| No. 65 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Guard | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1956-05-12)May 12, 1956 (age 69) Montebello, California, U.S. | ||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||||||
| Listed weight | 282 lb (128 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | La Puente(La Puente, California) | ||||||||
| College | Mt. San Antonio (1974–1975) UCLA (1976–1978) | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1979: 7th round, 168th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Max Montoya Jr. (born May 12, 1956) is an American former professionalfootball player who was aguard for 16 seasons in theNational Football League (NFL), primarily with theCincinnati Bengals. He playedcollege football for theUCLA Bruins and was selected by the Bengals in the seventh round of the1979 NFL draft. He also played for theLos Angeles Raiders.
Montoya who is ofMexican–American descent, attendedLa Puente High School[1] inLa Puente, California. He was unable to play football or basketball his senior season due to a heart murmur.[2]
Montoya was cleared to play football again,[2] and began hiscollege football career playing forMt. San Antonio College, a community college inWalnut, California. He did not start as a freshman, but after an outstanding sophomore season, he earned a football scholarship to play for theUCLA Bruins,[2] where he played under head coachTerry Donahue.[3] Afterredshirting for a year,[2] Montoya was a starter in 1977 as the Bruins posted a 7–4 record. In 1978, he was again a starter, earning second-teamall-Pac-10 honors.[2] The Bruins in 1978 went 8–3–1, ended the season as no. 14 in theAP poll and no. 12 incoaches poll, and played to a 10–10 tie versus theArkansas Razorbacks in the1978 Fiesta Bowl.[4]
Montoya was selected by theCincinnati Bengals in the seventh round with the 168th overall pick of the1979 NFL draft. He was a four-timePro Bowler, playing in twoSuper Bowls with the Bengals. He played 11 seasons for them, from 1979 to 1989, becoming a starter in his second season. He then played five seasons for theLos Angeles Raiders, starting in all but his final season.[5]
After retiring from the NFL, Montoya invested in a restaurant franchise of Cincinnati-basedPenn Station East Coast Subs and eventually owned four in northern Kentucky.[6] He is also a founder and silent partner of Montoya's Restaurant inFort Mitchell, Kentucky.[7] He also spent five years helping coach theBeechwood High School football team (including son Matthew, now a multimedia freelancer) in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky. His daughter, Alison Montoya (a twin of Matthew), is a general assignment reporter and anchor for CincinnatiFOX affiliateWXIX[8] after previously working forWLWT.[9][10]
Montoya is now semi-retired and lives with his wife, Patty, on a farm inHebron, Kentucky, where he raises horses.[10]