Don’t Believe The Hype: Montana Not Greatest
Unlike old soldiers, old quarterbacks just don’t fade away. At least Joe Montana won’t.
His retirement announcement will be a two-day, two-city affair Tuesday and Wednesday in San Francisco and Kansas City, Mo.
That should get Montana two days of coverage on ESPN’s “SportsCenter,” which is appropriate because his place in history is that he was the first great quarterback of the “SportsCenter” era.
Just as Johnny Unitas eclipsed Sammy Baugh and Otto Graham because he was the first great quarterback of the TV era, Montana played on center stage when sports began to be hyped on cable TV.
It has been said so often that he was the greatest quarterback of all time that it’s virtually accepted as fact. It’s now forgotten that he lost first-round playoff games in 1985, ‘86 and ‘87 by 17-3, 49-3 and 36-24 scores and was benched for Steve Young in the second half of the third one.
It has been forgotten he was benched at times by Bill Walsh early in the 1988 season, when the 49ers struggled to a 6-5 start. They then ran the table to win the Super Bowl.
The following year, Montana got his fourth Super Bowl title with a 17-2 record. In the 1990 season, the 49ers were 15-2 in the NFC title game when Leonard Marshall knocked Montana out late in the game.
He then sat out most of the next two years with injuries, but Montana’s mystique was still larger than life. Kansas City traded for him in 1993, thinking he could take the Chiefs to the Super Bowl at 37. Montana, though, didn’t have the right supporting cast and was aging. He lost in the playoffs the past two years and is now ready to hang it up.
He goes out ranked with the other top quarterbacks of all time.
It’s not really possible, though, to rank any of them No. 1. It’s easy to forget, for example, that Graham played in 10 straight title games from 1946-55, winning seven. After he retired, the Browns slipped from 9-2-1 to 5-7 in 1956.
ESPN/NFL draft
The first day of the NFL draft has been shifted from Sunday to Saturday because ESPN is committed to a NASCAR race Sunday and wants to make sure that Mel Kiper has a chance to comment on the Indianapolis Colts’ first selection. The first two rounds are Saturday, the final five Sunday.
Raiders change offense
The Raiders are going to a nohuddle offense. New coach Mike White feels Jeff Hostetler can handle it, and hopes his fast, young receivers can intimidate the opposition by not giving them time to substitute.