Joe Montana gets traded to the Chiefs and leads them to the AFC Championship game - 1993
This came close to being the greatest sports moment of my life. All my loyal readers will know how loyal I can be as a fan, especially when it comes to any sports "man-crush" I may have. Joe Montana represents the ultimate sports "man-crush" in my sports life. Peyton Manning is closely approaching that level, but that is another topic for another time.
Montana exuded excellence throughout his career. The only good thing to come out of Notre Dame, Montana won a National Championship in his Junior season in 1977. Two years later, the San Francisco 49ers selected Montana with the 82nd overall pick in the third round. Montana never had elite arm strength and wasn't necessarily the most mobile or athletic quarterback. These facts did not help Montana come draft time and the 49ers picked him up hoping for the best knowing that his accuracy could lead to good things in the future. They were right.
Paired with the upstart coach Bill Walsh and his "west coast" offense that emphasized accuracy over arm strength, Montana thrived. Becoming the starter in the 1981 season Montana led the 49ers to their (at the time) franchise best 13-3 record and a trip to the 1981 NFC Championship game, which was where Montana truly arrived as a force in the NFL.
Trailing "America's team" the Dallas Cowboys 27-21, Montana led his team down the field and scored a touchdown with less than a minute to go. On the Cowboys 6-yard line Montana was running out of options, scrambling to his right when he slung the ball to the back of the end zone where Dwight Clark made a leaping catch for what would eventually be known as "The Catch" and would go down as one of the greatest plays in NFL history. The 49ers would go on to win the Super Bowl, Montana would be MVP and he had arrived. He would go on to win 3 more super bowls with the 49ers and 2 more super bowl MVPs. Along the way Montana racked up enough accolades to make him one of the most decorated QBs in NFL history.
With future HOF-er Steve Young waiting in the wings, the 49ers decided to trade Joe Montana and the most willing suitor for his talents was the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs traded a first round pick for Montana's services and with the team they had assembled around him, the Chiefs were primed for a Super Bowl run for the first time since the late '60's.
Montana came in and took KC by storm. Rarely does an entire fan base embrace a sports figure like the Kansas City Chiefs fans embraced 'Joe Cool.' The embrace was well deserved. Montana came in and made the pro bowl in his first season and led the Chiefs to the playoffs. Playoffs had become pretty standard under Marty Schottencheimer, but this was different, with Montana and free agent signing Marcus Allen on board the Chiefs were a scary team in the playoffs. Montana led the Chiefs to victory in overtime against the Pittsburgh Steelers and then dug the team out of a hole to beat the Houston Oilers the next week. The Chiefs had reached the AFC Championship game for the first time under Schottneheimer, we were one game away from the Super Bowl!!!
Unfortunately, Montana and the Chiefs fell short as they came up against the buzzsaw that was the early '90's Buffalo Bills. The Bills handily defeated the Chiefs and moved on to their fourth straight Super Bowl appearance (side note: can we all just step back and think about the early '90's Bills for a second. Only one other team had ever made it to three straight Super Bowls and they made it to FOUR STRAIGHT. Oh yeah, they didn't win a SINGLE ONE. Is that even possible? I know it doesn't work out like this but if you assume you have a 50/50 chance of winning the game by sheer dumb luck they should have won one and couldn't even do it. To put it in pespective, imagine the pointy eared elvish outrage that would have ocurred if no Lord of the Rings movie would have won best picture or how many Acadamy members would've woken up with horses heads in their beds if no Godfather movie won best picture. This is how Bills fans felt. Sad story to be a Bills fan at this time).
Why this made the list:
I was only a little tyke at the time this moment ocurred but I remember it very clearly. I had a Joe Montana 49ers jersey and I had his Starting Lineup figure that was my favorite toy growing up. When my parents heard the news about Joe Cool they knew I would be happy and I still remember when I was told. I was playing with my Montana starting lineup figure in my living room when my dad strolled in and told me the news. I was speechless. This was possibly the greatest thing that could happen to my young sports life at the time. I was a Montana fan regardless and now I could root for him and my own team AT THE SAME TIME!!!! This was strictly awesome.
Montana brought a sense of accomplishment and an aura to KC that I had never felt in my short years on this Earth. EVERYONE was excited about this, we went to his house on Halloween, he quickly climbed to the top of everyone's list of favorite Kansas City athletes. If you go to a Chiefs game today you still see a good amount of Joe Cool jerseys floating around, few players around can say that.
The Chiefs have not won a playoff game since Montana was the quarterback and the way things look now, who knows when it will happen again. This was a monumental moment in my life, my favorite player came to the Chiefs and did what everyone thought he would, take us to heights we had not been to in years. Unfortunately, he fell short of the ultimate goal but this franchise has not been the same since. Perhaps Matt Cassel will eventually be the one to make the Chiefs the team I have always wanted them to be, only time will tell. Until then, the only team I can look back on with extremely fond memories is this one...thanks Joe. That is why this made the list.
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