Tom Brady Deflategate Update: Joe Montana Says He’d Have Handled Scandal Differently

Tim Marcin

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady exits the Manhattan Federal Courthouse in New York, Aug. 31, 2015. Photo: Reuters/Brendan McDermid

Hall of Fame NFL quarterback Joe Montana weighed in Thursday on the ongoing "Deflategate" drama in an interview with Boston Herald Radio. Montana said he would have handled it differently than New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who faces a possible four-game suspension in the upcoming season for an alleged role in a scheme to slightly deflate footballs in the 2014-15 AFC Championship Game. 

Montana was asked to put himself in Brady's situation, and Montana, known for his dominant years leading the San Francisco 49ers, said he would have tried to move past it far more quickly.

"I think you'd want to get it behind you as fast as you can," Montana said. "You've just got to get it going. And the longer you drag it out the longer people think about it. There's just too many things that could come up from it that you don't know.  I don't know all of the details of it, but I would want to get it past me and get it behind me as fast as I could."

The Deflategate drama is a saga that just won't quit. It's been a knock-down, drag-out legal fight over the investigation by the NFL and the power of Commissioner Roger Goodell. The NFL levied a four-game suspension against the quarterback last season, a decision that was nullified after a judge found "several significant legal deficiencies" in how the NFL investigated the allegations. That decision was reversed by a court in late April on an appeal by the NFL.

Throughout the drama, Brady, like Montana in his day, has been one of the primary faces of the league. Montana played from 1979 to 1994, while Brady was drafted in 2000 and is still going at age 38. Their respective on-field accomplishments have made them historical counterparts. They're the chief rivals competing for the title of "best quarterback of all time." Montana won four Super Bowls, which Brady tied during the Deflategate season.

Montana was also asked on Boston Herald Radio if Brady could pass him as the best QB of all time if he gets one more ring. The 49er nicknamed "Joe Cool" played it, well, cool. 

"You can say whatever you want," Montana said, chuckling.