Throwback Player Profile #1 - Joe Montana

Joe Montana's success in San Francisco is well documented, and his legacy as one of - if not the - greatest to ever play the game was cemented between 1980 and 1992. In that time he led the previously-irrelevant 49ers to four Super Bowls (Montana was MVP in Super Bowls XVI, XIX and XXIV) and to the playoffs in nine of his eleven seasons as a starter. Montana was voted to the pro bowl seven times, named the league MVP in 1989 and 1990, offensive player of the year in 1989, and comeback player of the year in 1986. After his retirement he was included in the NFL All-Decade team for the 1980's, the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time team and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000.

Not bad, but everyone knows all this. The first throwback player to be featured on this blog is not an underrated or unappreciated player (as the rest of this weekly series will be) but one of the icons of the sport - this week I will be taking a look at a somewhat overlooked part of Joe Montana's career: the time he spent with the Kansas City Chiefs.

In 1992, following an ugly rift with Steve Young and a protracted trade saga - in which he was given permission to seek a trade, only to later be told that he was still the 49ers starting quarterback (a move that would ultimately force Montana's hand) - Montana announced he would play for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Of course, the very reason for the doubt surrounding Montana in San Francisco was a string of injuries that caused him to miss all of the 1991 season, and most of 1992.

Montana was damaged goods. He was washed up. He was past it. He should retire.

Not so fast. The Joe Cool of old resurfaced and brought some vintage magic to Kansas City. Dressed in an unfamiliar number 19 jersey (after rejecting the use of Jan Stenerud and Len Dawson's retired number 3 and number 16 jerseys), Montana led the Chiefs to an AFC West title, and playoff wins over the Pittsburgh Steelers and Houston Oilers - both of which were, appropriately, come-from-behind wins.

The 1993 season ended on a sour note, with the Chiefs being decimated 30-13 by the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship game. Montana still remains bitter about the event: "we had an opportunity and blew it...we actually blew it twice: the second-to-last regular-season game made us have to go to Buffalo instead of playing at home. That probably hurt us more than anything".

The Chiefs got off to a fast start in 1994 - convincingly beating the New Orleans Saints (a team Montana had plenty of experience demolishing every season with the 49ers) 30-17. Montana had a good day at the office - 315 yards and two touchdowns. In week two Montana and the Chiefs beat Steve Young and the 49ers 24-17, and in week seven they overcame John Elway and the Broncos 31-28 - a victory sealed by a Montana-led 75 yard scoring drive with less than two minutes remaining.

They reached the wild card round of the 1994 playoffs, where - despite Montana throwing for 314 yards and two touchdowns - the Chiefs fell to the Dolphins 27-17.

And that was that.

Joe Montana deserved to go out as a 49er but - thanks to bizarre manoeuvring and indecision on the part of the Niners - his career ended in a surprising fashion. Despite this, Montana achieved more with the Chiefs than many people imagined the banged-up former MVP would.

He led them to the playoffs twice (the win over Houston remains the last playoff victory by the Kansas City Chiefs), made a return to the pro bowl, and - with a 17-8 record as a starter - set a franchise record for winning percentage that still stands.

He invested in the city and still feels an attachment to it: "when things aren't going well and someone gives you an opportunity, it's always a special place, and it always will be...it was a lot of fun, being able to go out and prove to anyone who thought it was time for me to go that I could still play (but) I still think we deserved to get to the Super Bowl that year".