Posts tagged JoeMontana at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

During his senior season at Concord De La Salle High School last fall, quarterback Nate Montana didn't exactly set the world on fire. He was the third-stringer, and he finished the season 12-of-19 for 166 yards and one touchdown passing, plus 33 yards on 17 carries running.

But when your dad is Joe Montana, maybe the greatest quarterback ever to play the game, people look at you and see potential. So 30 years after Joe Montana's senior season at Notre Dame, Nate Montana is following in his footsteps and will be a walk-on for the Fighting Irish. Joe says there was no pressure on his end:

"In the end I told him, 'Look, don't go to school for me, don't go to school for mom, you got to do what you got to do and go to the school you'll be happiest at if football doesn't work out,'" Joe Montana says, "and he chose Notre Dame."

Although some Notre Dame fans will be excited just to see the name "Montana" on the roster, it's certainly not realistic to think that Nate can be the kind of player his father was, and it's probably not even realistic to think Nate will play in anything more than mop-up duty. Then again, Joe Montana came to South Bend as the seventh-string quarterback. Things turned out OK for him.

Kim Moses, the ex-wife of Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana, recently auctioned off several personal possessions that once belonged to him, and now things like their marriage certificate; a letter he wrote her on a Ziggy card; an "I Love You" note; and a letter Montana wrote to Moses's parents detailing his first year playing for Notre Dame are available for everyone's perusal on The Smoking Gun.

Also on The Smoking Gun: Montana's lawsuit against Moses over the auction:

Montana, 51, claims that the sale of the assorted items--which were auctioned last weekend by a Dallas, Texas firm--violated his copyright and privacy rights. In a U.S. District Court complaint, Montana names Kim Moses, his first wife, and Heritage Auction as defendants.

Montana has been a private person since his retirement, and it's understandable that he's mad that his ex made a nice chunk of change from memorabilia collectors. But all of those possessions belonged to her, which is why, unless there's something specifically in their divorce decree prohibiting such sales, he's likely to lose this case.

There are plenty of amazing things about "The Catch." For starters, anybody remember that Joe Montana had three interceptions against Dallas in the 1981 NFC Championship game (the team had six on the day)? Also, the 49ers started that last fateful drive on their own 10-yard line. How do three Dallas defenders not get to Montana on the touchdown pass to Dwight Clark? Or how does Everson Walls miss breaking up the play by this much?

Twenty-six years later and it's still one of the greatest plays, well, ever. And as CBSSports.com's Clark Judge points out, the Giants' David Tyree is this year's Dwight Clark. And that's a lifetime deal, apparently.

"I'm still asked to do appearances and autograph shows because of one play that happened 26 years ago," Clark said. "It definitely changes everything. There were 505 other catches in there, but he's going to be forever reminded of that catch and its importance to winning the game. Something like that stands on its own for years."

Tyree's grab is arguably one of the most clutch plays in Super Bowl history. I don't know if it's more impressive than Clark's catch -- it went for six to give San Francisco a one-point lead with 51 seconds on the clock -- but ultimately, the results were the same: the Lombardi Trophy, which I think is the point.

Here is one of Diet Pepsi's most famous commercials: Dolphins QB Dan Marino and Niners QB Joe Montana getting their next generation on. This 1985 spot was made to look as if it happened right after Super Bowl XIX ... where Montana's Niners beat Marino's Dolphins, 38-16. Montana buys the Diet Pepsis this year, with Marino promising to buy next year.

Marino never got back to the Super Bowl. Montana won two more.

The amazing this is how young Marino looked back then; like a young David Hasselhoff.

For some more Marino Magic, Dan knows when to say when.

If things keep up, Mike Nolan might have to pull Joe Montana off of the hot grill and put him on the depth chart somewhere. Trent Dilfer joined Alex Smith in the 49ers infirmary, suffering a "head injury" (read: concussion), shortly before halftime, leaving it up to Shaun Hill to mop up the mess Dilfer created.

When he wasn't letting Kevin Williams take one of his passes to the house, The Dilf was being generally ineffective. He led the 49ers to just five scattered first downs and only threw for 45 yards on 19 attempts. Meanwhile, every Viking not named Adrian Peterson got involved with the efficient offense. Peterson himself had just three yards on 14 carries. In fact, he was dominated by fellow rookie phenom Patrick Willis, who posted four tackles on Peterson alone.

By the way, you remember Chester Taylor? He did run for 1,200 yards last year, right? Yeah, he didn't just turn into a crappy running back the day the Vikes drafted Peterson. When your backup running back can roll of 84-yard touchdown runs and 101 yards on eight carries, you're in pretty good shape. That, dare I say, jaunt made it a 27-0 game by half.

But 49ers fans got to see the backup they've been waiting for in Hill, and he wasn't so bad. Granted, the Vikings' pass defense is nothing to cower at, but Hill did go 22-for-28 for 181 yards and a touchdown in one half of work. I think we can forgive his one interception and call it a good day, considering that these were the first passes thrown in the entirety of his six-year career. I mean, he got the team in the end zone. That automatically makes him the best quarterback on the roster.

Joe Montana is unimpressed with your quarterbacks, National Football Leauge. Actually, that's not exactly true; Montana, like the rest of us, is slack-jawed watching Tom Brady rip through the league. But after learning Vinny Testaverde wasn't dead, and was currently employed by an NFL team as a starting quarterback, the Hall of Famer had some thoughts on the dearth of talent at the position.

"You're seeing a lot of things change the position because a lot of those guys in college aren't running typical pro-type offenses," Montana said. "They're spreading things out in the shotgun, and ... that doesn't translate as well to the next level.

I tell my boys, the first thing I have to do is train you to hand off, because this is not a handoff," he said, imitating the quarterback riding the ball in a running back's hands deep in the backfield. "All you're reading is from tackle to tackle, and half the time you don't even look (downfield). They're limited in their passing."

Hmm. Maybe Montana can work with Rex Grossman on improving the handoffs, because he definitely got screwed out of that lesson in college (Thanks, Steve Spurrier).

It doesn't matter who Notre Dame starts at quarterback this season. It can be Jimmy Clausen, Demetrius Jones or Evan Sharpley, in the end it won't matter.

The Irish could bring back Joe Montana, Jerome Bettis, and Tim Brown, and they still won't win many games this season.

Why?

Because their offensive line sucks. Bad. Trust me, I played on a bad offensive line in high school, so I know what they look like, and Notre Dame's line is bad. They were killed by Georgia Tech in the home opener, and they got mauled by the Nittany Lions this last Saturday.

Penn State sacked Jimmy Clausen six times on Saturday, and the Irish didn't gain a single yard on 26 carries. This coming off a performance against Georgia Tech in which the Irish managed -8 yards on 41 carries. That's 65 carries for -8 yards. Or if you prefer averages, that's -.12 yards a carry.

Did I mention the numerous false starts and holding penalties? How about the fact the Irish are yet to score an offensive touchdown this season?

When it comes to first-overall picks, specifically franchise quarterbacks, patience isn't a virtue most fans hold. But Alex Smith is getting ready to show 49ers Nation that good things come to those who wait.

After a less than successful start to his career (a 1-11 TD-INT ratio), Smith showed signs of improvement last season in his second year. Big things are expected of the 49ers this season, most of which belies the optimism surrounding Smith's progression, and so far the trajectory is still upwards. Last night's Monday Night Football preseason game against the Broncos was the first in the newly-renamed Bill Walsh Field, and as the San Jose Mercury News' Tim Kawakami notes, Smith is beginning to do its namesake proud.

It wasn't Joe Montana. It wasn't Steve Young. It was just a dumb exhibition in August, against a Denver defense that wasn't doing anything tricky. But this was the first game played on Bill Walsh Field, and, in the short time Smith was out there, he looked like the right guy at the right place, and he looked like he finally was realizing that himself.

Smith finished the game 4-for-5 for 58 yards, hooking up with Arnaz Battle for a 26-yard gain that landed the 49ers on the Denver one-yard line, setting up a touchdown. More importantly, he took the 49ers on two drives, both of which produced points. Smith has seen the field better this year, he's been delivering with poise and efficiency -- two things Walsh stressed.

The 49ers' success doesn't really rely on Smith -- the team proved last year it could ride the legs of Frank Gore. But a breakthrough season for the quarterback could be the difference between the 49ers being a fringe playoff team and a division champion.

This has been quite the whirlwind week for Barry Bonds. Not that we'd expect anything less from potentially the most controversial figure in all of sports, but this is taking it to new heights. First, Bonds got into a war of words with Bob Costas over BALCO chemist Patrick Arnold's accusations that Bonds and Gary Sheffield took performance-enhancers. Luckily for Barry, the negativity of those allegations were offset by the compliments he received from Gary Sheffield who called him the best player ever, and Joe Montana, who recorded a video that showed support of Barry. Now we have come to learn that another prominent figure in sports has also shown his support for Barry Bonds after Barry belted career home run No. 754 on Friday night. It was none other than Michael Jordan:

When he jogged out to left field, a video message was played on the scoreboard from Michael Jordan, the National Basketball Association star who has six rings playing for the Chicago Bulls. Jordan congratulated Bonds for his accomplishments.

"Hey, Barry, it's Michael Jordan," he said. "I just want to congratulate you on your historic event. I'm very happy for you. Ever since the first day I saw you in the batting cage, you've been working towards this for a long period of time. So I want to wish you and [wife] Elizabeth and that beautiful girl of yours congratulations. I'm very happy for you."

Barry's got friends ... in high places. Now, if they've already shown Joe Montana and Michael Jordan -- and it doesn't get much bigger than Joe Montana and Michael Jordan when it comes to sports -- it makes me wonder. What could they possibly have in store for 755 and 756???? A message from Babe Ruth? Satchel Paige? Roy Hobbs? How the heck can you top Montana and MJ?

Previously at FanHouse:
Joe Montana Supports Barry Bonds
Barry Bonds Says Bob Costas Practices 'Irresponsible Journalism'
BALCO Chemist Says Barry Bonds and Gary Sheffield Took Performance-Enhancers
Gary Sheffield: Bonds Is Best Player Ever
Barry Bonds News
Home Run Chase

When luck's got you down. When it feels like everyone in the free world is against you (except for those in San Francisco, natch). And, when all hope is lost, don't fret. He will appear like a vision on the center field video screen. It's Joe Montana, there to comfort you, Barry Bonds.

"Hey Barry, Joe Montana here," said the football Hall of Famer, shown on the ballpark's large video screen in centerfield. "Congratulations on a great career, and good luck on the road to history. And remember, don't just break that record. Give 'em a number that no one will reach."

Bonds, standing in leftfield for the start of the first inning, applauded with his glove. The Giants greatly hope there'll be more reason to celebrate by the end of this week, although they're not sharing every last detail of their plans.

Rumor has it Bob Costas came on the screen in the sixth inning to lend his support as well, but because he's a midget, you could only hear him. Cameras can only shoot straight ahead, don't you know that?

{Via the Biz of Baseball.}