The Montana/Young saga of '91-'92

Originally posted by Dr_Bill_Walsh:

The 10-Year Saga / Timeline (IIRC):

1986 - Montana misses a bunch of games due to back surgery, speculation on whether he is done. Matt Cavanaugh fills in nicely, but Montana makes heroic comeback (ala Jerry Rice in 1997)

1987 - Bill Walsh trades with the TB Bucs to land Steve Young as a backup to Joe. Steve replaces & outperforms Joe late in the NFC Divisional loss to the Vikings, leading to a mini QB controversy that festers in the '88 offseason

1988 - Joe vs Steve debate continues in early part of the season, while the Niners struggle to maintain .500 record. Joe eventually solidifies his starting QB role with a record-breaking renaissance spanning mid-'88 season to end of 1990.

1989-90 - The Joe Montana-led 49ers win a record 18-consecutive ROAD victories on their way to two more Super Bowl titles. They seemingly are destined to appear in and likely win a third consecutive Super Bowl until.....

1991 - Leonard Marshall of the New York Giants knocks out and injures Joe Montana late in the 3rd quarter of the 1990 NFC Championship. Later in the game, due to not wanting to put too much pressure on Young and to run out the clock, the 49ers elect to try and pound the ball, but this backfires when Roger Craig fumbles. Giants kick a FG as time and the "Threepeat" dream with it expire.

1991 - Joe, seemingly recovered from his injuries suffered in January, feels a twinge in his elbow during warmups to a preseason game against Seattle. He eventually has further surgery and is shelved for the 1991 season. Steve Young and Steve Bono lead the 49ers to an erratic, 10-6 season but the team misses the playoffs for the first time since 1982.

1992 - Montana still in recovery and inactive for the early part of the '92 season, then gradually goes to the backup QB role. Steve Young has by now solidified his status as the starting QB, on his way to his 2nd passing title, but as yet still hasn't won over the split fanbase. Montana plays his last action in a 49ers uniform in the season finale vs. the Lions, then watches from the sidelines the entire postseason as the 49ers eventually lose to the Cowboys in the NFC Championship.

1993 - Joe Montana is traded to the Kansas City Chiefs. Steve Young leads the 49ers to another NFC Championship but again loses to Dallas.

1994 - Only ever showdown between Montana-led Chiefs and Young-led 49ers occurs in week 2. Chiefs win the game 24-17, but Steve Young and the 49ers end up having the better season on their way to their 5th Super Bowl title. Steve Young seemingly finally has won over the majority of 49er fans during this season with his performance. Joe Montana plays his last ever NFL game in a wild-card playoff loss to Miami on the last day of 1994.

1995 - Steve Young has a record-breaking Super Bowl performance with 6 TD passes and is named both Super Bowl and NFL MVP. In April, Joe Montana signs a 1-day contract and officially retires from the NFL.......as a 49er.

Man...can you imagine if they had the zone or twitter back then?

"FIRE WALSH/SIEFERT NOW!"


"STEVE YOUNG IS A LOOZER!"


"MONTANA IS WASHED UP DOOD! LET IT GO!"


"YOU GUYZ ARE STOOPID JOE/STEVE JOCK RIDERS! GIVE BONO A CHANCE!"


"THE BONO BOAT OF BOMBASTIC THREAD!"

I was never a Steve Young fan. Joe is the man. Joe is the one that turned this organization around made it what it was. Joe was cool you could count on him to win almost at will. Steve was a scatter brain - a good one mind you but he didnt breed the confidence that Joe did.

Originally posted by overthemiddle:
I was never a Steve Young fan. Joe is the man. Joe is the one that turned this organization around made it what it was. Joe was cool you could count on him to win almost at will. Steve was a scatter brain - a good one mind you but he didnt breed the confidence that Joe did.

Montana is my all time favorite but I've never seen anyone want to succeed more than Young! He played with a hysterical bent...as if he would die if they lost. Had to appreciate that. When he stopped trying to do it all himself the team really took off.

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Originally posted by overthemiddle:
I was never a Steve Young fan. Joe is the man. Joe is the one that turned this organization around made it what it was. Joe was cool you could count on him to win almost at will. Steve was a scatter brain - a good one mind you but he didnt breed the confidence that Joe did.

Montana is my all time favorite but I've never seen anyone want to succeed more than Young! He played with a hysterical bent...as if he would die if they lost. Had to appreciate that. When he stopped trying to do it all himself the team really took off.

Steve was a damn good QB I just never liked him.

I was really torn between Montana and Young because Montana did a lot for this franchise. Yet, a part of me really enjoy watching Young played. Unfortunately, Young losing all those games against Dallas and Packers in the play offs, especially those NFC championships were really devastating. Young was a great QB but he wasn't Montana. Young remind me a lot of Peyton Manning, always seems to choke away in the play offs and finally winning one. For some reason I felt that the tide changed in favor to Dallas when they acquired Haley. He was such a beast and I felt that he'll come back to hunt us.

My cousin on the other hand, to this day haven't forgiven the 49ers for trading Montana. He hated the 49ers ever since that day. Still hate the 49ers today. Those were some AMAZING YEARS. I feel sorry for all those of you who were born too late and have missed out on those years. Hopefully, 49ers will rule again for another decade under the leadership of York, Baalke, and Harbaugh.

Originally posted by Dr_Bill_Walsh:

The 10-Year Saga / Timeline (IIRC):

1986 - Montana misses a bunch of games due to back surgery, speculation on whether he is done. Matt Cavanaugh fills in nicely, but Montana makes heroic comeback (ala Jerry Rice in 1997)

1987 - Bill Walsh trades with the TB Bucs to land Steve Young as a backup to Joe. Steve replaces & outperforms Joe late in the NFC Divisional loss to the Vikings, leading to a mini QB controversy that festers in the '88 offseason

1988 - Joe vs Steve debate continues in early part of the season, while the Niners struggle to maintain .500 record. Joe eventually solidifies his starting QB role with a record-breaking renaissance spanning mid-'88 season to end of 1990.

1989-90 - The Joe Montana-led 49ers win a record 18-consecutive ROAD victories on their way to two more Super Bowl titles. They seemingly are destined to appear in and likely win a third consecutive Super Bowl until.....

1991 - Leonard Marshall of the New York Giants knocks out and injures Joe Montana late in the 3rd quarter of the 1990 NFC Championship. Later in the game, due to not wanting to put too much pressure on Young and to run out the clock, the 49ers elect to try and pound the ball, but this backfires when Roger Craig fumbles. Giants kick a FG as time and the "Threepeat" dream with it expire.

1991 - Joe, seemingly recovered from his injuries suffered in January, feels a twinge in his elbow during warmups to a preseason game against Seattle. He eventually has further surgery and is shelved for the 1991 season. Steve Young and Steve Bono lead the 49ers to an erratic, 10-6 season but the team misses the playoffs for the first time since 1982.

1992 - Montana still in recovery and inactive for the early part of the '92 season, then gradually goes to the backup QB role. Steve Young has by now solidified his status as the starting QB, on his way to his 2nd passing title, but as yet still hasn't won over the split fanbase. Montana plays his last action in a 49ers uniform in the season finale vs. the Lions, then watches from the sidelines the entire postseason as the 49ers eventually lose to the Cowboys in the NFC Championship.

1993 - Joe Montana is traded to the Kansas City Chiefs. Steve Young leads the 49ers to another NFC Championship but again loses to Dallas.

1994 - Only ever showdown between Montana-led Chiefs and Young-led 49ers occurs in week 2. Chiefs win the game 24-17, but Steve Young and the 49ers end up having the better season on their way to their 5th Super Bowl title. Steve Young seemingly finally has won over the majority of 49er fans during this season with his performance. Joe Montana plays his last ever NFL game in a wild-card playoff loss to Miami on the last day of 1994.

1995 - Steve Young has a record-breaking Super Bowl performance with 6 TD passes and is named both Super Bowl and NFL MVP. In April, Joe Montana signs a 1-day contract and officially retires from the NFL.......as a 49er.

It was actually Jeff Kemp who filled in for Montana in 86.

I appreciate Young even more now but back then you were always waiting for him to blow a playoff game. I always thought of him as the best regular season QB this team has ever had but once the playoffs started there was never anyone in the history of the NFL as great as Joe Cool.

Great idea and thread. But I'd like to extent the years from '87-to-'94. Because once Young was a Niner, it was a conversation until he won the SB after the '94 season. Starting the 1995 season, Joe was retired, and Young had the "monkey off his back".

INCREDIBLE story. I honestly don't think I'm being biased here. I think 30 for 30 should do a documentary of it. THEY STILL DON'T TALK TO EACHOTHER!!! And we still debate it!

In the post 49ers-franchise era, it's interesting because Young has embraced his "public-figure"ness as an annalist, as well as the 49ers as his team. I love it when he always has to correct himself after he says "we" instead of the 49ers when talking about the Niners. Joe, on the other hand, slipped into retirement and is rarely seen in public. In a way, I think it adds to his mysteriousness and god-like persona.

Originally posted by overthemiddle:

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Originally posted by overthemiddle:
I was never a Steve Young fan. Joe is the man. Joe is the one that turned this organization around made it what it was. Joe was cool you could count on him to win almost at will. Steve was a scatter brain - a good one mind you but he didnt breed the confidence that Joe did.

Montana is my all time favorite but I've never seen anyone want to succeed more than Young! He played with a hysterical bent...as if he would die if they lost. Had to appreciate that. When he stopped trying to do it all himself the team really took off.

Steve was a damn good QB I just never liked him.

What was it that you didn't like?

I really cant put my finger on it, there was just something about him that I didnt like. Believe me I think he was a great QB second best QB in franchise history.

Originally posted by overthemiddle:
I really cant put my finger on it, there was just something about him that I didnt like. Believe me I think he was a great QB second best QB in franchise history.

Some of the early QBs were pretty good but I won't argue because he won the super bowl. YA would be up there as well. Brodie was a great QB but never could win the big one. I liked Young but never saw him as being close to Montana in QB IQ...but no one was.

SF has an incredible history of QBs and even their lower tier guys are better than many teams best...or am I just biased?

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Originally posted by overthemiddle:
I really cant put my finger on it, there was just something about him that I didnt like. Believe me I think he was a great QB second best QB in franchise history.

Some of the early QBs were pretty good but I won't argue because he won the super bowl. YA would be up there as well. Brodie was a great QB but never could win the big one. I liked Young but never saw him as being close to Montana in QB IQ...but no one was.

SF has an incredible history of QBs and even their lower tier guys are better than many teams best...or am I just biased?

Dont forget Frankie Albert, yes YA was up there and Brodie was excellent also, I think Brodies has kind of been forgotton in niner lore. No your not biased. We were lean in the 70s after Brodie, and we started getting lean after Young even tho Garcia played good ball.

Originally posted by NorthNiner:
Joe has always stated that his biggest disappointment was not being able to compete with Young for the starting job once he was healthy. My memories of that time will always be that we were the luckiest team in the NFL to have Young following the greatest QB of all time. Maybe luck isn't a good word because we had Bill Walsh

Not to mention Steve Bono, who was probably the best 3rd string QB around then! He played well whenever he went in too.

Originally posted by LambdaChi49:

Originally posted by Dr_Bill_Walsh:

The 10-Year Saga / Timeline (IIRC):

1986 - Montana misses a bunch of games due to back surgery, speculation on whether he is done. Matt Cavanaugh fills in nicely, but Montana makes heroic comeback (ala Jerry Rice in 1997)

1987 - Bill Walsh trades with the TB Bucs to land Steve Young as a backup to Joe. Steve replaces & outperforms Joe late in the NFC Divisional loss to the Vikings, leading to a mini QB controversy that festers in the '88 offseason

1988 - Joe vs Steve debate continues in early part of the season, while the Niners struggle to maintain .500 record. Joe eventually solidifies his starting QB role with a record-breaking renaissance spanning mid-'88 season to end of 1990.

1989-90 - The Joe Montana-led 49ers win a record 18-consecutive ROAD victories on their way to two more Super Bowl titles. They seemingly are destined to appear in and likely win a third consecutive Super Bowl until.....

1991 - Leonard Marshall of the New York Giants knocks out and injures Joe Montana late in the 3rd quarter of the 1990 NFC Championship. Later in the game, due to not wanting to put too much pressure on Young and to run out the clock, the 49ers elect to try and pound the ball, but this backfires when Roger Craig fumbles. Giants kick a FG as time and the "Threepeat" dream with it expire.

1991 - Joe, seemingly recovered from his injuries suffered in January, feels a twinge in his elbow during warmups to a preseason game against Seattle. He eventually has further surgery and is shelved for the 1991 season. Steve Young and Steve Bono lead the 49ers to an erratic, 10-6 season but the team misses the playoffs for the first time since 1982.

1992 - Montana still in recovery and inactive for the early part of the '92 season, then gradually goes to the backup QB role. Steve Young has by now solidified his status as the starting QB, on his way to his 2nd passing title, but as yet still hasn't won over the split fanbase. Montana plays his last action in a 49ers uniform in the season finale vs. the Lions, then watches from the sidelines the entire postseason as the 49ers eventually lose to the Cowboys in the NFC Championship.

1993 - Joe Montana is traded to the Kansas City Chiefs. Steve Young leads the 49ers to another NFC Championship but again loses to Dallas.

1994 - Only ever showdown between Montana-led Chiefs and Young-led 49ers occurs in week 2. Chiefs win the game 24-17, but Steve Young and the 49ers end up having the better season on their way to their 5th Super Bowl title. Steve Young seemingly finally has won over the majority of 49er fans during this season with his performance. Joe Montana plays his last ever NFL game in a wild-card playoff loss to Miami on the last day of 1994.

1995 - Steve Young has a record-breaking Super Bowl performance with 6 TD passes and is named both Super Bowl and NFL MVP. In April, Joe Montana signs a 1-day contract and officially retires from the NFL.......as a 49er.

Man...can you imagine if they had the zone or twitter back then?

"FIRE WALSH/SIEFERT NOW!"


"STEVE YOUNG IS A LOOZER!"


"MONTANA IS WASHED UP DOOD! LET IT GO!"


"YOU GUYZ ARE STOOPID JOE/STEVE JOCK RIDERS! GIVE BONO A CHANCE!"


"THE BONO BOAT OF BOMBASTIC THREAD!"

just like all the nate davis chants the last couple years and now colin kaepernick............people with no football knowledge want guys like that playing......please gimme a break.

i was young when Montana was ruling the world and don't remember a lot from that time. i remember all the years with Steve as the head of the snake. Montana was still my fav and Young seemed to always be the guy that lost in thee nfcc games. once he went down that night in arizona, i knew we were in trouble. garcia was pretty good with owens and that was some fun times too. ever since those days its bee a rocky low road of disappointment. hope this year is the turning of the tides so we can bask in the glory again

Montana was 5 years older than Steve and was out the better part of 2 years with an elbow injury, it made perfect sense to trade him. Would have been an interesting poll question if the zone was around then. I did think Steve would get more than one ring as the starter. I wanted Joe traded, but was pulling for him to do well, as long as he wasn't playing us.