FanPost

One 49ers player you wish stayed healthy throughout their career

Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Recently on Twitter there has been a few people that have asked the question, "Which player do you wish would've been able to stay healthy throughout their career?" or something along these lines. My immediate thought went to Joe Montana.

I grew up in Sacramento starting in the early 80s. I am too young to remember that first Super Bowl against the Bengals but I do remember the game against the Dolphins after the 84 season. I remember thinking that I wanted to grow up with the "Cool" demeanor of Joe Cool. I wanted to be great under pressure and be able to lead any team into any situation to always come out victorious.

Joe Montana is considered by most people to be at the very least Top 5 QBs to ever play the game. My opinion is that he's Top 2 and his health is the only reason Brady is even there with him. I want to say that they are 1a and 1b. Brady has only missed 15 games due to tearing his ACL and MCL in 2008. Joe Montana missed 56 games over 15 years and retired "early" because of them. The game has changed so much between these 2 careers and for the better. I mean Montana has gone through so many surgeries to fix his ailments ant they aren't done yet.

Now let's talk about Montana's injury history.

In 86 he missed 8 games due to back injury. 49ers went 6-2 with Joe and 4-3-1 without him. While I think the 49ers would've been better that year with Joe playing all of the games, I think the Giants were just too good to be beat. During the offseason, Bill Walsh traded for Steve Young because of Montana's injury.

The 90 NFC Championship Game... People will remember this game because of the Roger Craig fumble but you shouldn't. In the 4th quarter, Leonard Marshall absolutely crushed Montana. I distantly remember crying as soon as it happened. I was 10 years old and Joe was my idol. I couldn't believe that they were allowed to hit a player like that. Of course I was very biased about it because I used to love seeing Ronnie Lott do it to other players. At this point in the game, the 49ers were up 13-9. Imagine if Joe wouldn't have gotten hurt. Of course Steve Young played ok for the 1 throw he had to make but the Giants knew the 49ers were going to run the clock out and stacked up against the run. I personally believe that the savvy veteran Montana would've checked out of a run for a quick throw at some point to force the Giants to respect the pass in the closing minutes of the game. If the 49ers win this game, they would've easily handled the Bills in the Super Bowl.

Montana went on to miss all of 91 and most of 92 because of the injuries he sustained in the NFC Championship Game. In 91, Young only played in 11 games due to injury and went 5-5 as the starter. Steve Bono went 5-1. The 49ers barely missed the playoffs this year. Of course if Montana would've been healthy the whole season, there is a good chance they would've made the playoffs and I believe that Washington would not have made it past the 49ers to the Super Bowl.

1992 was a completely different story as Steve Young really started to come into his own. This is when the 49ers realized that they could trade Montana and after the 92 season it was exactly what they did.

Now let's imagine if the scenario I discussed really happened.

The 49ers would've more than likely won 4 straight Super Bowls...

Joe Montana would've played his whole career in San Francisco.

Steve Young would've ended up going to another team and would've been just as successful.

49ers fans wouldn't have to compare Brady and Montana.

Quest for Six would be Quest for Seven or Eight at this point.

When you think about the Greatest QB of All-Time where Joe Montana sits, just remember that you are doing that with all of the injuries he sustained, not without. He would've been far greater if he could've stayed healthy.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors.