Deion Sanders knows how good Joe Montana was for the San Francisco 49ers.

The Hall of Fame cornerback was a rookie in 1989 when his Atlanta Falcons lost 45-3 to Montana's 49ers during the regular season. Montana threw for 270 yards with three touchdowns and zero interceptions. The legendary quarterback won his first league MVP and helped the 49ers win Super Bowl XXIV later that season.

Montana ended up with four Super Bowl titles before retiring after the 1994 campaign. He was considered by many people as the best quarterback in pro football history until, of course, Tom Brady won a record seven Super Bowl titles (six with the New England Patriots and one with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) in 23 seasons from 2000 through 2022.

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Sanders was in that group who thought Montana was the GOAT. He has since changed his mind and views Brady as the best ever.

Why did Sanders switch to Brady?

"Just the will that he had. The will. The way. What he brought to the game. And his fire and his passion," Sanders told NBC Sports' Peter King.

"I’ve never heard anybody, a player, say anything negative about how he attacked the game. He’s a winner. He’s a darn winner. Once upon a time for me it was Montana. It was Joe. Shoot, it was Joe. But Brady with the Super Bowl wins eclipsed that."

Seven wins in the Super Bowl is hard to top. Sure, Montana went undefeated in his four Super Bowl appearances, but Brady went to 10 of those games, which is also a record. And if a couple more plays went the Patriots' way, Brady could have eight or nine rings. Brady also owns many more league records than Montana and won three or more Super Bowl titles in two different decades.

Montana was awesome, but Brady is the undisputed GOAT.