In 1979 he chose Joe Montana in the third round. Imagine that! Every other team in the league had a chance to draft the greatest quarterback in history but they put too much faith in scouting reports which claimed that the Notre Dame signal-caller was too slow and had too weak a passing arm. Only Walsh saw his true potential.
That was no fluke. In 1987 Walsh acquired Steve Young from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for second and third-round draft choices. Once Montana was no longer at the top of his game, the 49ers were able to offload him to the Kansas City Chiefs and insert another future Hall of Famer behind center.
And then Walsh did it yet again. As the 49ers' general manager in the late 1990s, he signed quarterback Jeff Garcia, an unheralded San Jose State grad playing in the Canadian Football League. Garcia went on to have three Pro Bowl season in San Francisco flinging the pigskin to the talented if flaky Terrell Owens.
2 comments:
And let's not forget Jerry Rice who was supposed to be too slow. Or Walsh going to Clemson to scout the quarterback but noticing and then drafting Dwight Clark.
Wally,
Very good points. I wonder if he had a system or just an intuitive skill.
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