Ron Ferrari, a 49er, later became under FBI investigation for white-collar crimes. He is part of Kurt Eichenwald's book "The Informant," later made into a crappy movie with Matt Damon.
Anyways...
On p. 465 of the book, Eichenwald describes a FBI interview of Ron Ferrari, one of Whitacre’s salesmen and someone the FBI thought might be involved in the price-fixing. Ferrari played linebacker for the 49ers during the Joe Montana years, and the FBI questioned him about $25,000 in a safe-deposit box (thinking it might have come from price-fixing). Ferrari tells the FBI this is money from “unofficial bonuses” he received while playing football for the 49ers. He goes on to indicate that sometimes, when there were unpopular players on the other team, the coaches would pay “little bonus payments” for a “particularly vicious hit on one of those unpopular guys.” This seems exactly what the NFL bounty scandal is all about, but this is an allegation of it happening in the mid-80s, a long time before the Saints “bountygate” came out.
Off beat. But a dark horse recommendation for me. At least it's the best movie about antitrust violations ever made. Ok, ok, besides the Godfather.
alone. Walsh, Parcells, and Gibbs. Also, teams of which could be argued are top 10 best of all-time, 49ers 84 89, Bears 85, and Giants 86. So while Brady has more hardware and stats (which are skewed of course) there is no comparison to the level of competition.
49ers and that, more than anything, limited his ability to go to more Super Bowls. In addition to Washington, New York and Chicago, you had the rise of the Cowboys with Jimmy Jones, Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin at the end of his time with the 49ers.
If the 49ers had not decided to switch to Steve Young, Joe might have won a couple more Super Bowls. It would have been the same as Andrew Luck getting drafted by the Patriots and then cutting Brady loose with good years left.
will be speaking on Sunday before the Super Bowl. Found out today that I am going to the big game.
(It would have been a bad day to show up to work with no pants on.)
...QBs and WRs got to play the game wrapped in bubble wrap. Fuck Tom Brady.
Brady's been to three straight at 39-41.
Look at these shots Joe took against the Giants. Do you think Tom Brady would be playing at 40 years old in that version of the NFL? Either one of these hits would result in a 9 year suspension in the current NFL.
Not to mention the entire rule set of the NFL is designed to allow WRs to run untouched down the field. Look up some highlights of Ronnie Lott decapitating mother fuckers who come across the middle. Julian Edeleman wouldn't last 8 games in the 1986 NFL.
It's not a fair comparison.
that first hit was not a horrific one - he was shoved, not hit.
That said, it's almost impossible to compare across eras. Lawrence Taylor was a monster at 6'3" and 238 lbs...about 1 inch taller and 10 lbs heavier than Patriots WR Cordarelle Patterson. The worst team in the NFL today would steamroll the best teams from 30 years ago - the players are just too big and fast.
He's lucky his head is still attached.
thing is brand new this year. QBs are still getting hurt in today’s game. Look at Garapolo and Andrew Luck. I saw Cam Newton get absolutely crushed against the Falcons this year on a helmet to helmet collision. (Yes it drew a flag and ejection but the hits happen)
Players are also bigger in today’s game. There were some freaks of their day, the Fridge, Too Tall. But they are a dime a dozen today.
The game is faster and players much bigger in general than back in the good ol days.
and Brady is officiated much differently then Luck and especially Newton. Brady though to his credit is a master of getting the ball out quickly. His mind is 10 steps ahead of everyone else on the field.
But to compare the way game was called today to the 80's is nonsensical. One can only imagine what Montana and even Young's stats would have been if Rice and other WRs were allowed to run unimpeded through the secondary. The games aren't the same.
For his pre-snap game. He’s great at changing play calls and avoiding sacks. The Chargers have two great rush ends and couldn’t get to him.
and a bunch of other boring foods, daily massages.... he really is beating Father Time.
There has to be some credit for that.
under Belichick for his entire career. Much more of an impact than a WR. Though Joe had a pretty good coach too.
If my life depended on winning one game, I would choose Joe over Brady as my QB.
Joe is first on the all-time list with a 127.8 rating in Super Bowls. Brady is eighth on the list at 98. Brady has no single-game ratings in the top 10.
but being the greatest QB in history is a bit more than that, otherwise you'd have to concede that Yogi Berra is the greatest catcher in history because he's won more rings than any other catcher (or any other player for that matter).
Era's are different, rules are different for Brady than they were for Joe. Brady has played more years, Joe missed 2 full years and another 2 years he only played in half the games. Brady did miss the 2008 season and didn't play as a rookie, but being healthy and having longevity has lead to him owning the record book.
But you can't deny Brady is 'ONE' of the greatest QB's of all time. Is he really better than Otto Graham, Bart Starr, Johnny U, John Elway, and all those other great QB's who came before him. Just like we'll never really know if Hank Aaron was better than Babe Ruth, we'll never know about QB's.
Brady is trying to pass Starr this weekend.
on two SF Super Bowl winning teams before Jerry Rice was even drafted into the NFL. Does anybody remember the material Montana won with before Rice? I remember a melanin challenged RB named Bill Ring who I could not even believe was in the NFL on those pre-Rice Niner teams.
...receivers before Rice. Neither were Jerry Rice.
were all in the NFC. Had two of the Giants, Redskins, or Bears been in the AFC, it's likely that Montana would have made more than 4 Super Bowls, but he probably would not have won them all. In other words, his Super Bowl record would more closely match Brady's.
You also have to account for the salary cap when comparing the two eras, but I'm not sure who that favors.
to allow the Patriots to keep/get more players. Maybe not a lot less, but it helps.
Although he gets a bit more credit for it than he deserves given that he's married to someone who makes double what he does.