• Articles
  • News
  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Website Terms of Use
  • Contact
Total Packers - Green Bay Packers Blogs and News
  • Home
  • Analysis
  • Packers News
  • Contact
  • Disclaimer
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Analysis
  • Packers News
  • Contact
  • Disclaimer
No Result
View All Result
Total Packers
No Result
View All Result

When the Packers Could Have Had Joe Montana

Joseph Bonham by Joseph Bonham
April 22, 2016
in Uncategorized
10

Joe Montana

The NFL Draft is littered with stories like these. The scouting department wants one guy, the coach or general manager wants another and the team ultimately ends up passing on a Hall of Fame talent.

It happened with the Green Bay Packers and Joe Montana, according to scout Chris Landry, who has compiled a list of such horror stories from throughout the draft’s history.

The year was 1979.

The Green Bay scouting department wanted to take Joe Montana in the third round. General manager/head coach Bart Starr opted for a more immediate need, Maryland defensive tackle Charles Johnson.

Montana, the greatest quarterback I’ve ever personally witnessed, is in the Hall of Fame. Johnson played just three seasons with the Packers.

Now, before you get delusions of grandeur about Montana leading those Starr-coached teams to glory, consider this.

The Packers had a perfectly fine quarterback at the time in Lynn Dickey. The guy led the league in yardage (4,458) and touchdowns (32) in 1983. Sure, he threw his share of picks, but was capable enough of leading the offense.

The Packers’ problems on those teams always stemmed from one place — defense.

They couldn’t play any. Outside of a John Anderson here and an Ezra Johnson there, the Packers had no talent on defense and usually found themselves in a track meet because of it.

First to 55 wins!

Not even Joe Montana was going to make up for the ineptness of those late-70s, early-80s Packers defenses.

Of course, you could argue that passing on Montana changed the trajectory of the Packers. That having Montana would have caused them to draft differently. Landry suggests that contributed directly to another knee-jerk move a couple years later.

Starr, missing out on Montana two years earlier was determined to draft a quarterback this go round and selected Cal-Berkeley QB Rich Campbell at No. 6, passing on the guy who the Packers wanted to draft — USC DB Ronnie Lott, who was selected by the 49ers two picks later.

Campbell stuck with the Packers for four seasons, but he never started a game.

Although it was commonplace at the time, this is why most coaches don’t also get to be general managers anymore.

Tags: Bart StarrBart StarrCharles JohnsonGreen Bay PackersJoe MontanaRich CampbellRonnie Lott
Previous Post

Coverage is the Need for Packers at Inside Linebacker

Next Post

What If with Myles Jack and Jaylon Smith

Bart Starr at Lambeau in 2017

Comparing the Best Earlier-era NFL Postseason Quarterbacks

February 4, 2020
Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers

How Does Aaron Rodgers Stack Up Against Green Bay’s All-Time Greats?

November 2, 2019
Aaron Jones Lambeau Leap

Packers Defense Wins Again Over Vikings 21-16

September 16, 2019
Packers vs Jets 2018

Recapping Packers 2019 Off-Season Moves

July 9, 2019
Next Post
Jaylon Smith

What If with Myles Jack and Jaylon Smith

Comments 10

  1. Avatar for MikeChicago MikeChicago says:
    7 years ago

    Charles Johnson
    Joe Montana
    Charles Freaking Johnson
    sigh

  2. Avatar for JohnF JohnF says:
    7 years ago

    Don’t know how much it would have changed the Packers, never going far with that d. But that would have been a seismic change for the Niners. No Montana, no Lott. The draft is a funny game, sometimes.

  3. Avatar for Deepsky Deepsky says:
    7 years ago

    Bob Harlan tells stories about how Red Cochran became furious with Starr for not drafting Joe Montana. Harlan also tells the story of how, when Starr drafted Campbell, a scout leaned over to him and said “Campbell is going to be a bust, Ronnie Lott was the right pick.”

    Somewhere along the way Harlan decided not to let coaches make personnel decisions.

    • Avatar for PF4L PF4L says:
      7 years ago

      I’ll say it. Starr had no business coaching the Packers. But you can’t blame Starr, blame the incompetent non football people that hired him.

  4. Avatar for Eduardo Eduardo says:
    7 years ago

    Next up: the Barry Sanders instead of Tony Mandarich story.

    • Avatar for PF4L PF4L says:
      7 years ago

      ^ lol

      I could of had a V-8.

    • Avatar for Deepsky Deepsky says:
      7 years ago

      I can forgive the Mandarich pick. The guy was truly a freak, running a 4.65 40. That’s unheard of, even today. Even Jimmy Johnson said half his staff wanted to take Mandarich over Aikman.

  5. Avatar for Andy Pants Andy Pants says:
    7 years ago

    I blame Ted Thompson.

  6. Avatar for Big B Big B says:
    7 years ago

    Or Deion Sanders instead of Mandarich……

  7. Avatar for The Money Mike The Money Mike says:
    7 years ago

    Ironically the San Francisco 49ers drafted a Charles Johnson in the 4th round that year

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Total Packers - Green Bay Packers News and Rumors

Subscribe to Packers News Updates

100% Spam Free - Unsubscribe at any time.

Find It!

No Result
View All Result

Recent Posts

  • 2023 Packer Draft: What We Learned
  • Packers Choose TE Tucker Kraft with 78th Pick in Round 3 NFL Draft
  • Packers Select TE Luke Musgrave & WR Jayden Reed in 2nd Round NFL Draft
  • Packers Draft Lukas Van Ness
  • Packers 2023 Draft Brings Opportunity
  • TV-Drama “As the Packers Turn” Cancelled as Star Diva Aaron Rodgers Traded to Jets
  • Packer Potential Draft Strategies
  • A Fan’s Farewell to John Brockington
  • Packer Draft Needs: Safety
  • An Aaron Rodgers Farewell
  • Packer Draft Needs: Edge
  • Inside the Packers’ Insane Ticket Situation

Popular Tags

A.J. Hawk Aaron Rodgers Brett Favre Brian Gutekunst Bryan Bulaga Charles Woodson Chicago Bears Chicago Bears Clay Matthews Clay Matthews III Dallas Cowboys Davante Adams Detroit Lions Eddie Lacy fans Featured free agents game analysis Green Bay Packers Green Bay Packers Greg Jennings injuries Jay Cutler Jermichael Finley Jordy Nelson Julius Peppers Mike McCarthy Mike McCarthy Minnesota Vikings Morgan Burnett New England Patriots New Orleans Saints NFL Oakland Raiders Philadelphia Eagles predictions Randall Cobb Sam Shields San Francisco 49ers Seattle Seahawks T.J. Lang Ted Thompson Ted Thompson Tramon Williams Ty Montgomery
No Result
View All Result
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Articles
  • News
  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Website Terms of Use
  • Contact

© 2022 Total Packers -- This site is not affiliated with the Green Bay Packers or Packers.com

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Analysis
  • Packers News
  • Contact
  • Disclaimer

© 2022 Total Packers -- This site is not affiliated with the Green Bay Packers or Packers.com