You’re never going to believe this, but a retired professional athlete recently tried to diminish the accomplishments of a current player to make their own accomplishments look better.
Joe Montana on the Patriots: ‘If you ain’t cheating you ain’t trying’
Jason Kempin/Getty Images
Siciliano: Are you at all suspect of what the Patriots have done over the years? And is it wrong to question what they’ve done?
Montana: Well, they always say “If you ain’t cheating you ain’t trying [laughs], so they’re trying hard.”
Siciliano: Are they cheating hard or trying hard is the question.
Montana: Could be both. [laughs]
Siciliano: Where is the line? How difficult is it to know where the line is then I guess between gamesmanship --
Montana: Well they have this thing called the rulebook. [laughs] When you step outside the rulebook, you’re fudging with it a little bit. [laughs]
Siciliano: Did you guys ever step outside the rulebook? I mean, Jerry Rice said “Hey, I use stickum every now and then.”
Montana: Like I said, “If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying.” You know, everybody does everything they can to possibly get a little bit of an edge. I mean, back then it wasn’t illegal but it was illegal, like our guys used to spray -- and everybody did it -- silicone on their jersey so that the defensive linemen couldn’t get a hold of them. And the defensive linemen did it so the offensive linemen couldn’t get a hold of them.
Siciliano: Crisco on your jersey, basically.
Montana: Yeah, and then if you had too much they’d go “No, no, no, no, no. Go change your jersey.” It’s a game. Everybody wants to win, so you do whatever you can to make it happen.
To be fair, Montana was willing to admit to areas where the 49ers played with the rules a bit, but it still makes you wonder if he's trying to push Brady and Patriots down a step to keep his spot on the all-time QB hierarchy in check.
* * *
