“I was Joe Montana and Steve Young”: Tom Brady always envisioned a Hall of Fame like career right from his backyard football days

Tom Brady

Tom Brady is now the greatest quarterback to ever play in the NFL, but before him, there were greats like Joe Montana and Steve Young who claimed the title.

Brady grew up a major fan of the San Francisco 49ers as he was born in San Mateo, California. The 49ers were everything a young football fan in the Bay Area used to dream of back in the 1980s and 90s, and Brady was no different.

He idolized quarterbacks Joe Montana and Steve Young who became 49ers legends for their heorics for the team, winning multiple Super Bowls over their careers. Brady wanted the same from his life, and the biggest reason he took up football in high school was because of those two.

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Tom Brady desperately wanted to be Joe Montana and Steve Young growing up

Not only was Brady at Montana’s last game at Candlestick Park, he was also at the spot of ‘The Catch’ where Joe Montana threw a touchdown pass to Dwight Clark to beat their bitter rivals Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship Game and advance to the Super Bowl.

It’s easy to see why Brady was such a big 49ers fan. He was present at all the big moments, grew up right during the time of their dominance, and basically grew up right next to San Francisco.

Brady once appeared on an interview with Rodney Harrison in 2018, and he talked about this crazy obsession he had with the two quarterbacks. Harrison asked Brady which players he was when he was out practicing football in the backyard as a kid, and right away with no hesitation, Brady said “I was Joe Montana and Steve Young.” You can watch the entire interview here, and the part where Brady talks about Montana and Young begins at about :27 in the video.

Also Read: “I’m sure Tom Brady did a great job, greatest player in NFL history”: Bill Belichick has no ill-will against his former QB after release of ‘Man in the Arena’ documentary

Post Edited By: Ashish Priyadarshi
Joe Montana NFL San Francisco 49ers Steve Young Tom Brady

About the author

Ashish Priyadarshi

Ashish Priyadarshi is The SportsRush's content manager and editor. Ashish freelanced for 1 year in the NFL division before taking on an editorial role in the company. He then tacked on managing content while adding on a writing role in the NBA division. Ashish has been closely following the NFL and NBA since the 2012 season when the Patriots lost the Super Bowl and Derrick Rose was at the height of his powers. Since then, Ashish has focused on honing his knowledge for both leagues in, even writing crossover pieces. In his free time, Ashish is an avid basketball player, he loves to watch movies and TV shows, immersing himself in the cinematic world. Ashish studies computer science and data science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and would love to mesh his love for sports with his technical skills.

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