What-if Montana doesn't get injured '90 NFCC
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What-if Montana doesn't get injured '90 NFCC
Do Niners end up dealing him off anyway as they did Craig & Lott? And if he does stay with the Niners along with being healthy through '94, does Young end up asking to be traded? Safe enough to say Joe's game doesn't drop off considering how he played in KC. It's interesting to think how things turn out for SF with he at QB in '91. Same with he vs Dallas '92-thru-'94 although, in my opinion, the same result takes place in each NFCCG and regular-season affair anyway. Joe Cool 'riding off into sunset' after winning a 5th vs SD? What are your thoughts?
Re: What-if Montana doesn't get injured '90 NFCC
Young probably would have been traded by 1992. The 49ers thought about doing that even after Joe's injuries:
https://sportsdelve.wordpress.com/2011/ ... -happened/
https://sportsdelve.wordpress.com/2011/ ... -happened/
Re: What-if Montana doesn't get injured '90 NFCC
I don't believe that Montana's injury in the NFL Championship Game had any impact on the rest of his career. I heard an NFL Films piece narrated "It took Montana two years to recover from this his." But the hit resulted in a variety of upper body injuries to Joe, as well as a broken hand. He missed the 1991 season with an injured elbow; I found a few newspaper reports that said the injury occurred in the 1991 training camp. Montana had injured the same elbow twice before, though not nearly as seriously. I've never seen any medical reports definitively linking the January hit to the July injury. (If there are, and Ive just missed them, please share.) So, to answer the original question, even if Montana hadn't been injured in the NFCCG, even if he had be beaten Buffalo in the Super Bowl, he still would have had the injured elbow, and missed the entire 1991 season and beginning of 1992. Steve Young still would have put up an MVP performance, et al...
Now, to tweak that question : what if Montana had never injured his elbow in 1991? Young was chomping at the bit to play; he would have turned 30 that fall. Young probably would never have had a real chance to beat out a healthy Montana, even if he slightly outperformed Montana in the preseason. The 49ers rarely hesitated to cut ties with their other fading stars, even Jerry Rice, but with Montana, it was complicated, partly because he was a QB, and partly because of his close relationship with Eddie DeBartolo. George Seifert wasn't particularly invested in Montana, (though he didn't play the games that Bill Walsh did. I believe Walsh declared open competition for the QB position in 1988 training camp.) I think ultimately, unless Montana continued to perform at a near-MVP level, he would have been gone by 1993. How would he have played? Well, his 1990 season was not as good as 1989 (no shame there) but he still won an MVP award for a 14 win team. He played well for KC, but definitely not at an MVP level. However, his arm strength had decreased substantially because of those injuries. Without the elbow problems, I think Joe would still have been at a near MVP level in 1991, and possibly 1992. I don't know if he could have held off Young much longer then that, and I don't see SF trading Young.
Now, to tweak that question : what if Montana had never injured his elbow in 1991? Young was chomping at the bit to play; he would have turned 30 that fall. Young probably would never have had a real chance to beat out a healthy Montana, even if he slightly outperformed Montana in the preseason. The 49ers rarely hesitated to cut ties with their other fading stars, even Jerry Rice, but with Montana, it was complicated, partly because he was a QB, and partly because of his close relationship with Eddie DeBartolo. George Seifert wasn't particularly invested in Montana, (though he didn't play the games that Bill Walsh did. I believe Walsh declared open competition for the QB position in 1988 training camp.) I think ultimately, unless Montana continued to perform at a near-MVP level, he would have been gone by 1993. How would he have played? Well, his 1990 season was not as good as 1989 (no shame there) but he still won an MVP award for a 14 win team. He played well for KC, but definitely not at an MVP level. However, his arm strength had decreased substantially because of those injuries. Without the elbow problems, I think Joe would still have been at a near MVP level in 1991, and possibly 1992. I don't know if he could have held off Young much longer then that, and I don't see SF trading Young.