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Joe Cool Montana reminisces about NFL career
To no one's surprise, Joe Montana has made it to the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. The four-time Super Bowl winner headlines the five-member class of 2000. CNNSI.com's Mark Morgan sat down to talk to Montana and began by asking him about his selection to the Hall. Joe Montana: As a kid growing up, I wanted to go to Notre Dame and further than that, I wanted to be in the NFL and I wanted to win a Super Bowl. Those where all tangible things. I could go out and I could practice and I could play. I could find my way to get to Notre Dame. I could find a way to get to a Super Bowl and have an opportunity to win it. Those are things you can go out and do. But you can't go out and, "Yeah, I made the Hall of Fame today." That was never there. Mark Morgan: How often do you look back at your career? Montana: I hardly look back at all. I've never been a person that looks back a lot. I've been back to Notre Dame, I think twice since I graduated. I set foot once, maybe twice in the 49er facility since I've been gone. I don't live in my past. I don't live in things I've done. I consider myself a "do" person. I need to be doing and moving forward.
Montana: Part of the reason I was so competitive was that I knew anyone who got a chance to run it for any length of time probably could have had fairly good success themselves. So I was in a battle with keeping everybody out of there as long as I could. Getting drafted in San Francisco, I was happy. People couldn't believe I was happy. They said, "You're going to a 2-14 team. What are you so happy about?" I said, "I've always wanted to be there. I love San Francisco." Morgan: How hard was it leaving San Francisco? 
Montana: It's hard to get past leaving San Francisco for me only by the way it happened. I thought I at least deserved a chance to lose ... the job. I didn't want to be given it. I just wanted to at least have a fair competition. I would have understood if it had been something where my playing was taking a dive, but it wasn't and that's always been tough to stomach for me. Morgan: What one thing did you do better than any other quarterback? Montana: I found the second, third and fourth guys as good as anyone. I was never one who was gonna force a ball unless I had to. That was the unique thing about this offense, is that you didn't have to force a pass. There were always three or four guys out in the pattern and if one wasn't there, I knew the offense well enough I could find the other two or three. Morgan: What was your greatest moment on the field? Montana: If I had to pick one, it would be the touchdown pass to John Taylor [with :34 left to beat Cincinnati 20-16 in Super Bowl XXIII in 1988]. It was just a dream come true. As a kid I grew up in my back yard throwing passes to my neighbor to win the Super Bowl millions of times over and over. And to have it be a dream come true, I don't think there was anything better.
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