Joe Montana on 'Deflategate': 'I Would Have Considered Deflating Footballs'

Joe Montana doesn’t see the controversial ‘Deflategate’ as surprising, saying that any team would do something to gain an advantage.

Montana is referring to the issue involving Tom Brady and New England Patriots which happened last January.

It will be recalled that the Patriots were highly criticized for using underinflated balls during the New England Patriots vs. Indianapolis Colts in their AFC showdown. That celebrated incident is still in the air and up to this day, Montana claims that he was unaware that the balls used during their match was underinflated.

Regardless, Montana believes that such will eventually die down. He knows the situation which is somehow similar to what happened to him and his 49er teammates during their day.

Jerry Rice admitted to using stickum at that time and now Montana bares that his teammates did break rules just to gain an edge before. So, this Deflategate case is not that different and isn’t the first time for such a thing to happen.

“Everybody is trying to do something different,” Montana said in an interview with via triblive.com. “Our offensive linemen used to spray silicone on their shirts until they got caught. Once you get caught, you get caught. Period," he added.

Montana is a four-time Super Bowl champion, a three-time Super Bowl MVP and two-time NFL MVP, a testament to why he is considered one of the greatest quarterbacks to play the game.

He believes that despite the Deflategate controversy shadowing Brady right now, it will in no way affect the fact that Montana will remain and perhaps be lined up among the ranks of great quarterbacks once this issue dies down.

"It doesn't take anything away from Tom's game," Montana said. "But how long has he been doing it? I don't know."

On the matter of Brady now being able to tell if there was something odd with the footballs used that day, Montana believes that the former knew about it.

For now, Brady just has to accept the punishment from the celebrated controversy and pay up. After that, he just has to move on.

Brady was meted a four-game suspension without pay last month while the Patriots were fined $1 million for the said incident, the largest handed out to any NFL team.

Aside from the hefty fine, the Patriots were also stripped of their first round draft pick in 2016 and fourth round selection in 2017.

Brady becomes the highest-profile player to be suspended by the NFL. This places Brady in a bad light at the moment but like what Montana said, he just has to deal with it and it does not change the fact that he is one of the best quarterbacks as well to play the game.