The Greatest Trade For Every NFL Team In History
By Erik Lambert
Kansas City Chiefs: The Joe Montana trade
By the early 1990s the Kansas City Chiefs felt they had a strong team that was ready to take a run at the AFC. What they lacked was a legitimate presence at quarterback who could bring it all together. Luckily the San Francisco 49ers threw them an unexpected lifeline in 1993 when the shocked the football world by making four-time Super Bowl champion Joe Montana available for trade. Even though he was 37-years old at the time, the Chiefs felt he might still have some magic left in that right arm. So they gave the 49ers a 1st round pick in exchange for him, David Whitmore and a 3rd round pick.
Montana overcame initial injury struggles to deliver a vintage Pro Bowl season, going 8-3 as a starter and getting Kansas City into the playoffs. There he reminded the world why he was arguably the greatest ever as he led comeback wins against both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Houston Oilers. Sadly things ended on a tragic note in the AFC championship. After putting the team in position for a possible touchdown that was bobbled and intercepted, Montana was knocked out of the game with a concussion. Buffalo ran away with a 30-13 win.
Even so, there is no doubt the Montana trade got the Chiefs teams of that era closer to a championships than they’ve been since the start of the 1970s.
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