Montana feels for McNabb ....
Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 2:59 am
http://www.49erswebzone.com/content/new ... hp?id=4943
Montana feels for McNabb
Admires QB for putting up with T.O.
By LES BOWEN
bowenl@phillynews.com
The quarterback felt woozy as he led his team downfield in the final minutes of the Super Bowl. His voice was failing; he was having a hard time making himself understood in the huddle. He hadn't eaten anything in many hours. Suddenly, he felt as if he would pass out.
"That last drive, it was so loud, it was taking every bit of my voice and energy to call the play in the huddle... I think it was a combination of all of that, the lack of food, screaming at the top of your voice, the excitement of the game - I started to take a snap and everything got fuzzy. It felt like I was under center, like, 20 seconds. But in reality, as I watched it [later on tape], I hesitated only a second or two," he said.
When the quarterback still felt out of sync as he pulled away from center and dropped back to pass, he threw the ball out of bounds, to give himself a chance to regroup. It worked; he was able to calm down and continue. Joe Montana completed the 92-yard drive that won Super Bowl XXIII for the San Francisco 49ers, 20-16. His physical problem became a footnote, a funny story to tell.
Maybe that's the difference between winning the roman-numeraled game and losing it; foibles become anecdotes instead of albatrosses. Just ask another Super Bowl QB whose breathing became an issue on a late-game touchdown drive. Donovan McNabb probably doesn't recount that episode as a funny story.
Montana, unlike McNabb, has four Super Bowl rings, though he wasn't wearing any of them yesterday during a Philadelphia appearance on behalf of a pharmaceutical company, Novartis, part of a tour aimed at increasing awareness of the dangers of high blood pressure.
But also unlike McNabb, Montana said he never had to deal with anything remotely like last season's Terrell Owens debacle.
"The one thing Bill [Walsh] was great about was not only bringing in talent, but bringing in people he thought would get along well together," Montana said. "There might have been one or two small [conflicts], but nothing this size. He'd just move 'em on."
Montana said he thinks that if Owens' career is to continue, he'll have to come to grips with the fact that he will get only so many chances, that the league is bigger than any star's talent.
"The NFL doesn't want anything stepping on that emblem, tarnishing it," Montana said. "They don't waste any time, making examples."
Montana felt for McNabb last season, just as a few years ago Montana felt for one of his 49ers successors, Jeff Garcia, when Garcia became the focal point of T.O.'s dissatisfaction.
"[McNabb] was really good about it. So was Garcia," said Montana,who recalled watching Owens drop "three or four" passes in a game, then criticize Garcia a week later. "I would have just gone right back to the video and said, 'I'm not sure if this was the same guy who was talking or not.' "
Montana never had to worry about being called out by his receivers, even the one many observers consider the greatest ever.
"Jerry Rice never said boo," Montana said. "Every now and then, he'd complain that we weren't getting him the ball. I've never heard of any wide receiver who didn't complain about not getting the ball. They're always open, and they always want the ball. But nothing, ever, like [T.O.]. You could go a whole week sometimes and not hear a word from Jerry."
Now, Montana frequently goes quite a bit longer than a week without hearing from Rice. They remain friendly, but Montana doesn't spend a lot of time around the NFL. His focus is on his four children, two daughters attending their father's alma mater, Notre Dame, and two sons, 16 and 13. Montana kicked off a small furor when he declined to attend last month's Super Bowl XL festivities honoring past MVPs. His boys had two basketball games that weekend. In fact, Montana said he got up at 3 a.m. yesterday to fly from California to Philadelphia, having delayed the journey so he could coach his sons' AAU basketball team Tuesday night.
High blood pressure, which afflicts an estimated one-third of Americans, is an important issue to Montana, who turns 50 in June. He was diagnosed with hypertension in 2002 and now takes two medications to control it. He said he keeps a blood pressure cuff at his bedside, so he can check himself at least once a day. Montana has become much more conscientious about daily cardio workouts, he said, and though he was never really overweight, he pays closer attention to his diet, particularly to salt intake.
"As an athlete, you get sick, you get better, you get hurt, you get better... This is something, it's for the rest of my life," Montana said. "It was a tough adjustment at first - you're thinking about medicine every day. But really, it's not that hard."
RACK Montana . Good luck Bledsoe .
Montana feels for McNabb
Admires QB for putting up with T.O.
By LES BOWEN
bowenl@phillynews.com
The quarterback felt woozy as he led his team downfield in the final minutes of the Super Bowl. His voice was failing; he was having a hard time making himself understood in the huddle. He hadn't eaten anything in many hours. Suddenly, he felt as if he would pass out.
"That last drive, it was so loud, it was taking every bit of my voice and energy to call the play in the huddle... I think it was a combination of all of that, the lack of food, screaming at the top of your voice, the excitement of the game - I started to take a snap and everything got fuzzy. It felt like I was under center, like, 20 seconds. But in reality, as I watched it [later on tape], I hesitated only a second or two," he said.
When the quarterback still felt out of sync as he pulled away from center and dropped back to pass, he threw the ball out of bounds, to give himself a chance to regroup. It worked; he was able to calm down and continue. Joe Montana completed the 92-yard drive that won Super Bowl XXIII for the San Francisco 49ers, 20-16. His physical problem became a footnote, a funny story to tell.
Maybe that's the difference between winning the roman-numeraled game and losing it; foibles become anecdotes instead of albatrosses. Just ask another Super Bowl QB whose breathing became an issue on a late-game touchdown drive. Donovan McNabb probably doesn't recount that episode as a funny story.
Montana, unlike McNabb, has four Super Bowl rings, though he wasn't wearing any of them yesterday during a Philadelphia appearance on behalf of a pharmaceutical company, Novartis, part of a tour aimed at increasing awareness of the dangers of high blood pressure.
But also unlike McNabb, Montana said he never had to deal with anything remotely like last season's Terrell Owens debacle.
"The one thing Bill [Walsh] was great about was not only bringing in talent, but bringing in people he thought would get along well together," Montana said. "There might have been one or two small [conflicts], but nothing this size. He'd just move 'em on."
Montana said he thinks that if Owens' career is to continue, he'll have to come to grips with the fact that he will get only so many chances, that the league is bigger than any star's talent.
"The NFL doesn't want anything stepping on that emblem, tarnishing it," Montana said. "They don't waste any time, making examples."
Montana felt for McNabb last season, just as a few years ago Montana felt for one of his 49ers successors, Jeff Garcia, when Garcia became the focal point of T.O.'s dissatisfaction.
"[McNabb] was really good about it. So was Garcia," said Montana,who recalled watching Owens drop "three or four" passes in a game, then criticize Garcia a week later. "I would have just gone right back to the video and said, 'I'm not sure if this was the same guy who was talking or not.' "
Montana never had to worry about being called out by his receivers, even the one many observers consider the greatest ever.
"Jerry Rice never said boo," Montana said. "Every now and then, he'd complain that we weren't getting him the ball. I've never heard of any wide receiver who didn't complain about not getting the ball. They're always open, and they always want the ball. But nothing, ever, like [T.O.]. You could go a whole week sometimes and not hear a word from Jerry."
Now, Montana frequently goes quite a bit longer than a week without hearing from Rice. They remain friendly, but Montana doesn't spend a lot of time around the NFL. His focus is on his four children, two daughters attending their father's alma mater, Notre Dame, and two sons, 16 and 13. Montana kicked off a small furor when he declined to attend last month's Super Bowl XL festivities honoring past MVPs. His boys had two basketball games that weekend. In fact, Montana said he got up at 3 a.m. yesterday to fly from California to Philadelphia, having delayed the journey so he could coach his sons' AAU basketball team Tuesday night.
High blood pressure, which afflicts an estimated one-third of Americans, is an important issue to Montana, who turns 50 in June. He was diagnosed with hypertension in 2002 and now takes two medications to control it. He said he keeps a blood pressure cuff at his bedside, so he can check himself at least once a day. Montana has become much more conscientious about daily cardio workouts, he said, and though he was never really overweight, he pays closer attention to his diet, particularly to salt intake.
"As an athlete, you get sick, you get better, you get hurt, you get better... This is something, it's for the rest of my life," Montana said. "It was a tough adjustment at first - you're thinking about medicine every day. But really, it's not that hard."
RACK Montana . Good luck Bledsoe .