USA Today came out with their 30th anniversary high school football team. It was based upon the players as high school players and not as college or pro.

 

Read this comment from Coach Beatty:

 

"Quarterbacking is so unpredictable," said Trinity (Louisville, Ky.) coach Bob Beatty. "In many cases, it depends on who surrounds you. In anybody else's system, (Joe) Montana is probably a below-average quarterback, but you start surrounding him with people like Brent Jones and Jerry Rice and you see what he can do."

 

Future success at QB proves tough to predict

 

I was good until he got to Joe Montana. What system was Joe going to have to be in in order for him to ever be "below-average?"

That's awesome. I feel like my 'Montana is overrated' rant just gained some credibility.

USA Today came out with their 30th anniversary high school football team. It was based upon the players as high school players and not as college or pro.

 

Read this comment from Coach Beatty:

 

"Quarterbacking is so unpredictable," said Trinity (Louisville, Ky.) coach Bob Beatty. "In many cases, it depends on who surrounds you. In anybody else's system, (Joe) Montana is probably a below-average quarterback, but you start surrounding him with people like Brent Jones and Jerry Rice and you see what he can do."

 

Future success at QB proves tough to predict

 

I was good until he got to Joe Montana. What system was Joe going to have to be in in order for him to ever be "below-average?"

 

Heck, if you take that stance, then you could say that Jerry Rice was good because he had Joe Montana throwing to him. Maybe Joe made Jerry! Just being sarcastic, but that really has no merit. I know what he's trying to say, but maybe use Trent Dilfer instead of Montana as your example!

USA Today came out with their 30th anniversary high school football team. It was based upon the players as high school players and not as college or pro.

 

Read this comment from Coach Beatty:

 

"Quarterbacking is so unpredictable," said Trinity (Louisville, Ky.) coach Bob Beatty. "In many cases, it depends on who surrounds you. In anybody else's system, (Joe) Montana is probably a below-average quarterback, but you start surrounding him with people like Brent Jones and Jerry Rice and you see what he can do."

 

Future success at QB proves tough to predict

 

I was good until he got to Joe Montana. What system was Joe going to have to be in in order for him to ever be "below-average?"

 

Maybe Notre Dame 1978? They did have the dramatic win at the Cotton Bowl but they lost to: Missouri (3-0), Michigan (28-14) and USC (27-25). He had 10 TD's throwing that season and 9 interceptions.

 

1978 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football Statistics and Results | Totalfootballstats.com

 

Even the year of the "National Championship" the Irish and Joe lost to Ole Miss and thumped USC as their only marquee win till the Cotton Bowl vs. Texas. (1977)

 

He threw for 11 TD's and 8 interceptions that season.

 

1977 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football Statistics and Results | Totalfootballstats.com

 

So I guess we could say that Dan Devine's system might not have let him shine as well.

Heck, if you take that stance, then you could say that Jerry Rice was good because he had Joe Montana throwing to him. Maybe Joe made Jerry! Just being sarcastic, but that really has no merit. I know what he's trying to say, but maybe use Trent Dilfer instead of Montana as your example!

 

 

I have taken that stance. How good was Jerry without Montana and Young throwing to him? They all benefitted from one another.

Heck, I just think it's cool as all get out that a Kentucky high school coach was contacted by USA Today for the quote.

Heck, I just think it's cool as all get out that a Kentucky high school coach was contacted by USA Today for the quote.

 

I did, too, until he said without Brent Jones Joe might have been a below-average QB.

I think he was just trying to make a point by using the rhetorical device of exaggeration.

He said Joe Montegna.

For what it's worth, I don't think that Montana is even the best QB in 49ers' history.

For what it's worth, I don't think that Montana is even the best QB in 49ers' history.

 

Big Steve DeBerg fan, are ya?

Big Steve DeBerg fan, are ya?

 

I figured it was John Brodie.

I figured it was John Brodie.

 

Jim Druckenmiller.

Jim Druckenmiller.

 

Had he said Druckenmiller I might be able to look past the idiocy of the comment.

We're off topic with the point Betty was trying to make, but here's my take anyway. I disagree that Montana was "below average", but it could be argued that he was. As could be done with a lot of professional athletes. Some athletes are just put in the right system to allow them to succeed. Joe Montana even seems to agree that he as successful due to Bill Walsh's system, crediting 70% of his success to the system he was placed in.

 

Montana once credited "seventy percent" of his success in football to the Walsh-style offense. "The system gives quarterbacks a lot more options, a lot of places to put the ball," he explained. "And when there's a blitz, it's a lot easier to overcome, probably, than in any other system."

 

Also, apparently many NFL scouts were skeptical of Montana's ability to fit in the NFL.

 

Pro scouts, however, were still skeptical. They questioned Montana's arm strength and his overall durability. As a result he wasn't selected until the third round of the 1979 National Football League draft. Three quarterbacks, Jack Thompson, Phil Simms, and Steve Fuller were selected before him.

 

Montana was, in my mind, as well as many others, one of the best quarterbacks to play the game. Was that because of his "above average" ability? Or, was that because of the offense he was placed in and the people that he was surrounded by? Or, even more, was it a product of his ability and the people that were placed around him? I venture to say it was the later, Montana was a great athlete, a smart football player, and he was surrounded by many other great athletes and smart players with a very intellect coach that put him in a position to be great.

 

I think Bill Walsh would have disagreed with Beatty's assessment that Joe Montana was a "below average" quarterback.

 

"The minute I saw Joe move, there was no question in my mind that he was the best I'd seen," former 49ers head coach Bill Walsh said referring to Montana's pre-draft workout.

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Edited January 16, 201313 yr by Ram