Given the brutal nature of the NFL, it is not shocking that players exit from the game as they get older.
Given the physical nature of the NFL, it is not shocking that players exit from the game as they become older and that injuries tend to worsen with age. Though a few have gone close, the Cincinnati Bengals have never had a player beyond 40 on their roster.
, who was taken by the Bengals in the seventh and final round of the 1979 NFL Draft, is evidence that elite talent can be found in the seventh round of drafts. When Montoya was a UCLA student-athlete, few undoubtedly anticipated that he would become a four-time Pro Bowl player.
But that’s precisely what happened, as Montoya played right guard for Cincinnati for the first 11 of his 16-year career. In 1980, his second season in the league, he established himself as a regular starter and didn’t give up the position until the 1989 season, when he left Cincinnati.
On Christmas Day of 1989, Montoya played in his last Bengals game at the age of 33 years and 227 days. Before turning 34 in May of that year, he signed with the Raiders, where he played for the last five years of his NFL career before hanging up his cleats after the 1994 season.
During his eleven-year tenure with Cincinnati, Montoya appeared at right guard in two Super Bowls for the team and was a four-time Pro Bowler. In the history of the team, he is among the oldest Bengals.Max Montoya lives with his wife, Patty, on a farm in Hebron, Kentucky, where he raises horses.
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