Joe Montana NFL career reflections and John Candy story, Digi Mart USA News (Boston): Joe Montana says he would likely have earned more money had he played in today’s NFL, though his career would have been shaped differently in one respect. The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, a four-time Super Bowl winner and two-time MVP, spoke with the Boston Globe while in Boston last week on behalf of Guinness.
Montana, now 70, said he remains in good shape and spends most of his free time being active and watching football with his wife, Jennifer, their children and grandchildren. He said his family prefers doing things together and usually gets together on Monday or Thursday nights, since all of their children live near them in San Francisco.
Montana remains a fan of the 49ers and the NFL. He sees one major difference between the league today and during his playing career from 1979 to 1994: the many safety rules that protect quarterbacks, especially the penalty for landing on a quarterback with full body weight.
Montana’s later years were hampered by back, knee and elbow injuries.
“I won’t say it’s like seven-on-seven for a quarterback because it’s not quite at that level,” he said. He described how quarterbacks once expected to be driven into the ground by defenders and said that protection now changes how a quarterback thinks and plays.
“The quarterback can take a hit,” he said. “Just don’t let him compress him in the ground.
That’s where guys get hurt.”
Montana also discussed his draft position. In his new book “The Game,” longtime NFL writer Peter King wrote that in 1979 49ers coach Bill Walsh had been interested in Morehead State quarterback Phil Simms.
The Giants selected Simms with the No. 7 pick, and the 49ers, without a first-round selection, took Montana in the third round.
Montana said he had no disappointment about his draft position. “I was happy,” he said.
“I was going to a great city, a great team, with a great opportunity with Bill Walsh coming in.” He said getting to the NFL was a dream in itself.
Finally, Montana was asked about the widely told story involving actor John Candy during Super Bowl XXIII against the Cincinnati Bengals. According to the story, with the 49ers driving for the winning touchdown in the closing minutes, Montana calmly pointed out Candy in the stands.
Montana said he had met Candy years earlier when Candy was an owner of the Toronto Argonauts and had been trying to recruit Montana. He said he was really pointing out Candy for teammate Harris Barton, who was excited to see celebrities during Super Bowl week, and that the team seemed to hear it as well.
