Former NFL star Joe Montana believes Dan Marino is the best quarterback in the sport's history.
Montana, 67, who won four Super Bowls and three Super Bowl MVPs during his career with the San Francisco 49ers, is regarded as one of the best quarterbacks of all time himself.
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Fans of a certain generation will argue for Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, but Montana explained why the 61-year-old Miami Dolphins legend is no.1.
"He had a quick release. I had to step into a lot of things to get enough [force] on the ball," Montana told Men's Health.
"He had the perfect torque of his upper body and strength to deliver the ball quickly at a fast release with accuracy."
Spending his entire NFL career at Miami Dolphins, Marino never won a Super Bowl, unlike the rest of the legendary quarterbacks.
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But Montana says Marino's lack of career accomplishments doesn't reflect just how impressive he was.
"Put Marino into today's game where he gets free release...and his receivers, holy cow, weren't very big," Montana said.
"Now these guys are 6'4," 6'5. I think [Marino] is probably one of the most unsung heroes of the game. People don't talk enough about him or realise the numbers that he put up during the times that he put them up."
Marino helped the Miami Dolphins reach the playoffs ten times and one Super Bowl appearance in1984 against the 49ers, the game that saw Montana clinch his second Super Bowl title.
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That 1984 season saw him record 48 touchdown passes, a feat which stood for 20 years and became the first quarterback to to break the 5,000 passing yards barrier.
Upon his NFL retirement in 1999, Marino held almost every passing record.
He is seventh on the all-time passing touchdown list with 420 and is no. 1 among players who never played in the 21st century.
Montana, meanwhile, among his list of achievements was involved in arguably the greatest plays in NFL history. Known as 'The Catch', Dwight Clark leaped to complete a six-yard touchdown pass from Montana in the back of the end zone to beat the Cowboys 28-27 in 1982.
While Brady, who idolised Montana, retired as a seven-time Super Bowl winner, Montana believes Patrick Mahomes could end up as the greatest QB ever.
"The things he does and is able to do are so different than what any other quarterback does who's out there."
