6′ 2″ Joe Montana saw the field differently than anybody else. The preternaturally cool 49ers legend won four Super Bowls and entered the Hall of Fame as a foregone conclusion in 2000, when he was first eligible. Montana remains the prototype of the winning NFL quarterback, along with Unitas, Bradshaw, Brady, Aikman — and the list gets debated from there. (Griese, Plunkett, Starr, Staubach, Elway, Roethlisberger, etc.)
With the New York Giants facing the San Francisco 49ers — and their beleaguered quarterback Colin Kaepernick, Niners fans might be thinking of better days — and that always means Montana. Giants fans, however, will be focused on Eli Manning — one of only 11 quarterbacks with two or more Super Bowl wins. Manning has started all 16 games for the Giants for the last ten years — and all four so far this year. Montana started 16 games only four seasons for the Niners. Besides Montana’s four Super Bowl wins to Manning’s two, here are some numbers.
| Joe Montana | Eli Manning | |
|---|---|---|
| GAMES | 192 | 173 |
| YEARS | 15 | 12 |
| COMP % | 63.2% | 59.1% |
| YARDS | 40,551 | 40,731 |
| TOUCHDOWNS | 273 | 266 |
| INTERCEPTIONS | 139 | 186 |
| PASSER RATING | 92.3 | 82.8 |
| YARDS / GAME | 211.2 | 235.4 |
