San Francisco 49ers And The Montana Dynasty
Any review of professional football dynasties throughout history would be incomplete without mentioning the great San Francisco 49ers dynasty that existed over the course of the 1980s and into the first part of the following decade. In fact, that dynasty was one of the most impressive to ever take the field, as it occurred during the playing years of some of football's all time great stars - men like Steve Young and the indomitable Jerry Rice. Over a sixteen year period, 49ers teams compiled ten-plus win seasons each year and, with their great quarterback Joe Montana, won four amazing Super Bowls.
The iconic quarterback
Picked up by the 49ers in 1979, Montana would be the team's quarterback until 1992. There has probably never been a player at his position with the sound football sense that Golden Joe had. Never one to panic, he always knew that every game was within reach even if his team was behind on the scoreboard. His last-minute comeback drives are now the stuff of legend, as he engineered 31 such drives during his time as quarterback. Ask any fan of the man and you'll probably hear a number closer to 200, simply because his comebacks were of such a high profile that it now seems like there were more of them than there actually were. The truth is that the 49ers were never behind as often as fans' memories might now portray them as being. The efficiency of their offense kept them ahead or close to the lead in most games.
Winning Super Bowls
The first of Montana's four Super Bowl runs was perhaps also the most memorable. The 1981 season culminated in a matchup with Dallas in January of 1982, with the NFC title and a right to represent the conference in Super Bowl XVI on the line. At the end of the game, with the 49ers trailing by six, Montana engineered a drive that resulted in a game-winning touchdown pass with less than a minute to spare. The pass's reception by Dwight Clark has since passed into NFL Lore as "The Catch" - and is considered one of the greatest plays in the history of professional football. The 49ers would go on to defeat the Bengals and win that year's Super Bowl, with Montana earning MVP honors for his performance. The 49ers would later go on to win Super Bowls XIX, XXIII, and XXIV with Montana as quarterback. By the time of that fourth championship, Montana had collected his third Super Bowl MVP award. To date, he is the only NFL player to have enjoyed that honor.
The Legend of Joe
Joe Cool's legacy with the 49ers cannot be easily summed up. Many people today remember him more for the quarterback controversy that existed in his final few years with the team than for the great plays, startling wins, and championships that the team enjoyed with him under center. It was perhaps fitting that, when the 49ers eventually traded him in 1993 to the Kansas City Chiefs, Montana would go on to lead them to the AFC Championship game in that year. Joe just didn't know how to lose.
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