What Joe Montana Taught me about Timing

t was in the 90’s. Joe Montana was highly regarded as one of the all time greatest football players and top winning quarterbacks. Certainly the famous end zone pass to wide receiver Dwight Clark in a NFC Championship Game against the Dallas Cowboys known as The Catch, was something that will always remain in the history books.
When I was asked to shoot a commercial with those two, I was all for it! Well, truth be told, I was a little nervous. Never having directed a production like this before. But the Art Director convinced me that I could do it, and I really wanted to meet Joe and Dwight, so I agreed.
The commercial was to promote the release of specialized posters that had Joe Montana’s c and Dwight Clarks hands imprinted directly into a specialize poster image of The Catch. It was meant to be a limited edition work of art.
The two arrived at my Palo Alto studio with no entourage. If you have ever shot sports celebrities, especially basketball or football players, you get used to seeing their family and many “friends” arrive at the shoot. But these were old school sports figures. Men who realized that they were only part of a team. They were grateful for any fame or fortune that came there way and didn’t need people around them to spread the wealth or feel important. They were both gracious and easy to work with. I can not say the same for Joe’s manager. Who remains one of only two people in my entire career, that I almost kicked out of the studio. But that’s another story.
The thing that impressed me the most about directing Joe Montana, was not how gracious he was, or how well he took directions. What impressed me the most was his accuracy in timing. If I asked him to shave 3 seconds off of his script, he shaved EXACTLY 3 seconds off the script. If I asked for 5.2 seconds, he could do 5.2 seconds. On the money! He was amazing. Over the course of my career, I worked with countless professional models, actors, and celebrities. Some were exceptionally talented. Others required considerably more patience. But when it came to precise timing, not one of them could match Joe Montana.

The shoot went quickly. Mainly because they were so easy to work with. I still have a signed poster from Joe. I gave away the one that was signed by both Joe and Dwight to someone who did me a great series of favors and was a big 49’ers fan.
I came away with something more valuable than simply a poster or having directed a commercial featuring two football legends. I had gained a fascinating glimpse into one of the qualities that may have helped make Joe Montana such an extraordinary athlete. His timing wasn’t merely good. It was astonishing.