Joe Montana is getting a new start late in his career and he hopes to make the most of it.
"I'd like to play two or three more years. I just have to see how it goes physically and take it from there," Montana said Thursday as the San Francisco 49ers held their first training camp workouts for rookies, free agents and selected veterans.Montana, who missed all of last season because of a torn right elbow tendon, said he is anxious to show that his passing arm can hold up through this season and beyond.
"Of course I have that fear that something will go wrong with it, but so far I haven't reached that point. I've been able to come back from injuries before. It's all part of this game," Montana said.
He eased into his comeback Thursday, throwing 40 passes under a limited regimen worked out by coaches in consultation with team doctors.
"It's just a precaution," Montana said.
The starting quarterback in the 49ers' four Super Bowl victories, Montana last played under game conditions Aug. 3, when he made a brief appearance against Chicago during an exhibition in Berlin. But he hasn't played in a meaningful NFL game in 18 months, since the January 1991 NFC championship in which the New York Giants defeated the 49ers. Montana broke a bone in his right hand with eight minutes to go in that game and has had four operations since then.
Montana also had the elbow tendon re-attached during surgery last October, underwent arthroscopic knee surgery in March and minor surgery on the elbow again last May because of a buildup of scar tissue.
"There are a lot of major injuries in this game and you have to realize that that's part of it and that rehab and things like that are also part of it," said Montana, who returned to win two more Super Bowls after back surgery in 1986. "I've been through it, so there's no reason why I shouldn't be able to do it again."
Nevertheless, the 49ers are proceeding with caution, limiting Montana to 40 to 60 passes a day. He will throw during only one of the team's two daily practices. Coach George Seifert said Montana would follow the restricted regimen "until we feel there is no need to do it any longer. It might be through the entire camp, but he'll play in all the (preseason) ball games and we'll go from there."
Montana said he still felt some tightness in his elbow but that it was nothing serious.
"You know, they took the tendon and tied it back down, so it's going to feel a little tighter," Montana said.
Seifert has re-installed Montana as the team's No. 1 quarterback over Steve Young, who became the league's top-rated passer in Montana's absence last year, and Steve Bono, who went 5-1 as a starter while playing for the injured Young.
Young has complained that the job should be up for grabs, but Seifert said Montana will be the team's starting quarterback, provided his health allows him to return to his former level of play.
Despite Seifert's assurances, Montana said he knows he has to produce to keep his job.
"There's always competition, and when you say that, you can't count (Bono) out either," Montana said. "He played well last year also. So it's not just like it's (Young) that you've got to look over your shoulder about. You've got to look over both of them."
"But I think that's the way you have to approach it as an athlete. There's always somebody coming up who's younger and faster and wants to take your job. That's all part of it."
The 49ers finished 10-6 last year but missed the playoffs for the first time since 1982.