Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
CANTON, OHIO -ÊJoe Montana Sr. and his wife Teresa took their son to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as have a countless number of families. But unlike others, one day their son would be on the threshold of football's version of immortality.
At 10:30 a.m. today, Joseph Clifford Montana Jr., along with Ronnie Lott, Howie Long, Dan Rooney and Dave Wilcox, will no longer be called future Hall of Fame inductees as they take their rightful and deserving place in Canton.
Professional football has seen over 16,000 different players since its inception in 1920, but only 204 of those were worthy of Hall Of Fame consideration. Perhaps these numbers attributed to Montana's overwhelming emotions when speaking of Canton.
"I didn't even remember going there (as a kid)," said Montana. "It never really crossed my mind (about being inducted). I don't know why. I think it was because it wasn't a tangible thing. It was something I never really dreamt of. I won many games in my backyard, but the Hall of Fame I never really thought of."
The Montana family visit to Canton in the 1960s would have been just another visit had Joe Sr. let Joe Jr. quit his peewee football team.
Montana was switched from quarterback to linebacker the angering Joe to the point of premature retirement. In retrospect, this would be the equivalent of Luciano Pavoratti being told he had nothing more than karaoke singing talent. The elder Montana made Joe heed his advice not to quit, even at the expense of playing a foreign position - linebacker. Little known to the younger Montana, this advice would direct him through a tumultuous career of hills and valleys.
Montana went to Notre Dame as what he called "seventh string."
"You come to Notre Dame thinking you are pretty hot stuff, then you see the depth chart and there are six or seven guys listed ahead of you," said Montana.
Joe earned the label "comeback kid" his sophomore year because of his penchant for bringing his team bach from the imminent jaws of defeat while saving games from the bench. But by the next week, Joe would find his reserved seat on the bench waiting.
It wasn't until the third week of his junior year, two years later, (Montana missed all of 1976 with a shoulder injury) that Montana "earned" the starting job for the remainder of his Notre Dame career. And it literally took some neck breaking to get it.
Notre Dame, sporting a lackluster 1-1 record, traveled to Purdue. Trailing the Boilermakers 24-14 in the third quarter, Montana's frustrations reached a sultry 212 degrees Fahrenheit. Montana saw such household names as Rusty Lisch and Gary Forystek come in and out of the game until the latter broke his neck. Montana thought that this was it, but much to his chagrin, Coach Dave Devine called upon Lisch once again. An interception later and Montana was finally called upon to perform his magic tricks, which he did, winning the game 31-24. Devine now had no choice or those "for sale" signs would be sprouting in his yard once again.
Montana and the Irish went on to win the remainder of their games in 1977 and were voted National Champions.
Montana would need to call upon his childhood lesson of quitting in his senior year at the Cotton Bowl. Trailing 34-12 with Montana suffering from hypothermia in conditions better suited for the Iditarod, Joe and the Irish scored 22 points to cap off a frustrating but rewarding career at Notre Dame.
Next stop, the National Football League, right? Well this would seem to be all in order, but Montana was not greeted with open arms.
Joe was tabbed "nice guy, no arm" by the same Einsteins at the NFL Scouting Combine who rated Jack Thompson as the star of the 1979 draft. Once again, Montana called upon his resources of resiliency. (As a footnote, Thompson was out of the league by 1984, while Montana had already won two Super Bowls.)
The frustrations at Notre Dame help serve Montana's psyche of not quitting, for just as always, his time would come and he would capitalize on it due in part to Montana never losing his self-confidence or fear of failure.
That time did come in 1981, his first full year of starting. Montana guided the San Francisco 49ers to the brink of Super Bowl XVI against the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship Game in a game for the ages.
Trailing 27-21 with 90 yards and less than five minutes remaining, Montana needed a miracle against "America's Team," or at least his father's advice. Montana lobbed a pass into the back of the endzone, which found the hands of Dwight Clark, thus sending the 49ers to the Superbowl. Cowboy Ed "Too Tall" Jones snapped at Montana, "You just beat America's team."
With a never-say-die attitude, Montana shot back, "Now you can watch the Super Bowl on TV with the rest of America."
Millions of American's did tune in to what is still the highest-rated Super Bowl ever.
The rest of Montana's career was filled with many of the same highs and lows. But there was none lower than the career threatening back injury he suffered in 1986.
Doctors secretly feared Montana would be lucky to walk again without pain, much less consider the hard hitting world of football. As fellow teammate and Hall of Fame Inductee Ronnie Lott said, "It was a tough situation, I mean it was just tough (to see him there in the hospital bed)."
Montana rose out of that hospital bed just nine weeks later to put on his usual aerial artistry show, dialing long distance to Jerry Rice three times. Once again, Montana chose not to quit. Had the injury gotten the best of Montana, his career would be considered good, but not Hall-of-Fame Worthy.
Montana soon found himself at a crossroad. After sitting out nearly two full seasons, the 49ers decided on Steve Young to guide them. In classic Montana style, he requaeted a trade in the most dignified fashion plausible. Since Montana talks a great deal about his childhood days, it was no surprise as to the uniform number he chose. With his college number 3 retired, as was the case for his 49er number 16, Joe opted for his peewee number 19. Montana kept alive the child inside even if his skills were not as polished as his days of Camelot by the bay.
The career numbers for Montana suggest a great career. But numbers do not always tell the entire story. Hidden beneath all the records and awards burned a passion spawned from the Montana family backyard and that was carried to his final stop in Canton, Ohio. Montana always believed as long as there was time remaining, no game was out of reach, regardless of the score.
Former Los Angeles Rams quarterback Pat Haden said, "The legacy of Joe Montana leaves behind for all kids and mine is that you never give up, you never give up."
There had been a myriad of NFL quarterbacks to come and go, but not one can match Montana's big game performances. His resume is unrivaled:
National Champion at Notre Dame.
Four-Time Super Bowl Champ.
Three-time Super Bowl MVP.
Two-time NFL MVP.
Five-time NFL passing leader.
Second all-time rated quarterback.
Zero interceptions in four Super Bowls.
As John Madden put it, "at some time you have to say it. Joe Montana is the best quarterback to ever play the game. There have been other great quarterbacks, but Joe made it look so easy."
But perhaps Tina Turner's lyrics better punctuate Madden's words: "you're simply the best. Better than anyone, better than all the rest, better than anyone I have ever met."
Joseph Clifford Montana Jr. was no ordinary Joe. But perhaps he may just have been that if it were not for the words of his father, "You can't quit at life, so you can't quit the team."
Montana didn't, and as they say, "the rest is history" (to be viewed by all at the Pro Football Hall Of Fame in Canton, Ohio).
