Tom Brady was humbled by the thought he is one win away from matching Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw if the New England Patriots win Sunday's Super Bowl against the Seattle Seahawks.
Bradshaw won four Super Bowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers between 1970 and 1983, while Montana achieved the same feat with the San Francisco 49ers between 1979 and 1992.
Brady, who has won three Super Bowls and lost two with the Patriots, could join the two NFL legends with four championships on Sunday.
"It's hard to think about those things. Like I said, I've just been fortunate to be on some great teams," Brady said on Tuesday.
"Those guys are unbelievable players, they were so great for this league.
"They were great teams. I was the biggest 49er fan growing up and to watch Joe [Montana] and Steve Young – who were my two idols – who were just great for the game and great for the sport."
Patriots coach Bill Belichick ignored questions surrounding the investigation into New England's under-inflated balls during the AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts, instead hailing Seattle counterpart Pete Carroll.
"Not a coach in the NFL I respect more than Pete Carroll. He's a tremendous coach," the 62-year-old said.
"He and I have kind of come up together in roughly the same era. We've both been defensive coordinators, we've both been head coaches.
"I have a ton of respect for what Pete does as a coach, how good of a fundamental teacher he is, the way his teams play."