Florida Today from Cocoa, Florida • Page 34

20C FLORIDA TODAY, Monday, January 29, 1990 I it 5 7'i Montana the greatest? 49er's potent passing day dismantles Broncos car L-iz Ctl I FLORIDA TODAY Wires NEW ORLEANS Never mind the hype. In the end, it was just another day at the office for Joe Montana. He was the NFL's top quarterback going into Super Bowl XXIV. After the game, he was being touted as the greatest ever. to Rice, gave Montana a Super Bowl record for total touchdown passes with 10 in four games.

The second, a 35-yarder to John Taylor, gave Montana another Super Bowl record five touchdown passes in a game. It also gave San Francisco a 41-3 lead. "The guy has a great offense. He's a great athlete. He has a nice touch on the ball and he's able to find his receivers all the time," Denver nose tackle Greg Kragen said.

Montana, who is 4-0 in the Super Bowl and 8-0 in the Super-dome, was named Super Bowl MVP for a record third time. "My game was easy. The offensive line played fantastic," Montana said. "They make my job easy when I can sit back there and look around." with a mission. We were very determined and we showed that today," Montana said.

Montana, the top-rated passer in NFL history and in the league this season, rewrote Super Bowl records in San Francisco's 55-10 rout of the Denver Broncos. He missed his first two passes in the game then completed the next three, including a 20-yard touchdown pass to Rice that put the 49ers ahead to stay. By halftime Montana was 15-for-21 for 189 yards and three touchdowns and far from done. Two quick interceptions of John Elway on Denver's first and second possessions of the third quarter led to two quick touchdown passes for Montana The first a one-play, 28-yarder San Francisco rout sets marks FLORIDA TODAY Wires NEW ORLEANS History, as well as the Denver Broncos, took a beating in Sunday's 55-10 Super Bowl victory by the San Francisco 49ers. San Francisco became the second NFL team to win four Super Bowls.

The Pittsburgh Steelers were the first "If you want to go for another, that's fine with me," 49ers owner Ed DeBartolo told his "Joe's the best" 49ers receiver Jerry Rice said. "What can you say? He did a great job," Denver coach Dan Reeves said. The San Francisco quarterback came to work on time and punched out early. In between he took care of business. "I think we came down here AP CELEBRATION: San Francisco quarterback Joe Montana savors a third-quarter touchdown pass with lineman Guy Mclntyre.

49eirs trailed; EToocos aoooDze BOTES team in the locker room after Sunday's victory. The 55 points scored by San Francisco were the most in a San Fran, now aims for No. 3 By Peter Kerasotis FLORIDA TODAY NEW ORLEANS Little Jim Burt 8 years old, sat at his daddy's feet in a San Francisco 49er locker room dripping with sweat and success. In his hands he was counting six $1 bills. "Some Bronco guy said they were going to kick San Francisco's butt," the son of the veteran nose tackle said.

"I won 6 dollars." And the 49ers won Super Bowl XXIV in the Superdome on Sunday by a 55-10 margin over the Denver Broncos to become the first team to repeat since the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1979 and 1980. Elsewhere in the 49er locker room there was talk and even chants of "threepeat." "We're going to celebrate this r' -J el si. I -v "--6 i 4. 1 I It Super Bowl. The Chicago Bears set the previous record with their 46-10 victory over New England in Super Bowl XX, also in New Orleans.

"This is the best team in the history of football," 49ers offensive tackle Bubba Paris said of his team. Joe Montana, who set five career and two game records in Sunday's game, was named the Most Valuable Player of the Super Bowl for a record third time. Bart Starr and Terry Bradshaw have been MVP twice each. "Joe's the best," said 49ers receiver Jerry Rice, who caught three of Montana's record five touchdown passes. Montana's first completion to Roger Craig on the fifth play of the game was his 62nd in Super Bowl competition.

He and Dallas' Roger Staubach had been tied with 61. Montana's sixth pass attempt of the game was his 99th in the Super Bowl, breaking another of Staubach's records. Montana's 7-yard touchdown pass to Brent Jones late in the first quarter gave him 934 career Super Bowl passing yards. That surpassed the previous record of 932 by Pittsburgh's Terry Bradshaw. Montana's 28-yard touchdown pass to Jerry Rice early in the third quarter was the San Francisco quarterback's 10th Super Bowl career touchdown pass, surpassing another of Bradshaw's records.

Montana's touchdown pass to John Taylor in the third quarter gave him five TD passes, one more than Bradshaw had in Pittsburgh's 35-31 Super Bowl victory against Dallas in 1979. Thirteen consecutive completions by Montana set another Super Bowl record, topping the 12 straight by Phil Simms of the New York Giants against Denver in 1987. Roger Craig got his 17th career Super Bowl reception late in the first quarter, breaking a record he previously shared with Pittsburgh's Lynn Swann. Craig's career Super Bowl total of 24 points on four touchdowns also equaled the lifetime record of Pittsburgh's Franco Harris. Denver cornerback Tyrone Braxton: "Late in the third quarter and at the beginning of the fourth, I knew we were in trouble.

We didn't have many points and we weren't doing anything." The score at the time was 48-10. The first team that scored had won 16 of the previous 23 Super Bowls. Make that 17 of 24. Teams wearing white jerseys had won 13 of 23 Super Bowls. San Francisco wore white.

Five servicemen involved in the recent U.S. invasion of Panama were the Super Bowl guests of New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson. one right now for maybe a month or two; then we're going to get serious," cornerback Darryl Pol Pressure hits Denver QB Elway By Brian White FLORIDA TODAY NEW ORLEANS Early this season, John Elway complained he was being "suffocated." On Sunday, the Denver Broncos quarterback was humiliated. In one of the biggest games of his seven-year career, he was at his worst as the Broncos suffered a 55-10 Super Bowl loss to the San Francisco 49ers. Completing 10 of 26 passes for 108 yards, Elway was rattled into two interceptions and pressured into two fumbles.

He was removed from the game with 9 minutes, 28 seconds remaining, left to sit and ponder his 03 Super Bowl mark. "We struck out again," he said, "but 111 take the chance to go to bat any day. "I'm disappointed in the way I played, but it was not because of lack of effort The 49ers are great as well-oiled a machine as youll find." As he was all week, Elway was coughing and sneezing during his postgame interview session. He stressed, however, his health had nothing to do with his performance. The saying is that as Elway goes, so go the Broncos.

Such was the case Sunday. His 38 percent completion rate was his second-worst of the season and prompted some 49ers to wonder aloud about his ineffectiveness. Asked what was wrong with the Denver quarterback, San Francisco safety Ronnie Lott said, "I'm not sure, but when he threw that first out pattern, it didn't look like John Elway." Said Elway: "I never got in sync. Our timing was off." He took little solace in the fact that he has played in three Super Bowls earlier in his career than any quarterback in NFL history. He also was well aware his club's loss Sunday was its fourth in four Super Bowls, a record that ties the Minnesota in ignominy.

"It's disappointing," FJway said. "You start questioning why we can't play better in Super Bowls. Why do we always get here and play so poorly? We have to get back to the drawing board and figure out how to win one of these things." lard said. "Everybody is thinking For quarterback Joe Montana, it is already a "threepeat" of sorts three Super Bowl MVPs. He won the award Sunday on the strength of his Super Bowl-record five touchdown passes.

He spread the credit around to his teammates. "I think we were all ready," he said. "There was a lot of talk about (the Broncos) and there were some things that happened out in the streets and they were talking to us and I think that helped motivate our team. I tell you what our offense was executing and our defense shut down another great offensive team, and those were two of the biggest keys." A lot of Montana's passes were short, but his receivers continually turned them into long gains. "One of the great things about our guys, not only our wide receivers, but our running backs, is that we're not afraid to give them the ball short because they've got some great ability to run with it after the catch.

They've been showing that all year." Watching Sunday's game from Louisiana Superdome suites were Army SgL Michael R. Alexander of Clairton, Navy Parachite Rigger 3rd Class Richard E. Asherman of Naples, Marine Lance Cpl. Aaron S. Jenkins of South Shore, Air Force Staff Sgt Keith W.

Ingram of Bicknell, and Coast Guard Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class Jeffrey Corns of Bucyrus, Ohio. i AP UNDER PRESSURE: Denver quarterback John Francisco's Pierce Holt during Super Bowl XXIV. Elway gets off a pass despite the rush of San Denver's Ken Lanier tries to hold off Holt. I Super Bowl report, 1-2C, 5-6C. I Super Bowl summary, 5C.

QB San Fran. no average Joe 1 I DAVE MJSEE sspb esi un r. i'Zi: All-time best? 49ers, Rice says FLORIDA TODAY Wires NEW ORLEANS No team has won more Super Bowls. No team has scored more points in a Super BowL Does that make the San Francisco 49ers the best Super Bowl team ever? Absolutely, if you're Jerry Rice, who earns a living catching passes from Joe Montana. Then the comparison with Super Bowl teams past is no problem at all "We took the attitude that we were the best team," Rice said after catching three TD passes from Montana in Sunday's 55-10 thrashing of Denver.

"We have the best quarterback." Equipped with five career and two game records following the Super Bowl romp, Montana seems to give the 49ers an edge over Pittsburgh's four championship teams and the Chicago club that scored 46 points against New England in the 1986 game. Linebacker Matt Millen, who played on two Raider championship teams, said these 49ers are "the best offense I have ever seen bar none. In three postseason first halves this season, that adds up to 46-for-58 (793 percent) for 597 yards, nine touchdowns and no interceptions. In the second half, he continued to make mincemeat of the Broncos. His 35-yard scoring pass to John Taylor in the third quarter was his fifth TD pass of the game, breaking Bradshaw's and Doug Williams' single-game Super Bowl record, and he completed 13 consecutive passes at one point breaking Phil Simms' Super Bowl record.

Through the years critics have talked about the advantage Montana has with all the weapons he has had at his disposal and how he's the byproduct and chief beneficiary of a system that's designed to make him the star. Nonsense. Montana has won four Super Bowls with different personnel Nine years ago, his starting cast was fullback Earl Cooper and running back Ricky Patton, tight end Charle Young and wide receivers Dwight Clark and Freddie Solomon. In four Super Bowls, here are Montana's statistics: 82 of 121 (67.8 percent) for 1,136 yards and 11 touchdowns without a single interception, all of them records. He's also rushed for 101 yards and two TDs on 18 carries, an average of 5.6 yards an attempt Canton is calling.

No waiting. Broncs fumble away big chance FLORIDA TODAY Wires NEW ORLEANS As thorough a thrashing as the Denver Broncos took, there was a moment when things might have gone the other way. Denver responded to the first 49er touchdown in the first quarter with a David Treadwell field goaL Then Denver stopped Joe Montana, forcing a punt Now here comes John Elway, halfway to the San Francisco end zone, 51 yards away from putting Denver in front In the tradition of this city that care forgot let the good times rolL Denver's good time lasted exactly one play. Rookie Bobby Humphrey, playing with a flak jacket protecting two broken ribs, had run well on the Denver field goal drive. So, it seemed logical to give the ball to the rookie again.

This time, it didn't work. Humphrey, a rusher in his first NFL season, tried the left side and the play worked for 1 yard. Suddenly, the ball squirted free as strong safety Chet Brooks grabbed it for San Francisco. Montana took advantage. Ten plays later, with 3 seconds remaining in the quarter, be threw a 7-yard TD pass to Brent Jones for a 3 49ers lead.

NEW ORLEANS Forget Disneyland, Joe. That's small potatoes. You're going to Canton, Ohio. Enjoy the ride. Why wait to induct him into the Pro Football Hall of Fame? Why not erect his own wing right now? Hasn't he done enough already to warrant special exemption? Montana has broken all kinds of football's records and has been so good for pro football that the game ought to bend its rules for him.

Here, Joe. Go directly to Canton. Do not pass "Go." Do not collect the MVP trophy leave that for somebody else. We've run out of adjectives to describe him. So has Roget's Thesaurus.

Maybe Broncos owner Pat Bowlen wasnt far from the truth when he called him The Almighty. The 49ers' quarterback was his average Joe on Sunday even though he was logged into a new decade amid controversy. Some people wondered about his character in the wake of ridiculous drug allegations. How would he react in the Super Bowl? Under the weight of innuendo, he produced maybe his most significant performance breaking records practically every commercial break. In the first quarter, he broke Roger Staubach's Super Bowl record for most passing yards.

He threw two touchdown passes, one to Jerry Rice after looking off two other receivers. He even kept that drive alive by scrambling for a first down. Then, before halftime, Montana initiated the 2-minute offense, a device that brings out the true competitor in him. It's his ultimate challenge and toy. He nickled and dimed Denver before cashing in big.

His 38-yard TD pass to Rice 34 seconds before halftime tied Bradshaw's Super Bowl record for career TDs. Halftime paid tribute to a dog. They could have used the Broncos for that Or they could have just let Montana take a curtain calL He was 15of-21 for 189 yards an ran his passing attempts-without-an-interception streak to 114. They made it so easy we didn't have anvthme to do. i (Dave Albee writes for the Marin Independent Journal and GannetiNews Service).

completions and attempts and Terry Bradshaw's Super Bowl record for most.