Lunch With Joe Montana

My uncle's buddy got him two tickets for lunch with Joe Montana. He took his daughter (my cousin) and she described the highlights on her blog, which I'll provide for you.

blog: http://notimeoutsremaining.blogspot.ca/2012/12/lunch-with-joe.html

The luncheon was at RAO's at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. Local radio personalities, Juicy and Spence, met all 20 diners and explained the rules. One autograph on a ball, one picture with Joe.

They sat at one table and shared a meal - family style. Joe Montana talked the whole time. He answered questions, held nothing back, even talked about his kids. Some highlights:

- My uncle asked him what he though of our current quarterback controversy. He said he doesn't know what Harbaugh is thinking - that Alex Smith should have come back in to play until he lost the starting position fairly, and that "the new kid" is a running qb and they don't take teams very far.

- My uncle asked him about a holding call in the Niners vs. Giants playoff game that cost us the game, and Joe Montana referenced a pass interference call from a couple plays before, which he thought had more of an effect.

- He's still buddies with "Ronnie" and talks of him fondly.

- Someone asked him about Charles Haley and T.O. and he was totally candid about both those guys. He said Charles Haley was on meds and depending if he took them that day, Joe Montana would decide whether or not to get on the same bus. As for T.O., Joe said that if he was Jeff Garcia, he would have dragged his ass into the film room and showed him tape of every pass that he dropped.

- My uncle asked him what he thought of our failed three-peat, and he said something to the effect of, "Look, with the guys we had, I could have stayed and won 2 more. The guy replaced me and won 1." Never says Steve Young's name. Totally awkward in a room full of Niners fans.

(My cousin's conclusion)
Lunch with Joe Montana was totally what I thought it would be like. He's nice and friendly, loves football, and my dad had a total blast. I think he's still on Cloud 9 and won't be coming down for a while. As for me, well it's probably been one of the coolest days of my whole entire life.

That's pretty cool, thanks for sharing. It's nice to hear his thoughts on the whole QB controversy. I agree with Joe. Throwing Alex under the bus for the likes of Kaepernick will probably not result in a trip to the Superbowl. We'll probably lose the 2nd seed, which means we'll be playing in the 1st round.

As much as i loved steve young i agree with joe. We would have won more superbowls if he stayed.whatever it is that makes qbs great joe montana had boat loads of it. Had he and coach stayed we would have 8 rings i think.

thanks for sharing dude! it was great stuff.

Did Lott and Montana have a spat big enough to create tensions that would last years later or what? I know team mates get into every now and then but its usually over there and then, and during those SB years it wouldnt have meant much.

Originally posted by nevadalove9ers2:
As much as i loved steve young i agree with joe. We would have won more superbowls if he stayed.whatever it is that makes qbs great joe montana had boat loads of it. Had he and coach stayed we would have 8 rings i think.

Totally agree with you on this. I still hate the way things ended for Joe with the 9ers....... Haley on meds!!! That explains why he went to Dallas......

Interesting take from a guy who got replaced by a running quarterback after being hurt.

Originally posted by USArmyParatrooper:
Interesting take from a guy who got replaced by a running quarterback after being hurt.

Yeah but that take is from one of the" Best Ever" to play the postion. His being replace was a completely different situation, it was more a business move. Then todays situation over QB who some feel has less talent then the other... I loved Steve Young ,,But he was no Joe and if the niners would of kept Joe as QB we would of had more SB rings. We can't say that about any of our present day QB's running or not.

Very cool. Insights were very telling. Who's cooler than Joe?

I LOVE Joe but he is letting his pride/arrogance cloud his judgement if he really believes that it was Steve who held us back. In my opinion we would have one more Lombardi if we had pulled the trigger sooner. But thanks for the great memories Joe.

Originally posted by goodthings19:
I LOVE Joe but he is letting his pride/arrogance cloud his judgement if he really believes that it was Steve who held us back. In my opinion we would have one more Lombardi if we had pulled the trigger sooner. But thanks for the great memories Joe.

This. Steve, like Joe, was one of the best quarterbacks in his error. There's a reason Steve was the league passing leader multiple times. The guy even retired with the best QB rating ever in the history of the league (at the time). Fact of the matter, even though some of those defenses in the 90s were pretty damn good, it takes a whole team effort to win Super Bowls. For some reason in those years, Green Bay had our number.

There's a reason why the 1984 and 1988 49ers teams are considered some of the best of all time, if not the best. The 1994 team, along with the other mid-90's teams were pretty damn good, but no where near all-time greats like those 80's teams Joe was on.

Originally posted by goodthings19:

I LOVE Joe but he is letting his pride/arrogance cloud his judgement if he really believes that it was Steve who held us back. In my opinion we would have one more Lombardi if we had pulled the trigger sooner. But thanks for the great memories Joe.

How the hell would they have won more if they pulled the trigger earlier? Young came in and the niners won in 88 and 89. Montana was hurt in the NFC championship game and didn't play again until that Detroit game. What year would they have won one more?

Originally posted by JoseCortez:
How the hell would they have won more if they pulled the trigger earlier? Young came in and the niners won in 88 and 89. Montana was hurt in the NFC championship game and didn't play again until that Detroit game. What year would they have won one more?

1993, and then probably 1994.

Originally posted by JeuSF49:

Originally posted by JoseCortez:

How the hell would they have won more if they pulled the trigger earlier? Young came in and the niners won in 88 and 89. Montana was hurt in the NFC championship game and didn't play again until that Detroit game. What year would they have won one more?

1993, and then probably 1994.

joe was gone already. Makes no sense.

Originally posted by ElDannMann:

Originally posted by goodthings19:
I LOVE Joe but he is letting his pride/arrogance cloud his judgement if he really believes that it was Steve who held us back. In my opinion we would have one more Lombardi if we had pulled the trigger sooner. But thanks for the great memories Joe.

This. Steve, like Joe, was one of the best quarterbacks in his error. There's a reason Steve was the league passing leader multiple times. The guy even retired with the best QB rating ever in the history of the league (at the time). Fact of the matter, even though some of those defenses in the 90s were pretty damn good, it takes a whole team effort to win Super Bowls. For some reason in those years, Green Bay had our number.

There's a reason why the 1984 and 1988 49ers teams are considered some of the best of all time, if not the best. The 1994 team, along with the other mid-90's teams were pretty damn good, but no where near all-time greats like those 80's teams Joe was on.

On an average our defensive rankings were higher the years Montana started compared to Young, I went through it a while back. I enjoyed watching Steve play more than Joe, and I have been a fan for 40 years. (Wow, saying 40 years makes me feel old, I am only 51)

Too young to appreciate Montana and despite all evidence and logic to the contrary, I prefer Steve Young.

Montana taking that jab by not even acknowledging Young's name only confirms that he's still pissy about the whole thing and smug "I would have won 2 more". Get over it Joe, you won 4 friggin Super Bowls.