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The 49ers were facing an uphill battle toward the end of Super Bowl XXIII after the Bengals took a three-point lead with around three minutes to go in the game, but Joe Montana was ultimately able to help his team march down the field after getting a little bit of help from the one and only John Candy.
There’s a reason Joe Montana is known as “The Comeback Kid,” as the man who spent the vast majority of his legendary NFL career playing quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers had a flair for the dramatic and an uncanny ability to help his team overcome some imposing deficits.
The QB didn’t waste much time making his mark after arriving in San Francisco following a solid but fairly unremarkable career at Notre Dame. He was largely relegated to backing up Steve DeBerg during his rookie year, but he got some more reps during his second season en route to securing the starting job prior to the 1981 campaign.
It’s safe to say Montana took full advantage of that opportunity.
The 49ers went 13-3 to snap an eight-year playoff drought before punching their ticket to the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history thanks to the play simply known as “The Catch,” and Montana was named the game’s MVP after leading San Francisco to a 26-21 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl XVI.
In 1989, we were treated to a rematch when those teams met yet again in Super Bowl XXIII, and while it looked like the Bengals were going to get some redemption, that didn’t end up being the case due to the late-game heroics made possible by some aid from an unwitting actor.
Joe Montana used John Candy to calm a teammate’s nerves at the end of Super Bowl XXIII
The Super Bowl has traditionally been a gathering place for the rich and famous, and John Candy—the burgeoning comedy star who’d burst onto the scene with the help of Planes, Trains & Automobiles and Spaceballs—was front and center after NBC invited him to host a pregame talent show starring players from around the NFL.
You might think professional athletes are pretty immune to being starstruck, but that wasn’t the case with 49ers offensive tackle Harris Barton, who was playing in the Super Bowl for the first time less than two years after he was selected by San Francisco with the 22nd overall pick in the 1987 NFL Draft.
Barton apparently spent the week leading up to Super Bowl XXIII keeping track of the many notable names he crossed paths with in Miami, but those encounters were the ultimate afterthought by the time he and his team found themselves up against the ropes with time running out.
It looked like the third quarter was going to end with both squads knotted at 6 points apiece after the 49ers tied the game with a field goal, but running back Stanford Jennings took the ensuing kickoff to the house to put Cincinnati up 13-6.
The 49ers were able to answer when Montana connected with Jerry Rice in the end zone, but the Bengals were eventually able to take a 16-13 lead before San Francisco got the ball back on its own eight-yard line with around three minutes to go in the fourth quarter.
As Montana later recalled, tensions were understandably high in the huddle, and the veteran QB knew he needed to calm down his teammates—especially Barton, who was “vibrating” due to the nerves he found himself dealing with.
Montana was scanning the stadium when he noticed Candy standing near one of the end zones, and he was able to get Barton to snap out of the state he was in by alerting his teammate to the presence of a celebrity he hadn’t been able to add to his checklist of famous people.
Barton and other guys who were there to witness that moment said was a a subtle but fairly pivotal reminder to loosen up a bit before turning to the matter at hand.
The Bengals were unable to withstand the aerial assault Montana harnessed to drive the 49ers down the field before ultimately hitting John Taylor with the 10-yard pass that gave San Francisco the 20-16 lead with 39 seconds left on the clock—a score that stood until the final whistle blew.