WEBVTT - Special Teams: Montana’s End 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.520 Welcome to Special Teams, a production of I Heart Radio 0:00:18.920 --> 0:00:22.079 Hello and Welcome Inside Special Teams with Jason Smith and 0:00:22.120 --> 0:00:25.120 Mike Harmon. The podcast looks back at special teams from 0:00:25.120 --> 0:00:28.040 individual years in sports history and what made them so 0:00:28.240 --> 0:00:31.640 relevant today. We are looking back at two special teams, 0:00:34.080 --> 0:00:37.400 New York Giants and San Francisco forty Niners, who met 0:00:37.400 --> 0:00:41.080 in the NFC Championship Game. In the final game, Joe 0:00:41.120 --> 0:00:45.239 Montana would ever start for the forty Niners. No one 0:00:45.280 --> 0:00:47.280 thought it was gonna happen back then, but that's the 0:00:47.320 --> 0:00:50.320 way it played out. Of course, everybody remembers the Super 0:00:50.320 --> 0:00:52.960 Bowl uh the following week in which the Giants beat 0:00:53.000 --> 0:00:57.400 the Bills Scott nordwide right. But this Giants forty Niners 0:00:57.920 --> 0:01:01.160 NFC Championship Game is one of the greatest games in 0:01:01.360 --> 0:01:04.640 NFL history, and it was two teams that were steaming 0:01:04.640 --> 0:01:07.240 towards the Super Bowl. And really this year, Mike, was 0:01:07.280 --> 0:01:09.560 about three teams. It was about the Giants as good 0:01:09.560 --> 0:01:12.120 as they were, the forty Niners and the a f C. 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:14.319 It was the Bills who are running rush shot over 0:01:14.360 --> 0:01:16.840 everybody with the K gun and it was great. But 0:01:16.880 --> 0:01:19.840 it was kind of one of those well the new 0:01:19.920 --> 0:01:23.880 fengled and a f L type football that that nobody 0:01:23.959 --> 0:01:26.479 really thought could win. You know, all the way back 0:01:26.520 --> 0:01:28.720 you know in days of the Chargers and the Jets. 0:01:28.959 --> 0:01:30.760 Well here the Bills, all the doing is throwing the 0:01:30.760 --> 0:01:33.759 football all over the field and running these crazy as plays. 0:01:33.800 --> 0:01:37.520 But the Niners and the Giants, these are traditionally good 0:01:37.560 --> 0:01:40.840 football teams. And hey, between those three teams, you knew 0:01:40.840 --> 0:01:42.560 one of them was gonna win the Super Bowl. Run 0:01:42.560 --> 0:01:47.280 the ball and play defense, control the clock. I mean, 0:01:47.600 --> 0:01:50.000 three yards in a cloud of dust is what we 0:01:50.120 --> 0:01:52.880 still wanted to see, even though we were enamored with, 0:01:52.960 --> 0:01:56.920 Like you said that, those Charger teams, right, great strata 0:01:56.960 --> 0:02:01.240 matic teams of our times, the Dan Marina winging it 0:02:01.320 --> 0:02:04.240 around for the Dolphins. Uh. And then you get to 0:02:04.440 --> 0:02:06.920 Jim Kelly and and company. But it was can you 0:02:06.920 --> 0:02:09.600 get over right? You're you're there every year, you're competing 0:02:09.639 --> 0:02:13.000 every year, but it's still the tried and true formula 0:02:13.400 --> 0:02:16.120 of football as we've known it. That was winning out 0:02:16.200 --> 0:02:19.240 and I think that was frustrating to many folks, no 0:02:19.400 --> 0:02:22.000 question about it. But here it was all right, what's 0:02:22.000 --> 0:02:25.840 gonna give? So this season that was leading towards the 0:02:25.919 --> 0:02:29.120 NFC Championship game. The New York Giants were terrific. This 0:02:29.200 --> 0:02:34.960 is in the annals of history as the Giants potentially 0:02:35.040 --> 0:02:39.280 their greatest team. They started out ten and oh their defense, 0:02:39.320 --> 0:02:42.320 of course incredible, led by Lawrence Taylor. They allowed the 0:02:42.360 --> 0:02:45.920 fewest points in the NFL thirteen points per game. They 0:02:45.960 --> 0:02:49.119 played seven playoff teams in the regular season. They were 0:02:49.200 --> 0:02:51.960 veteran heavy. I mean this, this was a team where 0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:55.800 of all those great Giant defenses led by lt this 0:02:55.880 --> 0:02:58.600 might have been the best one. And the Giants clearly 0:02:58.760 --> 0:03:02.839 one on defense all season long. Their offense was just 0:03:03.000 --> 0:03:05.040 good enough. You know, Phil Sims had already won a 0:03:05.080 --> 0:03:07.720 Super Bowl in n six and he was still the 0:03:07.800 --> 0:03:11.160 quarterback now a few years later. But this wasn't where 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:13.359 the Giants would score a ton of points and hey, 0:03:13.400 --> 0:03:15.960 this is no this was our defense is gonna take 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:17.760 us as far as we're gonna go here. Yeah, the 0:03:17.800 --> 0:03:20.079 Giants gave up more than twenty one points in the 0:03:20.160 --> 0:03:24.840 game just once, their first loss to the season late November. Right, 0:03:24.840 --> 0:03:28.760 you're talking Thanksgiving week where they get pummeled by the Eagles. 0:03:28.760 --> 0:03:32.360 Otherwise you're talking nine games where they gave up ten 0:03:32.440 --> 0:03:36.200 points or fewer. I mean, that's just ridiculous and goes 0:03:36.240 --> 0:03:39.880 into those you know, two thousand Ravens eighty five bears 0:03:40.280 --> 0:03:43.600 the steel curtain on all of those purple people eater 0:03:44.000 --> 0:03:48.640 type defense that that you talk about. But in the 0:03:48.760 --> 0:03:51.640 largest of it, you've got one or two guys that 0:03:51.720 --> 0:03:55.240 get called out for their greatness, and I don't know 0:03:55.280 --> 0:03:58.120 that the team necessarily gets the recognition that deserved for 0:03:58.240 --> 0:04:00.640 what they did for that full season. It was a 0:04:00.640 --> 0:04:03.400 time in the NFL where I think because we had 0:04:03.440 --> 0:04:06.839 seen the Giants play so well for so long, it 0:04:06.920 --> 0:04:10.280 was just another year, you know, realized, but you look 0:04:10.320 --> 0:04:12.160 back at it, go boy, this was the best year. 0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:14.680 But we had seen them win on defense. We've seen 0:04:14.720 --> 0:04:17.400 Lawrence Taylor do his thing and make so many incredible plays. 0:04:17.400 --> 0:04:20.119 Look the guys the best defensive player I've ever seen. 0:04:20.640 --> 0:04:22.760 And you know, but when you see it after a while, 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:24.839 it's okay, there's there's a Giant. Yeah they're good. They're 0:04:24.880 --> 0:04:29.800 really good, just just like they normally are the Giants 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:31.800 who we were. I think again, it goes to the 0:04:31.839 --> 0:04:36.240 style points right to why Buffalo's offense the way it 0:04:36.400 --> 0:04:40.839 ran was exciting, but he were skeptical that it was 0:04:40.839 --> 0:04:43.600 was durable for a long haul and for that Super 0:04:43.600 --> 0:04:46.760 Bowl run. So as the Giants star tendan Oh, the 0:04:46.839 --> 0:04:50.159 forty Niners start great as well, and everybody starts looking 0:04:50.279 --> 0:04:55.720 towards Week thirteen, Monday Night football Giants and the forty Niners. 0:04:55.760 --> 0:04:57.800 The build up to the game of the years, as 0:04:57.839 --> 0:05:00.960 Burman used to always say, Super Bowl blank and a half, 0:05:01.080 --> 0:05:03.560 like this is this is that Super Bowl? Uh? The 0:05:03.640 --> 0:05:06.760 build up to this game was immense. The Giants were playing. 0:05:06.800 --> 0:05:08.920 The main thing the Giants did well offensively was it 0:05:09.000 --> 0:05:11.800 in turn the football over. They had fourteen turnovers in 0:05:11.800 --> 0:05:14.680 the regular season. You're talking about less than one turnover 0:05:14.760 --> 0:05:17.200 per game. You're gonna win a lot of football games 0:05:17.240 --> 0:05:20.040 that way. Meanwhile, the Niners were the normal forty Niners 0:05:20.320 --> 0:05:22.920 right there, the Super Bowl champions the previous two years. 0:05:23.279 --> 0:05:26.480 They were great. Jerry Rice became the fourth wide receiver 0:05:26.600 --> 0:05:29.039 ever with a hundred catches in a season. He set 0:05:29.080 --> 0:05:31.840 a team record with five touchdowns in a game against Atlanta, 0:05:32.200 --> 0:05:35.160 Montana set a record with four seventy six yards passing 0:05:35.160 --> 0:05:38.080 and six touchdowns in the same game. I mean, this 0:05:38.160 --> 0:05:40.920 is the three peat. The Niners are going for the 0:05:40.960 --> 0:05:43.600 first three peat sorry, pat Riley, I owe, I owe 0:05:43.640 --> 0:05:46.640 your money, and and what was what was going to 0:05:46.680 --> 0:05:48.800 get in their way? The New York Giants. They were 0:05:48.800 --> 0:05:52.080 the only team, but clearly in the pantheon of which 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:55.520 team was better, you sided with the forty Niners, coming 0:05:55.560 --> 0:05:57.320 off the fact they were the Super Bowl champions the 0:05:57.360 --> 0:05:59.440 last two years. The Giants were ka is starting to 0:05:59.480 --> 0:06:01.960 kind of trying hang on a bit to the the 0:06:02.120 --> 0:06:04.520 era that they had built up with their great defense 0:06:04.560 --> 0:06:06.800 over the past few years. Yeah, I mean, when when 0:06:06.839 --> 0:06:09.640 you look at it from a statistical standpoint, you knew 0:06:09.640 --> 0:06:13.120 what the forty Niners were capable of, even against the 0:06:13.160 --> 0:06:16.840 better defenses. You were always waiting on that next connection 0:06:16.920 --> 0:06:20.640 from Montana to Rice. Now Montana wasn't as efficient, right 0:06:20.640 --> 0:06:22.920 they go, He goes fourteen and one as a starter, 0:06:23.800 --> 0:06:29.279 But sixteen interceptions against twenty six touchdowns that year. You know, 0:06:29.360 --> 0:06:32.440 one of those where your eye eyebrow raises just a 0:06:32.480 --> 0:06:35.400 little bit as it were still scrambling, well, still getting 0:06:35.440 --> 0:06:40.880 to the edges pretty well. But it's Jerry Rice making plays, 0:06:41.480 --> 0:06:44.480 Roger Craig doing Roger Craig things. I stumped for him 0:06:44.520 --> 0:06:46.880 for the Hall of Fame as often as you can 0:06:47.200 --> 0:06:49.840 I love Dick uh And then Brent Jones was their 0:06:49.880 --> 0:06:55.480 second leading receiver man catches. He's a full forty four 0:06:55.600 --> 0:06:58.200 catches off of what Jerry Rice put up. Who loves 0:06:58.240 --> 0:06:59.960 you to throw the football too? I mean, I'm throw 0:07:00.080 --> 0:07:02.760 to Jerry who else you now? Nobody else? Really hard 0:07:03.080 --> 0:07:06.320 hard to fight that, right. So this Monday night football 0:07:06.360 --> 0:07:11.080 game in week thirteen was seven to three. Forts win 0:07:11.160 --> 0:07:15.800 this game seven to three. Their defense shuts the Giants down. 0:07:16.120 --> 0:07:18.520 The Giants are down seven three. They had first and 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:20.800 goal from the nine yard line in the fourth quarter. 0:07:21.080 --> 0:07:23.320 They is shoot a field goal. They went for the touchdown. 0:07:23.360 --> 0:07:25.880 They didn't make it. They got the ball back with 0:07:26.000 --> 0:07:28.480 thirty six seconds left in the game and Phil Simms 0:07:28.560 --> 0:07:31.440 got the Giants to the Niners twenty seven yard line. 0:07:31.480 --> 0:07:33.400 So had they kicked the field goal before, they could 0:07:33.440 --> 0:07:35.560 have kicked the field goal there in one. But on 0:07:35.600 --> 0:07:37.960 the final play of the game, Simms is sacked by 0:07:38.040 --> 0:07:40.920 Kevin Fagan, and I'll always remember this. Sims gets up 0:07:40.960 --> 0:07:43.440 and just slams the football down to the ground. He 0:07:43.520 --> 0:07:47.040 was so piste off. The Niners win this game seven three, 0:07:47.360 --> 0:07:49.880 and it was Super Bowl blank and a half, and 0:07:49.920 --> 0:07:53.360 it was the first NFL game broadcast live in England. 0:07:53.720 --> 0:07:56.160 So England saying, oh, we're gonna get the Niners and 0:07:56.200 --> 0:08:00.240 the Giants, these two great teams, and are there any points? 0:07:59.840 --> 0:08:02.880 There's only ten points in the game. This is not 0:08:02.880 --> 0:08:06.760 not not the first taste of American football. I think 0:08:06.800 --> 0:08:09.840 the NFL was expecting England to get in this game televised. Well, 0:08:09.960 --> 0:08:12.800 especially if you're gonna shoe field goal opportunities. They love 0:08:12.840 --> 0:08:15.360 their kickers, well, they'll love Matt Barr and oh we'll 0:08:15.400 --> 0:08:17.640 have more on Matt Barn coming up. Yeah, but I 0:08:17.680 --> 0:08:20.840 mean seven three. You know this is where midway through 0:08:20.880 --> 0:08:23.800 the second quarter you start selling it as a couple 0:08:23.840 --> 0:08:28.600 of defensive stalwarts and the you know, chess match between 0:08:28.720 --> 0:08:31.760 ten coaches a defensive quarters. Looking at me, he's got 0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:35.360 a pencil behind his just right, Oh, he's serious. He's 0:08:35.360 --> 0:08:37.520 got a pencil behind his ear. Like he just pulls 0:08:37.600 --> 0:08:39.959 up his play sheet in front of his mouth. He's upset. 0:08:40.280 --> 0:08:44.200 He is upset with that last alignments. So the road 0:08:44.240 --> 0:08:47.839 to the rematch in the NFC Championship game, the Giants 0:08:48.160 --> 0:08:52.120 have to change quarterbacks. Phil Simms breaks his foot week 0:08:52.240 --> 0:08:56.520 fifteen against Buffalo and Jeff Hoss Stetler comes in. Now 0:08:56.559 --> 0:08:58.120 you all know what he did in the Super Bowl 0:08:58.120 --> 0:09:00.280 and winning, but it's not like he him in and 0:09:00.320 --> 0:09:03.080 started throwing touchdowns all over the place. The Giants still 0:09:03.120 --> 0:09:06.840 won games squeakers because of their defense. They beat Chicago, 0:09:06.920 --> 0:09:09.920 sorry buddy, in their divisional playoff games. Tom Zack, you 0:09:10.160 --> 0:09:12.719 Mike tom Zack through two picks. Neil Anderson only ran 0:09:12.800 --> 0:09:16.280 for nineteen yards. They crushed Chicago in this game. I 0:09:16.360 --> 0:09:20.560 just remember always Jimmy the Greek. I like Anderson, Yeah, 0:09:20.679 --> 0:09:25.480 he bugs. He was obsessed with the with Neil Anderson, 0:09:25.640 --> 0:09:27.839 and I'm not sure why I remember. This is also 0:09:27.880 --> 0:09:30.440 the NFL where we're still running with three divisions and 0:09:30.480 --> 0:09:34.199 then three wild cards, so it's still the old format 0:09:34.559 --> 0:09:36.560 as you roll through. But yes, I'm gonna do everything 0:09:36.600 --> 0:09:39.800 I can to deflect thinking about tom Zack in the Bears. Yeah. 0:09:39.840 --> 0:09:42.280 I mean, the Giants win this game pretty easy, and 0:09:42.760 --> 0:09:46.800 their formula is very simple. We control the football, Hosteller 0:09:46.800 --> 0:09:48.680 makes plays when he has to make more plays with 0:09:48.679 --> 0:09:50.960 his legs, and Phil Simms does we're gonna run the football, Well, 0:09:51.000 --> 0:09:53.920 we're gonna play great defense, and that's how we're gonna win. 0:09:54.360 --> 0:09:57.199 And that was the Giants. Hosteller had to complete ten 0:09:57.280 --> 0:10:00.360 passes in that game. You know ten, do you times 0:10:00.360 --> 0:10:03.760 you gotta throw the ball? Ten? No? Get this ten 0:10:03.840 --> 0:10:07.720 of seventeen one, twelve and two touchdowns. Yeah. I think 0:10:07.720 --> 0:10:14.320 back to that game and it's just maddening. It's like 0:10:14.760 --> 0:10:17.760 you're not even forcing the issue. So this is where 0:10:17.760 --> 0:10:22.360 the Giants and forty Niners meet in a legendary NFC 0:10:22.440 --> 0:10:26.280 Championship game, a game that turned on three plays and 0:10:26.440 --> 0:10:29.880 one play that I don't think the forty Niners ever 0:10:30.000 --> 0:10:32.920 got over. That's coming up next right here on special teams. 0:10:51.240 --> 0:10:53.960 So we are all set for the NFC Championship Game 0:10:54.040 --> 0:10:57.880 for the ages, the Giants and the forty Niners. And 0:10:58.320 --> 0:11:00.920 just like the first game Today Night Football that they 0:11:00.920 --> 0:11:03.880 played earlier in the year, this was a defensive struggle. 0:11:04.280 --> 0:11:06.360 Matt Barr and Mike co for the two field goal 0:11:06.440 --> 0:11:10.120 kickers exchange field goals. It's six six at halftime. There 0:11:10.160 --> 0:11:13.679 was really only one offensive play all the way up 0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:16.480 till the fourth quarter. This was a sixty one yard 0:11:16.480 --> 0:11:20.080 touchdown pass from Joe Montana to John Taylor. Everson Walls 0:11:20.120 --> 0:11:23.280 goes for the interception, he misses it. It's the only 0:11:23.320 --> 0:11:26.079 touchdown of the game. It gives the forty nine is 0:11:26.120 --> 0:11:28.840 a thirteen seven lead. Even though they didn't really score. 0:11:29.280 --> 0:11:31.560 Montana played well. I mean, look, this turned out to 0:11:31.559 --> 0:11:33.800 be the last game he would start for the forty niners. 0:11:34.080 --> 0:11:36.079 But he was eighteen out of twenty six for one 0:11:36.200 --> 0:11:38.880 ninety a touchdown. But you're only gonna get so much 0:11:38.880 --> 0:11:42.480 against this Giants defense, Mike, so it's not surprising that 0:11:42.520 --> 0:11:45.079 they shut him down as much. But still from Montana, 0:11:45.160 --> 0:11:47.240 this was a pretty decent game. Yeah, I mean, certainly 0:11:47.280 --> 0:11:50.880 not expecting a scoring fest with these two teams getting 0:11:50.920 --> 0:11:53.640 after Montana. The clean sheet, the big thing. You're looking 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:57.000 for his turnovers, right, that's where the Giants feast did 0:11:57.040 --> 0:11:59.960 over the course of the season. Eighteen six not exactly 0:12:00.120 --> 0:12:02.360 world beating. And let's face it, when we got to 0:12:02.400 --> 0:12:05.000 halftime and you're talking six six, you know in the 0:12:05.960 --> 0:12:08.920 when we're talking about having events with no fans, that 0:12:08.960 --> 0:12:11.480 would be the reaction. Anyway, It was six six halftime. 0:12:11.960 --> 0:12:15.720 A lot of folks looking around like what are we 0:12:15.800 --> 0:12:19.240 doing here? Like there's no cheering and so whatever. The 0:12:19.280 --> 0:12:23.839 halftime entertainment was, uh, starts rolling up. So eighteen and 0:12:23.920 --> 0:12:28.959 twenty six one absorbed three sacks. It's not world beating, 0:12:28.960 --> 0:12:32.600 it's not flashy. But again, owing to the the box 0:12:32.640 --> 0:12:36.319 scores of the time, we weren't lighting it up all 0:12:36.320 --> 0:12:38.600 over the field. And I still thought the Niners were 0:12:38.600 --> 0:12:41.520 gonna win this game because they always pulled out games 0:12:41.559 --> 0:12:43.400 like this. And we look this, This is the Niners 0:12:43.440 --> 0:12:45.600 going for a three pet No one had ever done that, 0:12:45.679 --> 0:12:48.120 and you're used to seeing them. Hey, when when the 0:12:48.160 --> 0:12:51.000 players get big, the Niners are the team that make them. 0:12:51.080 --> 0:12:52.520 And we go to the you know, we go in 0:12:52.559 --> 0:12:54.679 to the fourth quarter of this and the Niners have 0:12:54.800 --> 0:12:56.800 the lead, and there was no way I thought they 0:12:56.800 --> 0:13:00.480 weren't gonna win this game. Well that's it. And then 0:13:00.559 --> 0:13:04.320 one big play Joe Cool at the helm. You're talking 0:13:04.360 --> 0:13:07.360 about all those veterans, all these would be in future 0:13:07.400 --> 0:13:09.800 Hall of Famer's hell, all these years later, we're still 0:13:09.840 --> 0:13:11.840 fighting over how many more of these guys should be 0:13:11.840 --> 0:13:15.640 getting in. No inches given on either side, so he 0:13:15.760 --> 0:13:19.600 earned every one of those extra points. This game goes 0:13:19.640 --> 0:13:22.080 to the fourth quarter with the forty Niners holding a 0:13:22.120 --> 0:13:25.319 thirteen nine lead, and this is where the game turns. 0:13:25.920 --> 0:13:28.560 Early in the fourth quarter, Jeff Hostetler gets hitting the 0:13:28.600 --> 0:13:31.880 knees by Niners DT and former Giant Jim Burt Right 0:13:32.000 --> 0:13:35.120 hostetlerhould come in and played pretty well for Phil Simms. Uh, 0:13:35.160 --> 0:13:39.040 since Sim's got hurt. Hostetler was okay. But the Giants, 0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:42.480 to a man said that fired them up and when 0:13:42.480 --> 0:13:44.920 they got back on the field they wanted payback because 0:13:44.960 --> 0:13:49.240 they thought Bert hit Hostetler illegally. Now again, Hostetler comes 0:13:49.280 --> 0:13:53.199 back in and plays, but the next forty Niners drive, 0:13:53.679 --> 0:13:57.400 Joe Montana rolls out away from pressure. Lawrence Taylor's coming in, 0:13:57.480 --> 0:14:01.120 he evades him. He rolls out looking down field, and 0:14:01.200 --> 0:14:03.800 this is the part that that gets George Seafort forty 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:07.480 head coaches that on this play, John Taylor was wide 0:14:07.480 --> 0:14:11.000 open way down field, and another second or a half 0:14:11.040 --> 0:14:13.880 second and Montana is able to at least release this 0:14:13.960 --> 0:14:17.000 pass and maybe it's a touchdown and the game's over. 0:14:17.400 --> 0:14:21.920 But instead Montana gets hit by Leonard Marshall harder than 0:14:21.960 --> 0:14:25.320 I've ever seen him hit in his entire NFL career. 0:14:25.720 --> 0:14:29.640 Marshall just crumples him from behind. You see this video 0:14:29.680 --> 0:14:32.360 of it, It's it's Montana looking like he's gonna throw 0:14:32.400 --> 0:14:34.120 and then suddenly you can see the pain on his 0:14:34.200 --> 0:14:38.760 face as his body contorts. Bruce Sternham broken finger on 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:42.400 his throwing hand and a concussion. Montana is knocked out 0:14:42.400 --> 0:14:44.640 of the game. He stays on the ground for a 0:14:44.640 --> 0:14:46.560 good couple of minutes. The ball comes loose, but the 0:14:46.640 --> 0:14:49.120 Niners recovered so at least they hold onto the ball. 0:14:49.520 --> 0:14:52.200 Marshall said it was the biggest play of his NFL career, 0:14:52.440 --> 0:14:55.360 And I mean, I have never seen Joe Montana hit 0:14:55.560 --> 0:14:58.680 that hard. And to think about that's how he really 0:14:58.760 --> 0:15:01.640 went out as a forty Niner. He already had back 0:15:01.680 --> 0:15:04.680 trouble and this hit did him in and it was, 0:15:05.000 --> 0:15:08.200 oh my goodness, look at what just happened to Joe Montana. Well, 0:15:08.200 --> 0:15:10.520 this is one of the big pushes where he eventually 0:15:10.520 --> 0:15:13.800 started uh hawking for anything that had copper in it, 0:15:14.440 --> 0:15:17.480 trying to get himself back into in shape a copper belt, 0:15:17.560 --> 0:15:20.200 so I can be okay with us, No, that's just it, 0:15:20.440 --> 0:15:24.720 after just getting absolutely obliterated, uh in this particular play. 0:15:24.760 --> 0:15:27.960 And and you recognize guys have their shelf lives, and 0:15:27.960 --> 0:15:30.600 and you see how many big hits they take, and 0:15:30.760 --> 0:15:35.960 some some are more damaging that aren't that egregious on tape, right, 0:15:36.320 --> 0:15:39.560 we know the obvious when there's the Joe Thiesman and 0:15:39.560 --> 0:15:43.160 and some of the big hits we've seen layout quarterbacks. 0:15:43.360 --> 0:15:46.000 But you go through the process some of those that 0:15:46.040 --> 0:15:48.400 are the innocuous, and they got taken down a little 0:15:48.440 --> 0:15:50.160 bit awkwardly, and then you go back and look and 0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:53.000 it's like, all right, his ankle bent this way, or 0:15:53.120 --> 0:15:55.920 his knee buckled a little bit here as he got hit, 0:15:56.240 --> 0:15:58.360 and all of a sudden you recognize, Wow, there's a 0:15:58.400 --> 0:16:01.560 lot of damage. Uh that was later diagnosed. And for 0:16:01.640 --> 0:16:05.160 Joe Montana that the years have already taken a bunch 0:16:05.200 --> 0:16:08.240 of hits add up and you already had the air apparent. 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:10.760 So that's the other part that hangs in the balance 0:16:10.800 --> 0:16:15.120 here of well, not quite a percent. Not Joe cool. 0:16:15.640 --> 0:16:17.520 And the fact that you hung an oul on him here, 0:16:17.640 --> 0:16:21.080 that's huge. So Montana comes out of the game and 0:16:21.120 --> 0:16:23.880 the Giants get the ball back down thirteen nine, but 0:16:23.960 --> 0:16:27.960 the Niners defense holds and then the Giants play number 0:16:27.960 --> 0:16:31.160 two that turned this game for them in the fourth quarter. 0:16:31.240 --> 0:16:34.120 Three big plays. Leonard Marshall was the first. This one 0:16:34.240 --> 0:16:37.200 was the second down thirteen nine. They're punting from their 0:16:37.240 --> 0:16:39.960 own forty one yard line, and they call a fake 0:16:40.040 --> 0:16:43.320 punt and Gary reasons who's a linebacker? And the up 0:16:43.320 --> 0:16:47.040 back runs for thirty yards only the kick return the 0:16:47.040 --> 0:16:49.600 punt returner stopped him from getting in the end zone. 0:16:49.600 --> 0:16:51.560 This is a linebacker that shouldn't be running for more 0:16:51.600 --> 0:16:53.760 than seven or eight yards in the first down. This 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:58.840 completely took the forty niners by surprise. I mean, yeah, 0:16:58.840 --> 0:17:00.880 watch them go go No one taking him down. They 0:17:00.920 --> 0:17:04.119 completely had no idea this was coming. Now, the defense 0:17:04.119 --> 0:17:07.080 stiffens and holds and holds the Giants to a field goal. 0:17:07.400 --> 0:17:09.800 But this play that this is one of the one 0:17:09.800 --> 0:17:12.680 of the most gutsiest calls you'll possibly see. When it's 0:17:12.720 --> 0:17:15.400 a one score game from your own forty one yard line, 0:17:15.400 --> 0:17:17.840 you're gonna bring in a new quarterback, Steve Young, with 0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:20.239 a short field when you're gonna give him, you know, 0:17:20.320 --> 0:17:22.119 just get a few yards for what could be a 0:17:22.119 --> 0:17:24.800 game clinching field goal. What a guts he called by 0:17:24.800 --> 0:17:27.240 Bill Parcels and the Giants, and this, you know, makes 0:17:27.240 --> 0:17:28.960 it a one point game with just a few minutes 0:17:29.000 --> 0:17:31.520 left to go. I've probably watched this play now fifty 0:17:31.560 --> 0:17:35.200 times since you and I started talking about this game. 0:17:35.600 --> 0:17:38.760 There's no rhyme or reason to it, right, just a 0:17:38.920 --> 0:17:44.399 brilliant call executed perfectly, and you can just see the 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:49.159 San Francisco response, like he's fifteen twenty yards before he 0:17:49.240 --> 0:17:53.639 gets touched. So it's thirteen twelve, there's five and a 0:17:53.680 --> 0:17:56.080 half minutes left in the game. The Niners get the 0:17:56.119 --> 0:17:59.560 ball back, and here comes Steve Young. Steve Young who 0:17:59.560 --> 0:18:01.640 had been the quarterback and waiting for a long time, 0:18:01.680 --> 0:18:04.560 and now obviously his time was coming sooner after that 0:18:04.640 --> 0:18:07.600 Joe Montana hit. But this is not Steve Young, future 0:18:07.680 --> 0:18:10.000 Hall of Famer. This is Steve Young, who has a 0:18:10.000 --> 0:18:12.760 lot of talent but still has not gotten a lot 0:18:12.840 --> 0:18:15.080 of chances, not a lot of reps, and he comes 0:18:15.080 --> 0:18:17.960 into the game cold, trying to kill the clock and 0:18:18.000 --> 0:18:21.040 hope the forty Niners can win the game. Now, he 0:18:21.119 --> 0:18:24.480 threw exactly one pass in this game. He throws a 0:18:24.560 --> 0:18:27.439 twenty five yard completion of Brent Jones, which gets the 0:18:27.600 --> 0:18:30.600 Niners out of the shadow of their own end zone, 0:18:30.840 --> 0:18:32.919 and then Roger Craig gets the first down in the 0:18:32.960 --> 0:18:34.879 six yard run. Right, this is how tough it was 0:18:34.920 --> 0:18:37.920 for the Niners. That was their first rushing first down 0:18:37.920 --> 0:18:40.400 of the day. And now you were down under three 0:18:40.440 --> 0:18:42.800 minutes and the Niners or maybe one first down away 0:18:42.800 --> 0:18:45.480 from winning. You know, Young has already completed one pass 0:18:45.480 --> 0:18:48.400 because look, Brent Jones gets behind the defense, the Giants 0:18:48.440 --> 0:18:50.960 bring him down. Young is feeling a little confident. Now, 0:18:51.040 --> 0:18:54.280 Roger Craig is feeling confident, and you're thinking, okay, boy, 0:18:54.280 --> 0:18:56.480 it's been a big run from the Giants. But still 0:18:56.720 --> 0:18:59.600 the Niners look like they have enough. And on the 0:18:59.680 --> 0:19:04.160 next to play, the Giants flood the box. Eric Howard, 0:19:04.359 --> 0:19:08.800 getting double teamed, forces a fumble with his helmet on 0:19:09.040 --> 0:19:11.880 Roger Craig. Roger Craig who had fumbled on the very 0:19:11.960 --> 0:19:14.720 first play of the game, but luckily San Francisco recovered 0:19:14.760 --> 0:19:16.840 so hey he had already had trouble holding on to 0:19:16.880 --> 0:19:20.200 the football once. Now Eric Howard just happens to get 0:19:20.200 --> 0:19:22.160 his helmet on the ball, and it's one of those 0:19:22.160 --> 0:19:25.000 plays where you can tell he just got hit earlier 0:19:25.040 --> 0:19:29.000 than expected, you know, because obviously with the Giants closing, look, 0:19:29.000 --> 0:19:31.440 everybody's trying to get in the backfield. He knows he's 0:19:31.440 --> 0:19:33.200 gonna get hit. He gets to the line, it looks 0:19:33.200 --> 0:19:35.359 like he's looking for a way to get out and 0:19:35.400 --> 0:19:38.560 he just gets hit earlier than he thought. The helmet 0:19:38.920 --> 0:19:41.720 hits the football, knocks it out, and Lawrence Taylor is 0:19:41.880 --> 0:19:45.720 right there to fall on the football. Giants ball, the 0:19:45.800 --> 0:19:48.600 Niners offenses off the field, and this is what is 0:19:48.640 --> 0:19:52.000 happening now, this, this this forty Niners dynasty is now 0:19:52.040 --> 0:19:54.959 crumbling because the Giants don't like you can't kill him. 0:19:55.000 --> 0:19:57.520 It's like Jason Vorhees in a Frinda of the Thirteenth movie. 0:19:57.680 --> 0:19:59.280 Do you think the Giants are dead? All right? But 0:19:59.320 --> 0:20:01.600 they get this one play? All right? But now they're dead. 0:20:01.600 --> 0:20:03.040 I had to get one more play, all right, But 0:20:03.119 --> 0:20:05.280 now they're dead. No, Now they're in control of the 0:20:05.320 --> 0:20:07.359 game and can win it with a field goal because 0:20:07.400 --> 0:20:09.960 they have the football, they have time left and it's 0:20:10.040 --> 0:20:11.920 not a lot of it's not a lot of yards 0:20:11.920 --> 0:20:13.640 they have to get to for a game winning field goal. 0:20:14.000 --> 0:20:18.520 He fumbled twice in a hundred sixties six touches during 0:20:18.520 --> 0:20:21.920 the regular season. Over the course of his career, fumbled 0:20:21.920 --> 0:20:26.960 forty two times. Then one that comes up absolutely huge 0:20:27.000 --> 0:20:30.280 here because you talk about the potential to keep this 0:20:30.400 --> 0:20:34.320 train running one last time, right, the last dance? How 0:20:34.359 --> 0:20:35.919 do I owe so many money for no, no, no, 0:20:36.040 --> 0:20:38.480 it's okay. It's not like Michael Buffer or pat Riley. 0:20:38.920 --> 0:20:42.800 Riley's not gonna come through my phone line waving at me. 0:20:43.520 --> 0:20:46.480 You fine, You're absolutely fine. So yeah, I mean their 0:20:46.560 --> 0:20:49.920 last run. I mean with with Montana um Buckling and 0:20:50.240 --> 0:20:53.200 that back eotomy in order and some of the other 0:20:53.280 --> 0:20:55.960 veterans that we look at on either side of the ball. 0:20:56.160 --> 0:20:58.280 I mean, this is it. And for Roger Craig, this 0:20:58.359 --> 0:21:01.280 could have been a career to find uh and instead 0:21:01.280 --> 0:21:03.159 it is the other way. He won't talk about it, 0:21:03.240 --> 0:21:04.960 like it's a really tough thing to get him to 0:21:05.000 --> 0:21:06.800 talk about that fumble, and you've got a feeling that 0:21:06.840 --> 0:21:09.080 he looks back. What's my one regret? What's the big 0:21:09.080 --> 0:21:11.440 regret of my career? That fumble? Because that said that 0:21:11.560 --> 0:21:14.239 stopped to three peat. If he doesn't fumble and they 0:21:14.240 --> 0:21:17.280 don't turn the ball over, do they really stop the Niners? 0:21:17.600 --> 0:21:19.440