The original GOAT has given up the ghost. Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana appeared on ESPN’s First Take to talk Niners, Jimmy Garoppolo, and his assessment that Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback of all-time.

ESPN’s Max Kellerman flatly asked if Brady had replaced him as the greatest quarterback of all-time. Montana’s answer was straight and to the point.

“I think Tom has, you know, taken his place on the top up there a long time ago. “He’s had a tremendous career, is fun to watch. Everybody always contests over that, but I think if you look at what Tom has been able to accomplish in his time that he’s played, I think it puts him definitely up there in the top of the list.”

-Joe Montana on ESPN’s First Take on Wednesday

Previously, Montana was somewhat cagey regarding answering such a topic and made sure to praise former Cleveland Browns quarterback Otto Graham (as he did once again Wednesday) in his explanation regarding great signal callers.

After Brady won his seventh Super Bowl (his first as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) and his fifth Super Bowl MVP award, even the most hardened Brady detractors are finding it more difficult to find a counterargument to his greatness.

While many people have fully tackled the concept of Brady being considered the greatest quarterback ever, hearing Montana say it is certainly something.

Over the last year, Montana and Brady’s relationship has received more press due to how they both made an emotional exit out of San Francisco and New England respectively.

Now that Montana has acknowledged Brady as the greatest to ever do it, seeing how 49ers fans react to Joe Cool’s comments will be very interesting to follow.