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Lot # 1306: Joe Montana Signed Checks to Dwight Clark & Jim Plunkett (ex-Joe Montana Collection)

Category: Football

Starting Bid: $200.00

Bids: 7 (Bid History)

Time Left: Auction closed

Lot / Auction Closed




This lot is closed. Bidding is not allowed.

Item was in Auction "2024 Winter Classic",
which ran from 2/25/2024 10:00 AM to
3/16/2024 10:00 PM



Joe Montana is a Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback who played 15 seasons in the NFL and won four Super Bowls. Offered are two Joe Montana signed checks: One to wide receiver Dwight Clark and the other to quarterback Jim Plunkett - both checks are endorsed. Montana played for 13 years with the San Francisco 49ers (1979-90 and '92) and two seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs (1993-94). Montana completed 3,409 passes in the regular season, but his most famous pass completion was in the playoffs, on Jan. 10, 1982, in the NFC Championship Game against the Dallas Cowboys when, with merely 58 seconds remaining in the game and the 49ers trailing 27-21, on 3rd-and-3, Joe found Dwight Clark in the end zone for an amazing, leaping six-yard catch that, with the completed extra point kick, sent the 49ers to Super Bowl XVI. Offered is a great remembrance of a Montana to Clark transaction, this time not a pass, but rather a check in the amount of forty dollars from Montana to Clark. The check measures 2.75x6", and it is written on the Bank of America, of Half Moon Bay, California. The top of the check contains "Joe Montana" and his then-address in Woodside, Calif. Using blue ink from a ballpoint pen to complete the check, Montana printed "Dwight Clark" as the recipient and dated the check as "8-21 1981," and he signed the check as "Joe Montana." Montana's signature is large and neatly written. It was dated at a time when the 49ers were in preseason training, less than five months before the Montana to Clark completion, forever known as "The Catch," and it's unclear why the check was written. Signing "Dwight Clark" in blue ink from a ballpoint pen, Clark neatly endorsed the check on the back. The other included check is written to quarterback Jim Plunkett, who played 15 NFL seasons and was on the San Francisco 49ers from 1976-78. The check measures 2.75x6", and it is written on the Bank of America of El Segundo, Calif. The top of the check shows "Joe Montana" and his address in Manhattan Beach, Calif. The draft is in the amount of 34 dollars. The purpose of the check is unknown. Montana wrote and signed the check in blue ink. His signature is neat and large. On the back of the check, Plunkett used a clearly written signature and endorsed the check to a Gerry Lavelle, and Plunkett's signature and endorsement were written in blue ballpoint ink. Both checks are in excellent condition, and since Plunkett won two Super Bowls with the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders, the Montana and Plunkett signatures represent six Super Bowl wins. The Montana to Clark check makes a wonderful remembrance of its parallel: The famous Montana to Clark pass. In 2017, Clark was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease." Clark passed away on June 4, 2018. Montana, a close friend, spoke at Clark's funeral, and in a poignant moment in recalling the joshing of teammates, Montana recalled that Clark would sometimes remind Montana that the famous Montana to Clark throw was not called "The Pass;" it was called "The Catch."

The Joe Montana Former Wife Collection: Lots 1300-1311 in the current auction are pieces consigned by Joe Montana's former wife, Cass Ho. Each piece originates from Joe's collection and is being offered to the public for the first time. Items include signed checks from his rookie year, Notre Dame jersey presented to him by his coach and numerous personal items. 

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