Nick Montana Taking the Hard Road with Washington Commitment

Something tells me that this son of a Hall of Fame quarterback isn’t going to decide to give up on football when he gets to college (yes, I’m taking a shot at you, Jack Elway, but I do wish you all the best in your future endeavors).

As of right now, Nick Montana is rated a four-star quarterback on Rivals.com and is ranked the 12th-best pro-style QB in the 2010 class. All indications are that he has the work ethic and the natural ability to continue to improve.

Montana’s junior year at Oaks Christian High School finished up with a line of 2,404 passing yards, a 55.2 percent completion percentage, and a 33-to-7 touchdown to interception ratio. Clearly there is a bit more quarterback to Montana than just his last name.

What impresses me most about Montana’s decision to commit to Washington is how telling it is of his competitive nature. Without knowing anything else about him, this decision says a lot about his character and his willingness to attempt to make a name for himself based on his own merit.

Here in the United States, we live in a country built on brand names. We eat at fast food “restaurants” like McDonald's and drink beverages like Coca-Cola and Pepsi, not necessarily because they are the best tasting or most affordable, but because from a young age we are brought up on these brand names and embrace them.

Sports brands are no different. Certain teams and logos resonate with us, whether we love them or hate them: the New York Yankees, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Dallas Cowboys. Every single one of us knows who Wayne Gretzky is. Michael Jordan. Tiger Woods.

Joe Montana isn’t a great Hall of Fame quarterback, a la Jim Kelly or Warren Moon. He is one of THE great Hall of Fame quarterbacks, his name often mentioned with the title of “Greatest Quarterback of All Time,” and at the very least always being brought up in that discussion.

Being the son of Joe Montana comes with its challenges. Nick will always be compared to his father, setting an obscenely high bar and a ton of media scrutiny over his head for the entirety of his career, however long or short it ends up being.

But it also comes with its perks; there will always be someone out there willing to take a shot on the son of Joe Montana.

With obvious talent at the position and the name on the back of his jersey, Montana could have easily taken a smooth road to the NFL. With virtually every single team in the country after him, Montana could have chosen a proven dynasty of a program or one with an established run-heavy offense where he could have just run an easy, efficient offense and let the media hype do the rest come draft time.

Instead, Montana has committed to a program in shambles. Washington is coming off of a humiliating winless season, looking completely hopeless on both sides of the ball, ranked 118th in the country in points scored and 117th in points against.

Steve Sarkisian may very well be a good fit for this program and may help turn things around, but he has a very long way to go, and even if he recruits wonderfully and gets the best out of all of his players (a tall order for a first time head coach), it’s still going to be a bumpy ride by the time Montana suits up.

There is a good chance that the offensive line might not be shored up by the time Nick Montana takes over as the Huskies quarterback and that he’ll get thrown around like a rag doll out there.

There’s a chance he may not have a running back he can count on to take some of the pressure off of his shoulders.

There is a chance that even if he is pro quarterback material, his college career will be such a mess that he won’t get a fair look when it’s all said and done.

He knows all this. He knew his alternatives. But he’s looking this challenge right in the face and saying, “bring it on.”

Until I get more chances to see him play, I won’t have any way of comparing Nick to his father from a football standpoint.

But when it comes to competitive spirit? Doesn’t look like the apple fell too far from the tree.

—Dave Consolazio, www.allpac10.com