Say it ain't so, Joe.

I was a casual observer of the Super Bowl last night, paying scant attention to the ads and looking up at the game periodically while I finished doing our taxes. I was rooting for Pittsburgh, but it wouldn't make a whit of difference to me who won, really. I was interested to see the pregame introduction of the living Super Bowl MVPs from games 1-39. Baseball is very good at using the national spotlight to connect the game's history to its present, and football does far too little of that. (Especially considering that football is so "young," relative to baseball, and so many football greats are still with us.) Anyway, glancing down at TurboTax and then up toward the TV, I had the fleeting thought, "Wow, is it possible that Joe Montana was never the SuperBowl MVP?"

Apparently, no, it is not possible. Instead, rumor has it, Montana, the ONLY 3-time MVP, skipped the ceremony....over money. (So, perhaps, did Terry Bradshaw.) In terms of fame and fortune (I'll leave aside the essential goodness of Joe Montana as a human being--I don't know him, but surely he's a good husband, father, friend, etc), Joe Montana owes far more to the NFL than the NFL does to him. There would have been other superstar players if Montana had never picked up a football, but there would not be The Legend of Joe Montana if not for the NFL. So, millionaire, think you can show-up for an all-expenses paid trip to the game, even if the NFL won't guarantee you $100k?

And to think I named my cat after you, you greedy bastard.