Joe Montana talks Colin Kaepernick, Jim Harbaugh and cheating in the NFL

Former San Francisco 49ers player, Hall of Famer and best quarterback to ever set foot in the NFL Joe Montana joined The Herd with Colin Cowherd on Thursday, and discussed a number of topics. He touched on the current 49ers, the coaching staff, Colin Kaepernick and more.

As a rule, I try not to engage with anything Cowherd related, but enough stories were floating around the Internet yesterday that I thought it warranted checking out. I will admit though, every time I hear about a new interview from a former player, I just wonder what they said to put their foot in their mouths. Former players have a tendency to do that a lot.

Fortunately, it doesn't happen much with Montana, even if you don't like what he has to say. On Kaepernick, he echoed the sentiments of a lot of people.

"Make the coaches and the offense go back to letting him play the game he knows," Montana said. "Where he's been the best is when he's out of the pocket."

Letting Kaepernick play his game is the obvious solution that many have ventured, but it's probably not that simple. Still, there is probably some truth to his words and when a guy like Montana has opinions on this kind of stuff, it's pretty worthwhile.

"As long as he's protecting himself, let him get out of there," Montana said. "Because in the pocket, decisions have to be made quicker. Anticipation, that's not where he's made his living for the longest time."

On the coaching staff, Montana was asked if he believed the 49ers made a mistake by moving on from Jim Harbaugh. It's a dead horse that's been beaten repeatedly around here, but it's something that will be asked in interviews for a long while, especially when the 49ers struggle.

"Honestly, here's a guy that's been very successful for you quickly," Montana said. "He put a good team together, and now he's gone. Now he's out of there. Now they're struggling. Players are leaving -- is that Harbaugh's fault? I don't think so, he's not there anymore. Where those troubles begin and why those guys left, even people close to the team don't know."

Montana also met with Andrew Siciliano of the NFL Network on Thursday, and was asked about the New England Patriots and cheating in football. This is unrelated to the 49ers, but I found it interesting.

"They always say, 'If you ain't cheating you ain't trying.' So they're trying hard," Montana said.

SPOILERS: The golden years featured a lot of cheating. If you don't like to accept that reality, don't read the following quote.

"Everybody does everything they can to possibly get a little bit of an edge," he said. "Back then it wasn't illegal but it was illegal, like our guys used to spray -- and everybody did it at the time -- silicone n their jerseys, the linemen, so that the defensive linemen couldn't get a hold of them. And the defensive linemen did it so the offensive linemen couldn't hold them. It's a game. Everybody wants to win, so you do whatever you can to make it happen."

Yep!