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Joe Montana or Steve Young? 49ers great Jerry Rice makes his choice
Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Jerry Rice, widely regarded as the greatest wide receiver in football history, had the privilege of playing alongside two Hall of Fame quarterbacks during his tenure with the San Francisco 49ers.

During a recent appearance on the "All Facts No Brakes" podcast, host Keyshawn Johnson posed a challenging question to Rice: If he could only choose one, would he prefer to play with Joe Montana or Steve Young?

"I'm gonna break this down for you real quick," Rice responded. "Joe Montana and I, we had such chemistry. If Joe was a female, we would have dated because the chemistry was just that [good]. Now then also, you had Steve Young to come along, and I was able to put up outstanding numbers with Steve Young.

"And through all the quarterbacks that I went through, I was able to adjust to their strengths. Like Montana, I knew Montana wouldn't hold on to the ball that long. If I ran my routes, I knew the ball was halfway in the air. And with Steve Young, Steve Young was more of a running quarterback at first, but then he wanted to become that pocket passer, and we were able to do great things."

However, when it came down to choosing between the two iconic quarterbacks, Rice admitted, "But if I had to pick one, it probably would be Joe Montana because we had great chemistry."

Rice clinched two Super Bowl victories with Montana at the helm, compared to one with Young. Notably, he was named the Super Bowl XXIII MVP with Montana throwing him passes against the Cincinnati Bengals.

This article first appeared on 49ers Webzone and was syndicated with permission.

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