Joe Montana - Early Life

Early Life

Montana was born to Joseph Clifford Montana, Sr. (born 1932) and Theresa Marie Bavuso Montana (1935–2004) in New Eagle, Pennsylvania, a borough of Washington County located in the western portion of the state. He grew up in the neighbor city of Monongahela, a coal mining town 25 miles (40 km) south of Pittsburgh. His maternal grandparents, Vincenzo "James" Bavuso and Josephine Savarino Bavuso, were both Italian immigrants. His maternal grandmother, Josephine Savarino Bavuso (1909–1993), emigrated from Sicily to the United States with her parents, Domenico Savarino (1885–1960) and Vincenza Diecidue Savarino (1885–1930), in 1921. Upon their arrival in the United States, the Savarino Family first settled in eastern Ohio in the small coal mining community of Harpersville, Smithfield Township, Jefferson County. A few years later, the family relocated to the Elm Grove area of Wheeling, Ohio County, West Virginia. Vincenzo "James" Bavuso and Josephine Savarino married in 1928 in Wheeling and later relocated to California, Washington County in Western Pennsylvania where their children — Samuel, Dominick, Theresa (Montana's mother), Virginia and Patricia Bavuso — were born and raised.

Joe Montana expressed an early interest in sports, and it was Montana Sr. who first taught him the game of football. Montana started to play youth football when he was just eight years old, aided in part by his father. Montana Sr. listed his son as a nine-year-old so that Montana could meet the league's minimum age requirement.

During his formative years, Montana took an interest in baseball and basketball, in addition to football. In fact, basketball was Montana's favorite sport as a child. Montana Sr. started a local basketball team that his son played on. The team practiced and played at the local armory and played their games in various regional tournaments.

Montana received his primary education at Waverly Elementary and his secondary education at Finleyville Junior High (known as Finleyville Middle School) and Ringgold High School. While at Ringgold, Montana played football, baseball, and basketball. Montana showed potential as a basketball player and helped Ringgold win the 1973 WPIAL Class AAA boys' basketball championship while being named an all-state player. He was so good that during his senior year, North Carolina State offered Montana a basketball scholarship. Although Montana turned down the scholarship, he seriously considered NCSU because of a promise that he could play both basketball and football for the university.

Montana spent his first two years on the high school football team as a backup. As a junior, Montana earned the job as the Ringgold Rams' starting quarterback. Montana held the role for the final two years of his high school career; after his senior year, Parade named him to their All-American team.

One of Montana's most notable performances during his high school years was during his senior year in a game against Monessen High School. Although Monessen scored a game-tying touchdown in the final moments, Montana's performance garnered attention from college recruiters, particularly those from Notre Dame. In the game, Montana completed 12 passes in 22 attempts, threw for 223 yards, and scored three passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown.

Notre Dame eventually offered Montana a scholarship, and he accepted. One contributing factor in Montana's choice of colleges was that Terry Hanratty, his boyhood idol, had attended Notre Dame. In 2006, thirty-two years after Montana had graduated, Ringgold renamed their football stadium "Joe Montana Stadium."