Joe Montana

Football Player

• Born: June 11, 1956
• Place of Birth: New Eagle, Pennsylvania

SPORT: Football

Early Life

Joseph Clifford Montana Jr. was born on June 11, 1956, in the town of New Eagle, Pennsylvania, situated south of Pittsburgh. He grew up in nearby Monongahela, named for the Monongahela River, which runs through it. Montana was the only child of Joseph Sr. and Teresa Montana. Before he was even a year old, his father gave Montana his first baseball bat and ball. Later, his father installed a hoop for him to shoot baskets and a tire through which he was to throw footballs. Joe Namath, the great quarterback of the New York Jets—and a native of Pennsylvania—was Montana’s childhood hero.

Although a thin child, Montana excelled in many sports. He batted .500 and pitched three perfect games in Little League. At Ringgold High School in Monongahela, Montana continued his development as an all-around athlete. He was an excellent baseball player, all-state in basketball, and all-American in football. Montana also could high jump 6 feet 9 inches (two meters). North Carolina State University offered him a scholarship in basketball, but he turned it down when the University of Notre Dame offered him a football scholarship. The Notre Dame coach, Dan Devine, was not impressed by how Montana performed in practice, so Montana was not the starting quarterback for Notre Dame for most of his career there.

Montana had his greatest impact at Notre Dame when he came off the bench to lead the Fighting Irish in comeback victories. In several memorable games, he was known as the “Comeback Kid” for his heroics. His first year did not include any extraordinary efforts, but during his second season, in 1975, the legendary comebacks began. Montana was sent into the game against the University of North Carolina with Notre Dame trailing 14–6 in the fourth quarter. He brought the Fighting Irish back, and the team won the game 21–14. In even more dramatic fashion, after entering the game in the second half, Montana brought his team back from a 30–10 deficit with three touchdown passes against the Air Force Academy. These two remarkable efforts highlighted his sophomore year.

In 1976, Montana suffered a shoulder separation and could not play. The following year, he was the third-string quarterback behind Rusty Lisch and Gary Forystek. However, he became the starting quarterback after bringing the Fighting Irish back from a near-loss in the third game of the year against Purdue University. That season, Notre Dame went to the Cotton Bowl and played an undefeated and favored University of Texas team. Notre Dame won the game 38–10 and was voted the number-one team by the Associated Press and the United Press International polls. Montana’s final year at Notre Dame was no less dramatic, with a crowning Cotton Bowl victory in January 1979 against the University of Houston. Montana left Notre Dame with a degree in marketing and the status of a hero in the hearts of Fighting Irish fans.

The Emerging Champion

Even with his reputation as the Comeback Kid and as the subject of a Notre Dame student song, “The Ballad of Joe Montana,” scouts were not convinced that he had a place in professional football. Montana was passed over in the first two rounds of the 1979 National Football League (NFL) draft. Bill Walsh, the coach and general manager of the San Francisco 49ers, however, believed that Montana deserved a chance and drafted him in the third round.

Montana’s first year in professional football was a learning year. Walsh and the 49ers quarterback coach, Sam Wyche, had Montana and rookie receiver Dwight Clark work on fundamentals together. In 1979, San Francisco had a record of 2–14, and Montana only threw twenty-three passes the entire season. He failed to edge out starting quarterback Steven DeBerg until about midway through the following season.

Montana was still learning and remained cautious as he began mastering the Walsh way of football. Clark became the principal target for Montana’s passes, and by the end of the season, Montana had completed 176 passes for a total of 1,795 yards. His pass-completion percentage led the league at .645. The 49ers had improved as a team and finished 1980 with a 6–10 record.

In the summer of 1981, the 49ers traded DeBerg. At this point, Montana realized that the 49ers organization had put its faith in him. By the time the season started, he was more relaxed and less insecure than he had been at any point in his professional career. He had his first great season and also helped lead San Francisco to the National Football Conference (NFC) West Division title and Super Bowl XVI on January 24, 1982, against the Cincinnati Bengals. The 49ers won the game 26–21 after building a first-half lead of 20–0. Montana was named the most valuable player (MVP) of the game.

Montana was proving to be a quarterback who knew how to win games in the NFL. Other players commented on how calm he appeared to be, no matter the situation. An NFL players’ strike shortened the 1982 season and the San Francisco 49ers finished with a 3–6 record.

Because of his statistics as a quarterback, as well as the intangibles that were making him a winner, Montana was becoming a legitimate sports hero. This new celebrity status not only led to a salary increase but also to product-endorsement contracts. Montana did not become caught up in this newfound celebrity status. His cool detachment served him well both on and off the field.

In 1983, San Francisco went as far as the NFC Championship game, but the team’s bid to reach the Super Bowl again was not to be. Montana had an excellent season, though, and was chosen for the NFL Pro Bowl team for that season. The 49ers bounced back the next year and reached Super Bowl XIX. Montana set a Super Bowl record for passing (since broken) with a total of 331 yards in San Francisco’s 38–16 victory over the Miami Dolphins. Once again, Montana was named MVP of the game.

The 49ers did not make it back to the Super Bowl until the 1988–89 season. In 1986, Montana suffered a serious injury when he ruptured a disk and had to undergo spinal surgery. This could have been a career-ending injury for many players, but Montana decided not to give up and endured an extensive rehabilitation program. Against his physician’s recommendation, he rejoined the team after only fifty-five days from the date of the injury.

Montana was considered small for a quarterback at 6 feet 2 inches and 195 pounds, but he proved to be tougher than anyone could have imagined. The 49ers won the 1989 Super Bowl under Montana’s leadership, even though during the season he had to have cortisone treatment for swelling in his right elbow. Always at his best under pressure, Montana was a remarkable player and an inspiration to his teammates. In 1990, the 49ers won the Super Bowl again, a 55–10 victory over the Denver Broncos.

Montana was forced to miss the 1991 season after undergoing elbow surgery on October 9, 1991, to replace a torn tendon in his right elbow. He was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs and was with them from 1992 to 1994, the last three seasons of his career. He was again selected to the Pro Bowl for the 1993 and 1994 seasons. Overall, Montana was chosen for the Pro Bowl eight times, which was a league record for a quarterback at the time. In 1994, Montana became the fifth quarterback to pass for more than 40,000 yards in a career. He retired at the end of the 1994 season and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000. At the time of his retirement, Montana ranked fourth in career passing yardage (40,551 yards), attempts (5,391), and passing touchdowns (273). His 3,409 completions ranked third highest of all time, and his career passing rating of 92.3 ranked second highest of all time.

Personal Life

Montana married his first wife, Kim Moses, in 1974, while he was still a student at Notre Dame. Their marriage ended in divorce after three years. In 1981, he married Cass Castillo, but the couple divorced in 1984. In 1985, he married Jennifer Wallace. Together they had four childrenAlexandra, Elizabeth, Nate, and Nicholas.

After his professional career, Montana settled in San Francisco, California, where he became a horse owner and winemaker. He also became interested and involved in angel investing and venture capital pursuits. He co-founded HRJ Capital and later co-founded a New York City–based commercial bank, Modern Bank, where he was also a board member. In 2015, he launched Liquid 2 Ventures, a seed-stage investment company for start-ups.

Montana has also been involved in philanthropic work, donating time and money to Make-a-Wish Foundation as well as the Million Hours Pledge, a campaign launched by Guinness to promote community engagement and involvement.

Summary

Throughout his professional career, Joe Montana demonstrated a unique drive that propelled him and his team to success. He overcame more than most players would have been willing to endure, and he did so with poise. Montana was a superstar who is rightfully considered one of the great NFL quarterbacks of all time.

Bibliography

Crothers, Tim, and John Garrity. Greatest Athletes of the Twentieth Century. Des Moines, Iowa: Sports Illustrated Books, 1999.

Hetz, Stanley. Joe Montana: Just Another Player. Philadelphia: Xlibris, 2000.

King, Peter. Greatest Quarterbacks. Des Moines, Iowa: Sports Illustrated Books, 1999.

LoRe, Michael, and Amy Danise. “Joe Montana Finding as Much Success Away from NFL as He Did Playing.” Forbes, 9 December 2022, www.forbes.com/sites/michaellore/2022/12/08/joe-montana-finding-as-much-success-away-from-nfl-as-he-did-playing/. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.

Montana, Joe, and Bob Raissman. Audibles: My Life in Football. Reprint. New York: Avon Books, 1990.

Montana, Joe, and Dick Schaap. Montana. Atlanta: Turner, 1995.

Peter, Josh. "Joe Montana at 59: 'I Can't Really Run or Do Much.'" USA Today. USAToday, 5 Feb. 2016. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.