In an alternative universe, Joe Montana and Barry Sanders were teammates in Detroit. Montana apparently wanted to team up with Sanders with the Lions in 1993, but the union never materialized.
Wayne Fontes, who was the Lions coach at the time, told Sanders in Amazon's new documentary on the superstar running back that Montana reached out about playing for the Lions ahead of the 1993 season. Montana was on his way out of San Francisco and apparently wanted to share a backfield with the future Hall of Famer.
"[Montana] called me and he said, 'I'd love to play with you and Barry Sanders,' Fontes said. "I nearly jumped off my desk."
While Fontes was elated with the news, the team's general manager at the time didn't share his coach's enthusiasm.
"I went and saw Chuck Schmidt and I said, 'We got a chance at Joe Montana,' Fontes recalled. "But Chuck Schmidt said, 'He's too old. He's over the hill. He's done, another year.' I went back to Joe and said, 'I'm sorry.'"
This was new information for Sanders, who apparently just missed out on a chance to play with one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.
Instead of going to Detroit, Montana ended up in Kansas City, where he enjoyed two more productive seasons that included leading the Chiefs to within a game of the Super Bowl.
"He lit it up in Kansas City," Sanders said.
Detroit made the playoffs in four of the next five seasons but never advanced beyond the wild card round. Part of the reason was the fact that defenses could focus more of their energy on containing Sanders, who had one career 100-yard rushing game in six postseason appearances.
While Sanders never won a Super Bowl, he received every individual honor an athlete can win, including a statute that the Lions built in his honor earlier this year.
