him an extra ten Legend Points.
Then Jaxson Dart's gonna reach the Hall of Fame.
I believe this is entirely possible, but here's another angle: if Montana's name helped him, how much was, say, Jimmy Clausen held back by his? Was Dave Krieg's ceiling established by his lack of a mellifluous moniker? Was Rick Mirer destined to be mired in failure? Is Brock Purdy a brilliant anti-hero's name or a boat anchor around the young man's neck?
Of course, Brady Quinn and Trey Lance shoot giant holes in this theory.
I remember a news article about a Montana town in the 90s that changed its name to Joe, Montana. A Google Maps search indicates either the rebranding did not prevent the town from succumbing to the rural hollowing out or that it was a publicity stunt quietly reversed later.
I remember that as well. It’s also possible it was a completely made up story that the editors thought was just too fun to bother fact checking.
I remember that as well, and also a contest held by one of the SF papers to come up with an appropriate nickname for their QB, which led some columnist to suggest that if your name is Joe Montana, what you need is a real name, not a nickname.
The Chronicle held a contest and the winning entry indeed pointed out that Joe Montana already sounds like a nickname, and therefore Joe needed a real name: David W. Gibson. Joe apparently found this very funny and had it stenciled above his locker for a while.
Please, please, please collect all these Top QB columns into book form. I would pay any given amount of money for a signed hardcover
OK. Ten Million Dollars!
I have toyed with the idea of making it a book, but even then it would not be hardcover because of production costs! And the thought of reformatting everything makes me want to take to my bed with the vapors.
Um, would you take a personal check? And even a signed PDF would be acceptable 😁
I think the Purdy season you're referring to in the DYAR performances is 2023, not 2003. Going from Montana to Young to Garcia to Purdy would have saved the 9ers a lot of suffering.
Thank you for writing this reminder of how great Steve Young was.
I'm left-handed and Chinese. Even though I was born in NYC, the belief that being southpaw is a sin is so embedded in Chinese culture that my mom attempted to convert me by tying my left arm behind my back and forcing me to write right-handed. It didn't work.
Steve Young was one of my favorite athletes when I was a kid because he was unapologetically left-handed, he was great, and he competed like his life depended on it. The image of him surveying the field for a receiver or a running lane after his helmet got knocked off in a PRESEASON GAME remains etched in my memory.
At what point did you figure out that your left-handedness meant that you were a creative genius?
I didn't grow up around a lot of other Chinese Americans, so I was usually one of a few of the only Asian American kid in the group. Starting in the first grade, I got bullied on a daily basis by a multicultural group of boys that included Polish boys, Irish boys, Italian boys, Latino boys, and Black boys. The first three groups boys constituted the majority of the school and neighborhood. The last two groups of boys followed the majority lest they be singled out and bullied themselves. Sometimes they would chase me and the other Chinese boy. I was fat, and the other Chinese boy was skinny and fast, so they'd catch me and push, slap, punch, and kick me- usually in the schoolyard in full view of the parents. Most of the time, they'd yell "ching chong", pull up the sides of their eyes with their index fingers, steal things from me, and find ways to remind me that I was different and would never be one of them.
Around the third or fourth grade, I started watching "In Living Color" and "Married with Children". I realized that jokes could be weaponized to insult people. The first time that I repeated the "your mamma's so fat" jokes verbatim from "In Living Color" at my bullies, they were confused and amused. Eventually, I started coming up with my own insults. The leader of the bullies moved away, and I gained the reputation for being the class clown.
I started writing Top 10 lists in middle school because I wanted to be David Letterman. One day, my chemistry teacher, who was also a Letterman fan, caught me passing around one of my lists during class. He made me read it to the class, told me it was funny, and encouraged me to continue writing them. So I did. And he kept letting me read them to the class. I never did become David Letterman, but I've explored my creative side, and taken refuge there. My sense of humor has grounded me during some really dark periods in my life. I'll always grateful to my chemistry teacher for recognizing that I'd never be a genius chemist, and telling me that it's okay, and enough, to be the funny guy.
Another little factor in Steve Young's favor: in the 80s only 49ers ran Walsh's system. In the 90s his scheme was all over the place. Except for 81 the 80s niners had a great rush attack and defense. NFL films says bullshit about "finesse" and "replacing the run with the short pass" a development that's usually seen in the 21st century whenever a good QB has a bad run blocking unit. Which is common...
Montanas postseason successes are usually with top 3 defense. Similar to Brady.
Watching them as a kid, Young just looked better. Faster, more live arm. A lot of fake Niners fan bandwagoneers around me in nyc claimed they abandoned the team for letting montana go and choosing to roll with Young. Thats fine; they watched almost the same number of zero games before and after. Niners not being in SBs meant they didn't see 49ers 89-94 and the rest of the 90s niners is still a mystery.
Child of the 80s here who IDOLIZED Montana (the Oilers were bleak in those days), and I found this fascinating and thought-provoking because, again *to me*, Montana is THE standard. Interesting to reconsider Young who, yeah - played under a very dark, very long shadow, for sure.
Do I have some space to push back on the Mahomes/Black quarterback take, though? I'm not buying it, in large part because Mahomes' race has never, ever been an issue. Who talks about Mahomes being Black?
I would argue Moon is the most important Black QB. Yes, I'm an Oilers fan - but I loathe Warren Moon (his off-field behavior is abhorrent, and, way less important, but he came up way short in the playoffs.) IMO, Moon's '87-'93 seasons forever changed the narrative.
Moon went *undrafted* in 1979. After Williams in '78, there was not another Black QB selected in the first round until 1990 (Andre Ware), which perfectly coincides with Moon's peak.
Altogether, 31 Black QBs have been drafted in the first round since 1990; 16 prior to Mahomes in '17. And while true, it wasn't a distinguished list, it did include McNair, McNabb and Newton, all 3 played in a Super Bowl. And McNair, Newton & Cunningham (not a first rounder) won MVPs.
This is a heck of a topic to cover in a response to a comment, but as of 2018 we still had "Lamar Jackson should work out at WR" and Kaepernick blowback in the form of "Let's all tell Albert Breer that we only want pocket passers now." And then Mahomes won MULTIPLE Super Bowls, erasing pretty much any broad-brush stigmas and labels that could still be applied. The fact that Mahomes' race has never, ever been an issue is that Mahomes achieved so much multi-faceted success so quickly that implicit biases could never catch up to him.
You’ve convinced me-Mahomes’ greatest successful isn’t winning Super Bowls but being so good that racists won’t even waste time trying to publicly tie him to black stereotypes. Mind blown
Remember when Steve Harvey hosted NFL Honors and said he just found it was 5 black QBs (instead of 4) when Patrick Mahomes took his helmet off?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXwsWgUraEc&t=550s
About the 9:10 mark
Thanks, Mike.
It is not my place, as an old white guy, to pick what is and is not racist. I can't speak to Jackson's credentials as a prospect - I'm not a college football fan nor a pretend-draft scout. And the rhetoric that he might make a better WR is certainly rooted in racist ideas that permeated the NFL in the not-too-distant past.
But there was no "WR" talk when Andre Ware or Michael Vick or Vince Young or Cam Newton entered the NFL, and they all pre-date Mahomes. (Kaepernick feels like it's own thing - racist, of course - but it goes so much deeper than the racism that saw Moon go undrafted - why am I assigning levels to racism? Anyway, hopefully, you get where I'm coming from?)
I would just offer that there is a sustained period, post 1990/Moon, in which more Black QBs were drafted, drafted higher, and started games. Maybe, being a fan of a team with a Black QB, it felt less... unique to me? But we've had several Black QBs start Super Bowls, and it was NOTHING like when Doug "How long have you been a Black quarterback" Williams started the Super Bowl. I don't remember it being an issue for McNair or McNabb or Newton...
Patrick Mahomes is, easily, a top 3-5 QB all-time - I just don't think he needs, nor has earned, "cured NFL racism" (being cheeky here) on his resume.
Thank you. And it’s illuminating Mike completely ignored this comment.
Rich Gannon (& Taysom Hill) faced the same critiques except Lamar was a better athlete. It’s more accurate to question why teams fell in love with Darnold or Rosen or Zach Wilson. People only questioned Stroud if he was athletic enough. Mike, I respect your justice instincts, but it seems sometimes you’re arrested in the 80s or 90s with these narratives. Hell, no one thought of moving EJ Manuel to tight end.
If there were no Joe Montana, Ken Anderson's Bengals would have won SB XVI. So there would still have been a "West Coast Offense" revolution, but it would have been called the "Licking-Ohio Confluence Offense".
Maybe the name would have been a barrier to adoption.
This made me think of Mike's prior article, and now I wish I hadn't.
To me, there's just something Garoppolo-ish about Young's super-gaudy DYARs. (mind you, I'm positing Garoppolo as a street person's Steve Young; or perhaps Young as Warren Buffet's Garoppolo). And I do assign post season games extra extra credit when you're talking about great greatness. So I definitely have Montana above Young. A bit.
I remember learning about the true history of the West Coast Offense from Dr. Z. He couldn't say the words without also pointing out that it didn't really start on the west coast.
Dr. Z was the best.
1. “ Montana was more influential than… He’s not tied to his coach and team”. Fail. Of course he is. No one thinks of Montana other than as a 49er under Walsh running the WCO.
2. Happy you put Young first. He took over Montana’s team and had a higher passer rating and a higher winning percentage. He was just unfortunate in his timing with who he had to go up against, like the Raiders in the 70s.
3. I adore “the Wowboys”.
He is tied to Walsh, of course, but also won a Super Bowl without him and became the brand ambassador for Walsh's scheme when he left for Kansas City. I didn't write it here (probably should have), but "West Coast Offense" became common parlance when the meme became "Montana will bring a west coast offense to the stodgy midwestern town of KC."
2. Thanks
3. I think TJ Simers called them The Wowboys. Or maybe Kindred.
Dave Kindred used to write columns for the Washington Post.
It's impossible to overstate how good the WaPo sports page was, once upon a time. Kindred, Ken Denlinger, Thomas Boswell, Kornheiser & Wilbon, Sally Jenkins, David Justice, David Aldridge, Feinstein; hell, Shirley Povich. And a ton more that I'm not remembering at this moment.
Crazy good.
They haven't been the "Wowboys" since the mid '90s, ask Steve Young 🤣🤣🤣
Joe Montana abandoned his teammates and 1,500 fellow union members by crossing the picket line in 1987. He got his paycheck and ruined any possibility of being recognized as a leader ever again.
Mike. Wow. I honestly can’t believe you rank Mahomes 3rd most influential (he fully deserves that, btw) BECAUSE OF HIS RACE. That’s honestly shameful. Stop fucking mentioning race, Mahomes is a god regardless. What happened to individualism?
Great, as always. Thoughts on greatest nfl dynasty? My default has always been the 80's 49ers due to across the board greatness. I guess a case can be made the 70's Steelers would beat them under the old passing rules.
Worth mentioning that Montana brought his Cool Mr. Clutch reputation with him from college, having led Notre Dame back from a 34-12 4th quarter deficit in the '79 Cotton Bowl to a 35-34 win. (There. That's my for-the-decade quota of nice things said or written about Notre Dame.)
Actually, the Niners won 4 Super Bowls across 9 seasons. I suppose 8 calendar years if you want to get technical, but 4 Super Bowls out of 9 Super Bowl opportunities.
I notice Montana's 1987 as missing from that Top 10 DYAR list?