Every former Notre Dame football player in the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Joe Montana

There’s no question that “Joe Cool” had a Hall of Fame career, both with Notre Dame and in the NFL. Joe Montana quarterbacked the Fighting Irish to the national championship in 1977 and was part of the program for five seasons.

Montana was elected in the third round of the 1979 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers. Across the next sixteen years, he’d become one of the most successful quarterbacks in the history of the league, ending his career in 1994 after a pair of seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs.

He was a fantastic passer, winning a pair of MVP awards, and leading the NFL in virtually every passing category at some point in his career, including completion percentage five such times. He threw for 273 touchdowns and just 139 interceptions in his career, though it’s the postseason that stands out.

Montana became the first quarterback to lead his team to four Super Bowl championships, winning titles in 1981, 1984, 1988, and 1989. That final title during Super Bowl XXIV saw him throw for 297 yards and 5 touchdowns in a rout of the Denver Broncos, earning him a third Super Bowl MVP honor.

One of the greatest players in the history of the NFL, Montana only had to wait until 2000 to earn his enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He won a ton of games during a dominant run with the 49ers, had success at the end with the Chiefs, and remains one of the game’s most impactful players.