Hall of Famer and former unquestioned greatest-of-all-time Joe Montana made the rounds this week at Radio Row. As he entered the giant room full of microphones and cameras, a compelling #longread about the legend had landed on ESPN.com.
From Wright Thompson came a closer look at Montana, a scrolling mini-bio that delves into many interesting subjects. And the best stuff Montana said to Wright was repeated in Arizona, as you’ll hear in the attached video.
In a nutshell, Montana still thinks the 49ers were nuts to shelve his career after the 1990 NFC Championship, a game he exited upon taking a brutal hit from Giants defensive lineman Leonard Marshall.
Montana didn’t play at all in 1991, even though he insists he was healthy enough to play. He didn’t show up again until a Week 17 second-half Monday night cameo capped with an audible to a touchdown pass that left coach George Seifert livid.
Maybe Joe simply wanted to give the head coach a taste of what the quarterback had been feeling for two full seasons.
“Why wasn’t I allowed to compete for the job?” Montana told Thompson, regarding the 1991 season. “I just had one of the best years I’d ever had. I could understand if I wasn’t playing well. We had just won two Super Bowls and I had one of my best years and we were winning in the championship game when I got hurt. How do I not get an opportunity? That’s the hardest part.”
Thompson explains in his article that Seifert had banned Montana from the facility when the team was present in the locker room.
“Why am I not allowed in the facility?” Montana said to Thompson. “What did I do to not be allowed in the facility? . . . They wouldn’t even let me dress.”
Montana sees it as both an affront to himself and an indignity to the best interests of the team.
“Inside I think he knows,” Montana told Thompson, regarding Seifert. “You guys won another Super Bowl, but you probably would have two or three more if I’d stuck around.”
Three more would have given Montana seven, the same number that Brady racked up.
And it’s clear from Thompson’s article that Montana isn’t a big fan of the player who grew up idolizing Montana, actively rooting against Brady in Super Bowl games. In Super Bowl XLIX, played here in Arizona, Brady secured his Montana-tying fourth after the Seahawks blew a chance to win the game by passing instead of running.
“Give the damn ball to Marshawn,” Montana said to Thompson.
The article also points out that, the following year in Santa Clara, Montana and Brady and other legends gathered for the fiftieth Super Bowl. Montana drew cheers. Brady heard boos. (It didn’t help that the place held plenty of Broncos fans at the time.)
A month later, receiver Julian Edelman worked out with Brady in his home gym. “Houston” was written on a whiteboard. The location of the next Super Bowl. The one that, after Brady and the Patriots erased a 28-3 deficit, put him ahead of Montana for good.
Come Sunday, it seems from Thompson’s article that Montana will be rooting for Patrick Mahomes to get his second. So that maybe Mahomes can get his third. And his fourth. And his fifth.
And, ultimately, one more than Brady.