Montana's Advice to Tom Brady, "Play as Long as You Can"

Former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana made an appearance on NFL Network’s Total Access Wednesday and talked about Brady and Manning’s desire to play into their 40′s:

“I say play as long as you can, because the minute you get out, no matter how ready you think you are, you say it’s time and [then] when I was leaving Kansas City, as soon as that season started the next year I was going, ‘why did I do that?’ ” Montana said via Zuri Berry of Boston.com. “I should have continued to play.

“Your body tells you something and your mind tells you something, but in reality, physically as long as you can play, I would play because it’s quitting cold turkey,” Montana continued. “You can’t go out with that kind of excitement in anything else that you’re gonna do. I always say, I wish everyone could play on a Sunday afternoon, just one game. Just so they would understand what if feels like, win or lose. [To see] what’s it like on a field on Sunday. Then you would never say, ‘why is that guy still trying to play at his age.’ [Then] you’ll understand the excitement of the game and there’s nothing like it.”

- See more at: http://www.boston.com/sports/footba...as_advice_to_tom_brady_stick_it_out_as_l.html

I'd agree with that advice, but (not to be a buzz-kill), I'd temper it with the recommendation that any player, whether a future HOFER and possible GOAT or a journeyman backup whose name we'll all forget the day after he retires, get an objective assessment of the possible long term impact of head trauma in his own, particular case by a medical professional who has studied his career back to high school and who knows what they are doing.

That said, I'd really like to be able to watch TB start for the Pats for at least another five years.

I wonder what the reaction would be if it was Brett Favre who said it

patriot lifer said:

I wonder what the reaction would be if it was Brett Favre who said it

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A complete 180, most likely.

If Brady has a season like Favre's 2010 season, then I'm fine with them moving on from him. I suspect Belichick will sit him down ala Bruschi and convince him that it's time. Until then, I look forward to seeing Brady compete at a high level for the Patriots organization.

I hope Peyton reads this. Look forward to years of an ever increasing blizzard of Pick 6s!

patriot lifer said:

I wonder what the reaction would be if it was Brett Favre who said it

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Favre's advise would be different. He would say "play until your late 30s and then retire and then send out feelers that you want to come back and then wait until ESPN camps out at your doorstep and does around the clock coverage of you and then continue to play until your body gives out on you".

I say take his advice Tom. And hopefully mind and body hold up well into your 40's.

Brady at 45 is still probably better than the average QB in the NFL today, the thing that would change our opinions is being so used to excellence that once he drops into the mid-tier ranks or lower we'll be expecting the next QB to put up Brady-like numbers or we'll be asking for his head on a platter by midseason.

It's gonna be dark-days once he's gone, even if the nextQB isn't half bad, 15-20 years of greatness from a QB will make for some tough adjusting once he's gone.

I also don't believe Brady will ever allow himself to perform below his own standards, once he dips below it, he'll retire on his own. He loves the game but he's driven by the pursuit of perfection, if sees himself go in the opposite direction he won't embarrass himself like Favre did.

patriot lifer said:

I wonder what the reaction would be if it was Brett Favre who said it

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For BF and LBJ, I'd like both of them a lot better if they would just announce where they are going/retiring without the months/years of soap opera.

Operative word is healthy.

Concussions brought the retirements of Steve Young and Roger Staubach (the other Capt. America)

Tyler is where I grew up, and Earl Campbell is paying for they way he played > http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/07/16/earl-campbell-says-he-has-nothing-to-complain-about/

But, yes I hope Tom has plenty of healthy years left.

Montana should have played one more season. The 1995 Chiefs were the best team, with the best record in the regular season. I'd imagine if they had Joe Montana at the helm, rather than Steve Bono, they would have bested the Colts, and maybe even Pitt. A KC/Dallas SB that year could have been something special. The Neil O'Donnell pick fest was hard to watch.

signbabybrady said:

I say take his advice Tom. And hopefully mind and body hold up well into your 40's.

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From your keyboard to God's monitor. I hope to see a solid bounceback from the "declining Brady" talk this season.

strngplyr said:

Brady at 45 is still probably better than the average QB in the NFL today, the thing that would change our opinions is being so used to excellence that once he drops into the mid-tier ranks or lower we'll be expecting the next QB to put up Brady-like numbers or we'll be asking for his head on a platter by midseason.

It's gonna be dark-days once he's gone, even if the nextQB isn't half bad, 15-20 years of greatness from a QB will make for some tough adjusting once he's gone.

I also don't believe Brady will ever allow himself to perform below his own standards, once he dips below it, he'll retire on his own. He loves the game but he's driven by the pursuit of perfection, if sees himself go in the opposite direction he won't embarrass himself like Favre did.

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Brady at 45 more than likely will not be better than the average quarterback. Sorry. The odds are very much stacked against that happening. Could it happen? Sure. A good part of Brady's game is his acumen. Make no mistake about it, Brady has taken his fair share of hellacious shots over his career. We don't notice it because he's a tough son of a *****. But those hits begin to take their toll after a while... much moreso in 40+ year old bodies that don't heal as quickly as they used to. Favre, for example, went from having an MVP campaign to looking his age immediately the year after. His MVP campaign is the exception rather than the rule.

Nice words of encouragement from Joe Montana.

hopefully he can play at a high level for years...time will tell....his mind and arm will be fine...its the legs, suppleness/stiffness, pocket presence/"seeing ghosts" that will be the things to watch