Joseph Clifford Montana Jr. (born June 11, 1956) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons, primarily with the San Francisco 49ers. Nicknamed "Joe Cool" and "the Comeback Kid", Montana is widely regarded as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. After winning a national championship with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Montana began his NFL career in 1979 at San Francisco, where he played for the next 14 seasons. With the 49ers, Montana started and won four Super Bowls and was the first player to be named the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player (MVP) three times. He also holds Super Bowl career records for most passes without an interception (122 in four games) and the all-time highest passer rating of 127.8. In 1993, Montana was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs, where he played for his last two seasons and led the franchise to its first AFC Championship Game. Montana was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000.
In 1986, Montana won the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award after suffering a severe back injury during week one. In 1989 and again in 1990, Montana was named the NFL Most Valuable Player. Montana was elected to eight Pro Bowls as well as being voted first-team All-Pro in 1987, 1989, and 1990. Montana had the highest passer rating in the National Football Conference (NFC) five times (1981, 1984, 1985, 1987, and 1989), and in both 1987 and 1989, Montana had the highest passer rating in the NFL.
Among his career highlights, "the Catch" (the game-winning touchdown pass to Dwight Clark vs. Dallas in the 1981 NFC Championship Game) and a Super Bowl-winning 92-yard drive against the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl XXIII are staples of NFL highlight films.
The 49ers retired Montana's No. 16 jersey number after the conclusion of his playing career. In 1994, Montana earned a spot on the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team; he is also a member of the NFL 1980s All-Decade Team. In 1999, editors at The Sporting News ranked Montana third on their list of Football's 100 Greatest Players. Also in 1999, ESPN named Montana the 25th greatest athlete of the 20th century. In 2006, Sports Illustrated rated him the number-one clutch quarterback of all time.
After his football career, Montana became a venture capitalist through his firm, Liquid 2 Ventures.
Early life Montana was born in New Eagle, Pennsylvania, a borough of Washington County located in the western portion of the state. He grew up in the city of Monongahela, a coal mining town south of Pittsburgh.
Montana's family were Italian-American, the name Montana being an Americanized form of the surname Montani, which comes from Camonica Valley in northern Italy.
Montana expressed an early interest in sports, and his father first taught him the game of football. Montana started to play youth football when he was eight years old, aided in part by his father. Montana Sr. listed his son as a nine-year-old so that Montana could meet the league's minimum age requirement.
During his formative years, Montana took an interest in baseball and basketball, in addition to football, with basketball being his favorite sport. Montana Sr. started a local basketball team which his son played on. The team practiced and played at the local armory and played their games in various regional tournaments.
Montana received his primary education at Waverly Elementary and his secondary education at Finleyville Junior High (now known as Finleyville Middle School) and Ringgold High School. While at Ringgold, Montana played football, baseball, and basketball. Montana showed potential as a basketball player and helped Ringgold win the 1973 WPIAL Class AAA boys' basketball championship while being named an all-state player. He was so good during his senior year, North Carolina State offered Montana a basketball scholarship. Although Montana turned down the scholarship, he seriously considered NCSU because of a promise he could play both basketball and football for the university.
Montana spent his first two years on the high school football team as a backup. As a junior, Montana earned the job as the Ringgold Rams' starting quarterback. Montana held the role for the final two years of his high school career; after his senior year, Parade named him to their All-American team.
During his junior year, in a game against Monessen High School, Montana completed 12 passes in 22 attempts, threw for 223 yards, and scored three passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown. His performance garnered attention from college recruiters, particularly those from Notre Dame.
Notre Dame eventually offered Montana a scholarship, and he accepted it. One contributing factor in Montana's choice of colleges was Terry Hanratty, his boyhood idol, attended Notre Dame.
In 2006, 32 years after Montana graduated, Ringgold High School renamed their football stadium "Joe Montana Stadium".
College career
1974 When Montana arrived at Notre Dame in the fall of 1974, the football program was coached by Ara Parseghian. During Parseghian's tenure, Notre Dame won the NCAA national championship in 1966 and 1973. Parseghian's success as a coach helped him recruit highly talented players. Though Montana was a top prospect, under Notre Dame policy in 1974 freshmen were not permitted to practice with or play on the varsity team, and consequently Montana appeared only in a few freshman team games. Montana's first significant contributions to the Notre Dame football team came during his sophomore year.
On December 15, 1974, Parseghian resigned due to health problems. The university hired Dan Devine to replace Parseghian. Despite his limited playing time the previous year, Montana performed well during the 1975 spring practice. Devine was so impressed that he later told his wife: "I'm gonna start Joe Montana in the final spring game." When she replied, "Who's Joe Montana?", Devine said: "He's the guy who's going to feed our family for the next few years."
1975 Devine did not feel Montana was ready to be the full-time starter in 1975; however, Montana played a key role in Notre Dame's victory over North Carolina. During the game, played in Chapel Hill, Montana came in with 5:11 left to play. At the time, North Carolina led by a score of 14–6. Montana spent one minute and two seconds of game time on the field. In that time, he had 129 passing yards and Notre Dame won the game, 21–14.
Against Air Force, Notre Dame's next opponent, Montana again entered the game in the fourth quarter. Although Air Force led 30–10, Notre Dame won the game, 31–30. After the win against North Carolina, Devine said Moose Krause, the Notre Dame athletic director, said the game was the "greatest comeback I've ever seen". After the game against Air Force, Krause was quoted as saying: "This one's better than last week." In those two games, Montana demonstrated his ability to perform well in high-pressure circumstances. That characteristic would prove valuable, and Montana relied on it throughout his football career.
1976 Before the start of the 1976 season, Montana separated his shoulder and was unable to compete that year. He applied for and was granted a medical redshirt waiver, earning him one more year of eligibility than other members of his scholarship class.
1977 When the 1977 season began, Montana was the third quarterback listed on the team's depth chart, behind Rusty Lisch and Gary Forystek. Notre Dame won their season opener and then lost to Ole Miss by a score of 20–13. Montana did not appear in either of those games.Devine has been quoted as saying Montana was not cleared by the medical staff to play in either of those games. Montana has said he was not aware of that fact. In their third game of the season, Notre Dame played Purdue. Lisch started and was then replaced by Forystek. On one play, Forystek suffered a broken vertebra, a broken clavicle, and a severe concussion. It was the last play of Forystek's sports career.
Devine re-inserted Lisch into the game before Montana finally had the opportunity to play. Montana entered with approximately 11 minutes remaining and Purdue leading 24–14; he threw for 154 yards and one touchdown, and Notre Dame won the game, 31–24.
After the game, Devine made Montana the first quarterback on the depth chart and the team won their remaining nine games. In their final game of the season, Notre Dame defeated top-ranked Texas by a score of 38–10 in the Cotton Bowl.Most regular season NCAA football games are played toward the end of the calendar year between late August and early December. Many bowl games are not played until January of the following calendar year. As a result, Notre Dame's 1977 season culminated with the 1978 Cotton Bowl Classic. Notre Dame's record of eleven wins and one loss earned them the AP/Coaches national title, the only title the school won while Devine was head coach.
1978 As a fifth-year senior in 1978, Montana helped Notre Dame to a come-from-behind win against the Pitt Panthers and nearly repeated the feat against USC, Notre Dame's primary rival. The Fighting Irish were trailing 24–6 in the second half when Montana led a fourth-quarter rally to put Notre Dame ahead 25–24 with 45 seconds remaining, only to see the Trojans win on a last-second field goal.
On January 1, 1979, Notre Dame returned to the Cotton Bowl, this time against Houston. Montana's performance in what came to be known as the "Chicken Soup Game" is one of the most celebrated of his entire football career. In frigid, blustery conditions in the second quarter, Montana had to fight off hypothermia as his body temperature dropped to . When the second half began with Houston up 20–12, Montana stayed in the locker room, where Notre Dame medical staff gave him warmed intravenous fluids, covered him in blankets, and fed him chicken soup. Montana returned to the field late in the third quarter with Houston leading 34–12. Montana led the Irish to three touchdowns in the last eight minutes of the game, the final one coming as time expired, and Notre Dame won the game 35–34. To commemorate the game, Notre Dame produced a promotional film titled Seven and a Half Minutes to Destiny, which Coach Devine later referred to as a "Joe Montana film".
Graduation and the NFL draft Montana graduated from Notre Dame with a degree in business administration and marketing. Although the NFL Combine was not formed until 1982, NFL scouts still evaluated potential draftees through the use of combines in 1979. Candidates were rated in a number of categories on a scale of one to nine, with one being the worst mark and nine being the best mark. The categories they used were contingent on the position the athlete played.
Despite his performance on the field, Montana was not rated highly by most scouts. At one combine, Montana rated out as six-and-a-half overall with a six in arm strength, used to judge how hard and how far a prospect could throw the ball. By comparison, Jack Thompson of Washington State rated an eight, the highest grade among eligible quarterbacks.
In the 1979 NFL draft, the San Francisco 49ers selected Montana at the end of the third round with the 82nd overall pick. Montana was the fourth quarterback taken, behind Thompson, Phil Simms, and Steve Fuller, all selected in the first round.
Professional career
San Francisco 49ers
1979–1980 Although Montana appeared in all 16 regular season games during the 1979 season, he only threw 23 passes. He spent most of the season as the backup on the San Francisco depth chart behind starter Steve DeBerg, but became the starter midway through the 1980 season.