Brett Favre Vs. Joe Montana

Favre is 5665-of-9179 (.617) for 64,500 yards (7.03 yards per attempt) with 462 TDs and 303 interceptions. Montana was 3409-of-5391 (.632) for 40,551 yards (7.52 yards per attempt) with 273 TDs and 139 interceptions.

Favre has 2256 more completions, 23,949 more yards, 189 more TDs, but 164 more interceptions. Those are pretty good stats for an entire career for a quarterback. Troy Aikman only threw 165 touchdowns, 24 short of Favre's edge over Montana; he also threw 141 picks, just 23 short of Favre's excess over Joe.

In fact, Bart Starr was 1808 of 3149 (.574) for 24,718 yards (7.85 per attempt), with only 152 TDs and 138 picks. The difference between Favre and Montana plus Starr is still 448-629 for 769 yards, 37 TDs, and 26 picks more for Favre. That's 4000 yards away from being about 20 good games better than two Hall of Famers combined!

And while Favre's TD-to-interception ratio is not as stellar as Montana's, it is still 1.52:1. That is higher than Aikman's, considered one of the most accurate passers of all-time, and about 90-percent of the other quarterbacks in the Hall of Fame.

And he did it with a lesser cast. If you ask me which quarterback I want, it depends.

On a great team, I will take Montana. Favre's gun-slinging mentality will cause an avoidable turnover or two, and only an extra touchdown or two; that's not a worthwhile trade-off.

But if the team is not that good, I will take Favre every time. His ability to improvise, pass from all positions and every angle (Montana cannot complete those ten yard backhand passes!), his ability to scramble to his left and still throw deep to his right with his best-ever arm strength is more than Montana can offer. And his durability means he will be in there no matter the pounding he takes.

Now I'll really mess you up: I would take John Elway over either of them. But that's a discussion for another day.

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