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Montana Says NFL Trying To
Embarrass Him Over Snub |
Pro Football HOFer Joe Montana, who declined to take part in the Super Bowl XL
ceremony that recognized past Super Bowl MVPs, “believes that because he rejected
the NFL, the NFL, in turn, tried to embarrass him” by contacting the S.F. Chronicle,
according to Peter Kerasotis of FLORIDA TODAY. The day after the Super Bowl, the
Chronicle quoted two sources “close to the league and reported that Montana asked
for a guarantee of at least $100,000 to appear,” which Montana denied. Montana
said of the $1,000 the league offered him to appear, “That’s all? They should
have been embarrassed to offer guys just a thousand dollars.” Montana added that
the NFL has “fought him every step of the way when he’s filed for workman’s compensation”
for health issues stemming from his NFL career. He said the fight “went all the
way to the California Supreme Court, and I won. Twice they’ve stopped payment,
and I’ve had to fight them again. Just a few months before this last Super Bowl
they stopped payment again. Then they want me to skip my boys’ basketball games
to help them out. That’s typical of the NFL. And then they tried to make me look
bad.” More Montana: “They want you to do stuff for them, but they don’t want to
do anything for you, not without getting their money. A few years ago, I wanted
them to do something for a charity I was doing for kids. It was like I was just
another guy. They wanted me to pay full fee” (
FLORIDA
TODAY, 5/14). The NFL declined to comment (
THE DAILY).
