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Joe Montana is known to many as being one of the top quarterbacks of his generation with the 49ers. Despite his success in the NFL, the Pro Football Hall of Famer admitted that another sport has his heart.
In March of this year, Montana noted basketball was thought to be his career path and loves the game:
“Basketball, just my favorite, growing up was my favorite sport. Actually thought I was going to play basketball in college till I got an offer from Notre Dame then I ended up going there.
"I wouldn't be standing here if I played basketball in college… I just love the game. It's just it's fun to watch, fun to play, fun to even practice, a lot more fun to practice than football.”
The San Francisco 49ers legend explained his skillset as a basketball in an interview in March 2020:
“In eighth grade I could dunk in ninth grade. I could do anything you wanted dunking-wise. I could hit it off the glass, two-handed behind the head. Any kind of dunk you want, I could do.”
He shared a story that basketball coaches at Notre Dame approached him to possibly play for the team. The basketball and football practices were at the same time.
Joe Montana stated he needed permission from then-Notre Dame head football coach Dan Devine to play basketball with the Fighting Irish. Devine declined, changing the course of Montana's athletic career.
Joe Montana and his Hall of Fame NFL career
49ers fans are glad that Devine said no to Joe Montana playing basketball as he helped led the franchise to great success. The team drafted the Notre Dame quarterback in the second round of the 1979 NFL draft.
Montana won four Super Bowls with San Francisco in the 1980s, winning Super Bowl MVP three times. He spent 13 seasons with the 49ers before being traded to the Kansas City Chiefs ahead of the 1993 season.
