Just like many former NFL players, Joe Montana is in pain.
The four-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers detailed his laundry list of post-football ailments in an article in USA Today.
The list stretches as long as the NFL records he collected during a Hall of Fame career.
“The mental part was hard initially when I first retired,” Montana, now 59, told the newspaper. “Because it’s quick – cold turkey, the game’s gone. Then the physical stuff tries to catch up with you.”
Montana, who was the first player to win Super Bowl MVP honors three times, is back in the spotlight this week as Super Bowl 50 is being hosted by the city he called home for the majority of his football career.
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One of the greatest quarterbacks to play the game, Montana will flip the coin on Sunday night at Levi’s Stadium in nearby Santa Clara to get the Broncos-Panthers underway.
He’ll also be honored during the game with the other former Super Bowl MVPs.
Along with arthritis – “my hands have been, oh my gosh, in the middle of the night they hurt like crazy” – Montana told USA Today that he’ll need knee replacement soon. He’s already had surgery on his elbow and tells the newspaper another neck surgery is in the works.
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“I think I’m headed down the fusion thing again,” Montana said. ” … The path of a nerve they think is being affected.”
He even suffers from a lazy eye thanks to the head trauma he suffered while spending a decade and a half playing for the 49ers and Chiefs.
Montana, a third-round draft pick by the 49ers in the 1979 NFL Draft out of Notre Dame, said he simply can’t live an active life due to all the damage he suffered while playing football.
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He told USA Today he’s forced to the sidelines when his wife and three kids go skiing or surfing.
“My whole family likes to live on the edge, so some of the things I regret that I can’t do with them,” Montana said.
Montana, who retired after the 1994 season and was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000, was one of four QBs selected to the NFL’s 75th Anniversary All-Time Team.
