Joe Montana
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49 free Joe Montana trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Joe Montana rated a six in arm strength at the 1979 scouting combines, went 82nd in the draft behind three other quarterbacks, and retired with four Super Bowl rings, three Super Bowl MVPs and not a single Super Bowl interception in 122 attempts. Along the way he beat hypothermia with chicken soup in the Cotton Bowl, threw The Catch, drove 92 yards past Cincinnati and came back from a back injury doctors said should end his career. These 49 questions cover all of it: Monongahela, the NC State basketball offer, Dan Devine's depth chart, the 1977 title, Steve DeBerg, the Saints comeback, all four Super Bowls, the 22 straight completions, the 476-yard game, the Leonard Marshall sack, the Steve Young controversy, the Kansas City trade and Len Dawson's offer of No. 16. Off the field: Bird Legs, David W. Gibson, the Montagia wine label and Liquid 2 Ventures. Easy questions stick to the rings; the expert tier asks about Gary Forystek and the Schick commercial. Every answer is cited to a page we checked, with a short explanation so you learn something even when you miss. Play it solo or print it for a football night.
30 of 49 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which head coach drafted Montana in 1979 and built the 49ers' West Coast offense around him?
Bill Walsh
Bill Walsh took the 49ers from 2-14 in his first season to a Super Bowl title in his third, with Montana running his offense of short, quick passes.
Q 02Which nickname did Montana carry through his 49ers years?
Joe Cool
Joe Cool was earned for his calm, shown early: as a Notre Dame sophomore he came off the bench against Air Force, trailing 30-10 in the fourth quarter, and won 31-30.
Q 03Montana won Notre Dame's starting job in 1977 by rallying past which in-state rival?
Purdue
Purdue led 24-14 when the third-string Montana came in with about 11 minutes left; he threw for 154 yards, Notre Dame won 31-24 and did not lose again that season.
Q 04In which round of the 1979 NFL draft was Montana selected?
Third
Third round, 82nd overall: a pre-draft scouting report said he "doesn't have great tools, but could eventually start", and three other quarterbacks were taken ahead of him.
Q 05Who caught "The Catch" from Montana in the 1981 NFC Championship Game?
Dwight Clark
Dwight Clark's leaping grab at the back of the end zone beat Dallas 28-27 and sent the 49ers to their first Super Bowl. Montana, knocked down as he threw, never saw it.
Q 06Which team did Montana beat in both Super Bowl XVI and Super Bowl XXIII?
Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati Bengals: the 49ers led the first meeting 20-0 at halftime and held on to win 26-21. Seven years later they needed a touchdown in the final minute to win 20-16.
Q 07Who caught the winning touchdown ending Montana's 92-yard drive in Super Bowl XXIII?
John Taylor
John Taylor caught the 10-yard pass with 34 seconds left. The drive began at the 49ers' own 8-yard line with just over three minutes to play, and Montana hit 8 of 9 throws on it.
Q 08Who broke Montana's record of three Super Bowl MVPs?
Tom Brady
Tom Brady tied the mark in Super Bowl XLIX and passed it two years later. Montana's one Super Bowl without the award was XXIII, the game of his 92-yard winning drive, when a teammate took it.
Q 09Which team did Montana's 49ers rout 55-10 in Super Bowl XXIV?
Denver Broncos
Denver Broncos: it was their third Super Bowl defeat in four seasons, each heavier than the last. Montana threw five touchdown passes and the 45-point margin set a Super Bowl record.
Q 10Which head coach did Montana play for during his two seasons in Kansas City?
Marty Schottenheimer
Marty Schottenheimer, Montana recalls, warned him that Arrowhead would be louder than anything he had heard. The veteran of four Super Bowls scoffed, and the coach replied, "Just wait."
Q 11Which comedian did Montana point out in the stands to relax his huddle before the winning drive of Super Bowl XXIII?
John Candy
John Candy was standing near an exit ramp, and Montana asked tackle Harris Barton, "Isn't that John Candy?" The 49ers, three points down with 3:20 left, then drove 92 yards to win.
Q 12In which Pennsylvania coal-mining town did Montana grow up?
Monongahela
Monongahela: he was born in neighboring New Eagle and starred at Ringgold High, which renamed its football ground Joe Montana Stadium in 2006.
Q 13Which school offered Montana a basketball scholarship out of high school?
NC State
NC State made the offer after he starred for a title-winning Ringgold High team. Basketball was his favorite sport, but he chose football at Notre Dame instead.
Q 21What cut short the 1982 season in which Montana had five straight 300-yard games?
Players' strike
Players' strike: it wiped out seven games of the 1982 season. Montana's passing streak filled most of what was left, yet the 49ers went 3-6 and missed the playoffs a year after winning the Super Bowl.
Q 22In 1983 the 49ers and Baltimore Colts discussed a trade of Montana for which top draft prospect?
John Elway
John Elway was the Stanford star Baltimore held the first pick for. The deal died, the 49ers kept Montana, and Elway, who refused to play for the Colts, was traded to Denver instead.
Q 23Which team handed Montana's 15-1 49ers their only loss of 1984?
Pittsburgh Steelers
Q 14Which Notre Dame coach said Montana was "the guy who's going to feed our family"?
Dan Devine
Dan Devine said it in 1975 after his wife asked, "Who's Joe Montana?" Yet two years later he still had Montana third on the depth chart when the title season began.
Q 15Montana's 1979 Cotton Bowl comeback against Houston is remembered by what name?
The Chicken Soup Game
The Chicken Soup Game: fighting hypothermia in an ice storm, Montana was warmed with soup in the locker room, returned with Notre Dame down 34-12 and won 35-34 on the final play.
Q 16Which No. 1 team did Notre Dame beat 38-10 in the Cotton Bowl to clinch the 1977 title?
Texas
Texas was unbeaten and had Heisman Trophy winner Earl Campbell, but lost by 28 points, and fifth-ranked Notre Dame vaulted to the national title.
Q 17Which quarterback did the New York Giants draft seventh overall in 1979, 75 picks before Montana?
Phil Simms
Phil Simms was one of three quarterbacks taken in the first round while Montana waited for the 82nd pick. Simms started and won one Super Bowl; Montana won four.
Q 18Which starter did Montana back up for most of his rookie season in 1979?
Steve DeBerg
Steve DeBerg started while the rookie Montana threw only 23 passes. DeBerg later saw starting jobs in Denver and Tampa Bay go to two more young future Hall of Fame quarterbacks.
Q 19Montana's first NFL comeback win, from 35-7 down in 1980, came against which then-winless team?
New Orleans Saints
New Orleans Saints: they led 35-7 at halftime, but the 49ers tied it by the end of regulation and won 38-35 on an overtime field goal. It was the biggest deficit Montana ever overcame.
Q 20Super Bowl XIX, Montana's second title, was played close to home at which college stadium?
Stanford Stadium
Stanford Stadium is just down the peninsula from San Francisco, so the 49ers won almost on their doorstep. No team won a Super Bowl in its own home stadium until Tampa Bay in 2021.
Pittsburgh Steelers won 20-17 in October, all that stood between the 49ers and a perfect season. San Francisco won its other 18 games, the Super Bowl among them.
Q 24Which quarterback did Montana outduel in Super Bowl XIX with a then-record 331 passing yards?
Dan Marino
Dan Marino had thrown a record 48 touchdown passes that season, but Montana outpassed him, ran for 59 yards more and won 38-16.
Q 25Doctors suggested Montana retire in 1986 after he injured what in the season opener?
Spinal disc
Spinal disc: he ruptured it throwing a pass and needed back surgery, and doctors advised him to give up football. He returned within two months and threw three touchdown passes in his first game back.
Q 26Montana set an NFL record in 1987 with 22 straight what?
Completed passes
Completed passes: he hit his last five against Cleveland and his first 17 a week later against Green Bay, breaking Ken Anderson's record of 20 in a row.
Q 27Which quarterback did the 49ers trade for in 1987, sparking a years-long controversy over Montana's job?
Steve Young
Steve Young arrived from Tampa Bay as the backup, took over while Montana was injured in 1991 and 1992, and kept the job. Montana asked for a trade and left in 1993.
Q 28Montana's four fourth-quarter touchdown passes in 1989 beat which team?
Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles led 21-10 in the fourth quarter before Montana threw touchdown passes to four different receivers and won 38-28, finishing with 428 yards.
Q 29Montana threw a career-best 476 yards and six touchdowns in 1990 against which team?
Atlanta Falcons
Atlanta Falcons: his 476 yards and six touchdown passes both set 49ers records, and five of the scores went to the same receiver, yet San Francisco won only 45-35.
Q 30Which Giants defender's sack knocked Montana out of the 1990 NFC Championship Game?
Leonard Marshall
Leonard Marshall's blind-side hit bruised Montana's sternum and broke a rib and a bone in his hand; Montana called it the hardest he ever took. The Giants won 15-13 on five field goals.