Montana, Esiason Are in the Money

Super Bowl quarterbacks Joe Montana of San Francisco and Boomer Esiason of Cincinnati are two of the highest-paid players in the National Football League.

According to the NFL Players Assn., Esiason’s salary this season was $1.2 million, Montana’s $1.1 million.

But Montana will match Esiason at $1.2 million next season, and when a 3-year extension goes into effect in 1990, he will become the first NFL player to earn $2 million in base salary. He also will get an annual $550,000 reporting bonus.

In 1987, Denver’s John Elway signed a 6-year, $9.7-million contract extension that took effect this season and, with $3 million in bonuses, averages $2,116,667 a season. The base pay, which escalates each year, was $1.4 million this season. It does not reach the $2-million mark until 1993.

Miami’s Dan Marino was tops in the league in base salary for 1988 at $1.45 million, edging Elway by $50,000. Marino signed a 6-year, $9-million deal in 1986.

Buffalo’s Jim Kelly and Indianapolis’ Eric Dickerson each earned base salaries of $1.2 million in 1988.

Bengalmania: In Villa Hills, a northern Kentucky suburb of Cincinnati, where 10 Bengals live, one of the city’s six black-and-white police cruisers is now sporting orange stripes.

“At first we thought of painting all six cruisers,” Police Chief Michael (Corky) Brown said. “But we thought that might be a little much.”

Tennis buddies: When Sam Wyche was the quarterback coach of the San Francisco 49ers in 1979-82, he and Bill Walsh, the head coach, often played tennis.

One Saturday morning, before leaving for an exhibition game, they decided to get in a few quick sets.

The problem was that after they split the first 2 sets, they kept going and played more than 50 games in the third set.

“Bill doesn’t like to lose at anything, and tennis is one of them,” said Wyche, who is now the Bengal coach. “And we could not settle the thing. No one would win 2 games in a row, and we couldn’t break the tie.

“We played until we literally--I’m not exaggerating--were hanging on the chain-link fence, we were so tired. He ended up winning that one, and we had to hustle in, take a shower still sweating and barely made the plane to go to the game.”

Pete Rose, on Johnny Bench’s not being a unanimous selection to the Hall of Fame: “I ask myself, ‘How could somebody not vote for him?’ But I guess there’s always somebody who won’t vote for you. They’ll say, ‘Well, even Babe Ruth wasn’t unanimous.’ But that don’t make it right.”

Denver Nuggets Coach Doug Moe, after a recent 17-point loss to the Milwaukee Bucks: “I’m amazed we stayed in the game with Alex English playing so poorly. Little Sisters of the Poor can blow us out if he plays poorly.”

The Boston Celtics, who were 36-5 at home last season, are 12-7 at Boston Garden this season. Said Danny Ainge: “Teams are coming in here with the feeling they can beat us. They can smell it. They feel we’re vulnerable. . . . It can’t get any worse than this.”

Quotebook

NBC’s Bob Costas, introducing colleague Paul Maguire at a luncheon in New York: “Here is a man who is to broadcasting what Oprah Winfrey is to pole vaulting.”