After riding the pine as a rookie, Montana became the 49ers starting Quarterback midway through the 1980 season.  It was a good start as he finished first in Pass Completion Percentage (64.5), and it was a showcase for the man who became the most successful pivot of the 1980s.

Montana earned his first Pro Bowl in 1981 and led the league in Pass Completion Percentage (63.7), but San Francisco was a far more complete team.  The Niners won 13 games that year, defeated the heavily favored Dallas Cowboys in "The Catch Game" and went on to win the Super Bowl with Montana winning the game's MVP.  "Joe Cool" had arrived, and he was there to stay.

Montana returned to the Pro Bowl in 1983, and also to the Super Bowl, but this time they lost to the Washington Redskins.  A Pro Bowler again in 1984, Montana and the Niners were not going to be denied in that year’s Super Bowl, as Montana won his second Super Bowl and Super Bowl MVP in their sound defeat of the Miami Dolphins.

San Francisco remained strong over the years, and as good as Montana was in the first half of the 1980s, his second was arguably even better.  The Quarterback again was a First Team All-Pro with a league-leading and career-high 31 Touchdown Passes.  The following season, Montana also took the 49ers to a Super Bowl Title, his third of the decade.   

You would think that it would be impossible to top that, but Montana did just that in the next two years.

In 1989 and 1990, Montana achieved rarified NFL air by winning back-to-back MVPs, with the first of those years earning his fourth Super Bowl and third Super Bowl MVP.  There was no other QB from 1980 to 1990 who achieved more than Montana did in the 1980s, and arguably nobody came really close.  As great as this was, this was the end for Joe Montana in San Francisco.

Montana missed the entire 1991 season and most of 1992 due to an elbow injury.  When he was ready to return, Steve Young emerged as the chosen QB, and Montana was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs, where he played two more seasons.  With San Francisco, Montana threw for 35,127 Yards and 244 Touchdowns.

Montana entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and he was named to the NFL 1980s All-Decade, 75^thand 100^thAnniversary Team.  The former Quarterback had his number retired in 1997, and he was an inaugural member of the 49ers Hall of Fame in 2009.