Joe Montana was born on June 11, 1956 in New Eagle, Pennsylvania. It was evident early on that Montana was going to be a great football player thanks to his athletic prowess as well as his above average intelligence. And standing at 6 foot 2 inches and weighing 200 pounds, Montana also had the perfect body for a top of the line quarterback.
Montana played his high school football at Ringgold High School in the Pittsburgh Steel Valley. In high school Montana was a standout athlete not only on the football field, but also in the games of baseball and basketball. He started two years for the Ringgold football team, and after his senior season he was named to the Parade All American Team.
After high school Montana decided to take his football game to the University of Notre Dame despite receiving several basketball scholarship offers. Although Montana put together a solid career at Notre Dame, he did not put up big enough numbers to make everybody notice. But one thing that he did do during his college career is establish himself as one of the greatest come from behind quarterbacks of all time.
Montana was selected by the San Francisco 49ers with the 82nd overall pick in the 1979 NFL Draft. Although he did not play a lot his rookie season, by the end of his second year he had become the full time starting quarterback. In 1981 Montana led his team to the first of four Super Bowl victories. In all but one of these Super Bowl wins he was named the Most Valuable Player of the game. For his career Montana passed for 35,124 yards. He also was named to the Pro Bowl team eight times.
It is safe to say that Joe Montana will always be known as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.
