Max Montoya Jr. (born May 12, 1956) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

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for 16 seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL), primarily with the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

and was selected by the Bengals in the seventh round of the

1979 NFL draft The 1979 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held May 3–4, 1979, at the Waldorf Astoria ...

. He also played for the

Los Angeles Raiders The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). The Raiders played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural ...

Early life

Montoya who is of Mexican–American descent, attended La Puente High School in

La Puente, California La Puente ( Spanish for "The Bridge") is a city in east Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city had a population of 39,816 at the 2010 census and is approximately east of downtown Los Angeles. History The original inhabitan ...

. He was unable to play football or basketball his senior season due to a heart murmur.

College career

Montoya was cleared to play football again, and began his

career playing for Mt. San Antonio College, a community college in

Walnut, California Walnut is a city in the eastern part of Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. According to the 2020 census, the city had a population of 28,430. The greater Walnut Valley is located between the steep San Jose Hills to the nort ...

. He did not start as a freshman, but after an outstanding sophomore season, he earned a football scholarship to play for the

, where he played under head coach

Terry Donahue Terrence Michael Donahue (June 24, 1944 – July 4, 2021) was an American football coach and executive. He served as the head coach at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) from 1976 to 1995, compiling a record of 151–74–8. His 15 ...

. After redshirting for a year, Montoya was a starter in 1977 as the Bruins posted a 7–4 record. In 1978, he was again a starter, earning second-team all-Pac-10 honors. The Bruins in 1978 went 8–3–1, ended the season as no. 14 in the AP poll and no. 12 in

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, and played to a 10–10 tie versus the

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville. The University of Arkans ...

in the

1978 Fiesta Bowl The 1978 Fiesta Bowl was the eighth Fiesta Bowl, edition of the college football bowl game, played at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona on Monday, December 25. Part of the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season#Bowls, 1978–79 bowl game se ...

Professional career

Montoya was selected by the

in the seventh round with the 168th overall pick of the

. He was a four-time

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

er, playing in two

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

s 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 the

, starting in all but his final season.

Personal life

After retiring from the NFL, Montoya invested in a restaurant franchise of Cincinnati-based

Penn Station Pennsylvania Station or Penn Station may refer to: Current train stations * Baltimore Penn Station * New York Penn Station ** Pennsylvania Station (1910–1963), the predecessor to the present New York City station * Newark Penn Station Train ...

East Coast Subs and eventually owned four in northern Kentucky. He is also a founder and silent partner of Montoya's Restaurant in

Fort Mitchell, Kentucky Fort Mitchell is a home rule-class city in Kenton County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 8,702 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area. History Fort Mitchell was the site of one of seven Civil War forti ...

. He also spent five years helping coach the Beechwood 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 Cincinnati

FOX Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

affiliate

WXIX WXIX-TV (channel 19) is a television station licensed to Newport, Kentucky, United States, serving the Cincinnati metro as the market's Fox affiliate. It is owned by Gray Media alongside low-power Telemundo affiliate WBQC-LD (channel 25) and ...

after previously working for

WLWT WLWT (channel 5) is a television station in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Hearst Television. The station's studios are located on Young Street, and its transmitter is located on Chickasaw Street, both in th ...

. Montoya is now semi-retired and lives with his wife, Patty, on a farm in

Hebron, Kentucky Hebron () is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Boone County, Kentucky, Boone County, Kentucky, United States. It is named after Hebron Lutheran Church. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...

, where he raises horses.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Montoya, Max 1956 births Living people American football offensive guards Cincinnati Bengals players Los Angeles Raiders players Mt. SAC Mounties football players UCLA Bruins football players American Conference Pro Bowl players People from La Puente, California Sportspeople from Montebello, California Players of American football from Los Angeles County, California American sportspeople of Mexican descent Hispanic and Latino American players of American football