The State of Montana : Neither the 36-Year-Old 49ers Quarterback or His Doctors Can or Will Say When, How Well--or Even If--He’ll Play Again

Joe Montana still believes he can make at least one more comeback despite one setback after another in his attempt to return from what has been a career-crippling elbow injury.

“I still have a while. I may be back some time (this season),” said Montana. “If not, then I’ll shoot for training camp” in 1993.

A two-time league MVP and seven-time pro bowler for the San Francisco 49ers, Montana watches from the sidelines now as his longtime backup, Steve Young, leads the team that Montana guided to four Super Bowl wins in the 1980s.

The 49ers are off to a 6-1 start under Young, the league’s top-rated passer.

The 36-year-old Montana, meantime, is spending his second year on injured reserve because of complications in his rehabilitation of a torn right elbow tendon. It was reattached by team physician Dr. Michael Dillingham during surgery Oct. 9, 1991.

Neither Montana nor his doctors can say when, how well or if he’ll be able to play again. All he can do is keep trying to get back on the field.

“It’s worth it. If it wasn’t worth it, I would have given up right after the surgery,” Montana said.

Since last year’s major surgery, Dillingham has performed two other procedures, in May and on Sept. 12, to remove a buildup of scar tissue in the elbow.

By loosening and removing the scar tissue, Dillingham hoped to eliminate the pressure and irritation on the ulnar nerve in the elbow.

It worked for a while but Montana was again forced to stop throwing Sept. 26, when numbness cropped up in the small and ring fingers of his throwing hand. That made it difficult to squeeze a football, or, for that matter, to hold a restaurant menu or twist open a door knob.

Montana said the condition has improved somewhat over the past week.

“They said the last thing to go would be the numbness. If the numbness goes away, then I’ll be able to get back and do a little work,” he said.

Montana added he would have to “see more evidence” before abandoning his comeback, which has been plagued by interruptions since training camp.

“I still hear from the medical people and I still hear from him positive things so I’m still not resigned to the fact that it’s over. I still basically feel positive,” San Francisco coach George Seifert said of Montana’s chances to return at some point this season.

“We’re not projecting beyond periods of two days at a time but doctors would like to think Joe will be throwing in two weeks,” club president Carmen Policy said. “We’re trying to be as optimistic as possible with whatever advances we can make. We’ve had some setbacks.”

Policy said, however, that both the organization and Montana would “have to face reality” should he miss a second season.

Bill Walsh, who coached Montana and the 49ers to their first three Super Bowls, said Montana may just be delaying the inevitable.

“At some point, he’s going to have to look at retirement. That’s something every athlete goes through,” said Walsh, now coach at Stanford.

“I’m sure he’s frustrated by not being able to play. It changes his life that way, and slowly but surely you come to the realization it’s time to step away.”

In Walsh’s opinion, Montana’s only chance to play again is to abandon any attempt to return this season and try again next year.

“If Joe were to rest his elbow completely until mid-spring next year, it might be fine and he could play again. But even if he were to do that, I think his retirement is, well, he can look at it now,” Walsh said.

Montana, who missed all of last season, hasn’t thrown a pass in game conditions since an Aug. 3, 1991, exhibition against Chicago in Berlin.

His last meaningful game was the NFC championship on Jan. 20, 1991, in which he suffered a broken right hand late in the fourth quarter when tackled by Leonard Marshall of the New York Giants, who beat the Niners 15-13.

Montana had appeared on course for another amazing comeback akin to his return from back surgery in 1986.

During mini-camps in April, May and June, Montana had impressive workouts. He was throwing the ball with accuracy and velocity and looked every bit the player who engineered 26 fourth-quarter comebacks.

He entered the 49ers’ training camp on July 16 as the club’s No. 1 quarterback.

But on July 24, he was forced to cut a workout short because of fatigue and soreness in his surgically repaired passing elbow.

Despite intermittent periods of rest, he has not been able to sustain a a consistent regimen of workouts since then.

Ten days before the season began, Seifert named Young as the team’s No. 1 quarterback, the first player to hold the position other than Montana in 10 years.

Montana’s best friend on the team, Steve Bono, was named backup and Montana wound up on injured reserve again.

Montana, in his anxiousness to reclaim his job, probably tried to do too much too soon and is now suffering the consequences.

“If I had to blame anybody, I would blame myself. I think I was pushing the doctors. I’m sure I just overdid it on my own.”

Still, Montana said, he’s convinced from the way he threw during the mini-camps and the early portion of training camp, that he shouldn’t give up yet.

“It’s just frustrating,” he said. “I’ve talked to a couple of the baseball guys who have had it (elbow surgery) and they said it’s taken them almost two years.”

But Seifert already has said that Young would have to play his way out of his job and that Bono would be the first one off the bench. Where that leaves Montana, should he miss the rest of this season and try anew next year, the 49ers aren’t saying.

“That’s so speculative, we don’t even have to consider that right now,” Seifert said.

Montana is signed through next year but could ask the 49ers to let him out of his contract if he thought he could culminate his comeback by playing for another team. Club owner Edward DeBartolo Jr. said he would grant Montana’s wish but it remains to be seen if it ever comes to that.