What Joe Montana said about competing with Steve Young and why it's relevant after Ryan Tannehill's recent comments
Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill made some comments this week that will likely haunt him all offseason. Tannehill told reporters on Tuesday that he doesn't feel like it's his job to mentor rookie quarterback Malik Willis, the No. 86 overall pick by Tennessee in the 2022 NFL Draft. Tannehill probably shouldn't have made those comments. […]
Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill made some comments this week that will likely haunt him all offseason.
Tannehill told reporters on Tuesday that he doesn't feel like it's his job to mentor rookie quarterback Malik Willis, the No. 86 overall pick by Tennessee in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Tannehill probably shouldn't have made those comments. Not because he's wrong, but because of the media firestorm it created.
Look, Tannehill's job is to win as many games as possible as the Titans' starting quarterback. His job is to get Tennessee back to the Super Bowl. That's where his focus needs to be.
The second part of Tannehill's quote, which seemed to be ignored by most national media outlets, was "if he learns from me along the way, then that's a great thing".
It's not that Tannehill is hoping to sabotage Willis, he's simply focused on doing his job.
And that's the way most quarterbacks in history have approached similar situations.
Over 30 years ago, two future Hall of Famers were in the same position.
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana was already one of the best to ever play the game when the team brought in quarterback Steve Young as competition.
Montana and Young were "friends", but they competed fiercely on the practice field. Montana wasn't concerned about mentoring Young. Instead, he wanted to keep his job and lead the 49ers to another Super Bowl.
"We're friends, Steve and I," said Montana to Sports Illustrated in 1988, just before the start of the season. "But out on the practice field, if he doesn't hate me as much as I hate him, then there's something wrong."
Can you imagine if Tannehill had said those words instead of "it's not my job to mentor him"?
The social media reaction would be unbelievable.
Montana was helpful to Young at times. And Young was helpful to Montana at times. If players put winning first, that will happen naturally.
Former three-time Pro-Bowl quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is another quarterback who was in a similar situation as Willis. Hasselbeck spoke in 2020 about serving as the backup to Brett Favre in Green Bay. Hasselbeck admitted that it wasn't Favre's job to mentor him.
"I was allowed to be in the room while Andy Reid and Mike Holmgren coached Favre," said Hasselbeck. "It wasn't Brett's job to teach me."
By the way, this is an avenue that goes both ways. The backup quarterback isn't always helpful, either.
"I've heard stories. Some backups don't want to help the starter because they want to play," said longtime NFL quarterback Charlie Batch to ESPN in 2020. "In some cases the backups won't share information, or maybe they're holding back info on audibles — they don't want to see the starter succeed."
The NFL is a business. Sometimes, feelings get hurt. Feelings, however, don't put points on the board. Players doing their job is what puts points on the board.
And as long as Tannehill is the starting quarterback, his main job is to put points on the board and win games. If he spends his time focusing on making sure Willis isn't getting left behind, then the Titans are going to be worse as a team.
Tannehill isn't doing anything different than past quarterbacks have done.
If this approach worked for Montana, Favre, and others, there's no reason it can't work for Tannehill and the Titans.
Featured image via USA TODAY Sports
