Montana Bows Out Thousands Pay Tribute To Super Joe

Lauded by his former coach, Bill Walsh, as “the greatest football player of all time,” quarterback Joe Montana made it official Tuesday at a downtown ceremony attended by more than 20,000 of his fans. He announced his retirement from professional football two months before his 39th birthday because “I felt it was the right time for me.”

“I really and truly thought this day would never come when I’d say that word retirement,” Montana told the crowd, which interrupted him with a loud “Boooooo” when it heard him say “retirement,” once and for all. “It’s like living a dream for me. It started throwing a football through a tire on a swing and then playing in the Super Bowl. My dream, like most dreams, you end up waking up. It’s like a wake-up call for me. It’s time to move on.”

This was Joe Montana Day in San Francisco, a city he captivated during the 1980s with year after year of magical performances and four Super Bowl triumphs with the 49ers. He left two years ago to play for the Kansas City Chiefs.

With his four young children sitting nearby, Montana said his decision to retire after 16 years came down to leaving the game relatively healthy. He underwent back surgery in the mid-‘80s and an elbow problem caused him to miss 31 consecutive games in 1991 and ‘92.

“I’d like to be able to run around with my kids,” Montana said. “There are tragic accidents in the game every year. It was one position I didn’t want to find myself in with my family.”

Montana insisted he was not quitting because his wife, Jennifer, wanted him to. He said his decision never was based on the premise that the Chiefs would not be a Super Bowl contender this year, or that Marty Schottenheimer worked the team too hard. And he insisted that his left knee, missing all of its outside cartilage, still was strong enough.

Asked if he might consider a comeback, Montana said: “At this point, I don’t see it. Michael Jordan did, didn’t he? Just kidding, just kidding. I’m not leaving the door open.”

In news conferences before and after his appearance in a plaza filled with fans chanting his name and carrying signs, Montana - as usual - never lost his composure. And now, Montana said he has other plans. He is listening to the television networks about doing some football work. He is talking with the NFL about getting involved in projects he wasn’t quite ready to announce. He will play golf. He will continue to learn how to fly an airplane. He’s going to get involved in IndyCar racing - as an investor, not as a driver. He even may coach his two boys and two girls in their sports, as his father did for him when he was growing up in Monongahela, Pa. His parents, Joe Sr. and Theresa, attended.

“The man who pushed that tire, the mother who cooked all those meals no matter when I got home,” he said of his parents. “Two people who sacrificed more of their lives than I can ever thank them for.”