Quote:
Originally Posted by DenverChief
Couldn't the same thing be said about Roger Craig and Montana/Rice/Taylor?
|
Craig, sure?
Rice. N f'ing way. Rice was Rice. He would have been the best in football if he caught from Marino or Fouts or Favre, whoever.
Rice was head and shoulders above any other WR in work ethic, study, and preparation. He was absolutely fanatical about his physical conditioning. If Randy Moss had 3/4 of Rice's fanaticism, he would have shattered every receiving record known to man.
Rice was a once in a lifetime outlier.
You could make a better point about Montana being a system QB. If he went to the Bills, would they have 4 Lombardis instead of the 49ers? I just don't know. I'm betting Montana alone wins 2 of those 4 super bowls for Buffalo though.
So even Joe was more than JUST a system QB. He had greatness in him. He was exceptional. Of course, he would not have gotten Bill Walsh's QB development in Buffalo, so there is genuine doubt if Montana would have attained his full potential under Levy.
I'm going to say "no", that Montana is neither a hall of famer or perennial All Pro if he was not developed and pushed by Bill Walsh. So you have a point there.
Nobody pushed Rice but Rice. It was all Poodle. He just kept going and going.