Rick Gosselin

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As a Hall of Fame quarterback, Joe Montana can appreciate the spread offense. As a football fan, Montana also can appreciate the spread.

But as a father of two young quarterbacks, Montana knows where to draw the line.

"It's a fun offense to play in as a quarterback," said Montana in a news conference before the SMU Athletic Forum on Wednesday. "You've always got the ball in your hands, and seven times out of 10 you're throwing it. But it really doesn't help the guys going to the next level.

"You can see the evidence with the guy in San Francisco [Alex Smith] and with a guy as talented as Vince Young. There are problems when you have to get up under center all the time."

Montana's oldest son, Nate, walked on at Notre Dame in 2008 but wound up transferring to Pasadena Community College, where he is playing this fall. Montana's youngest son, Nick, is a blue-chip high school quarterback in the Los Angeles area who has already committed to the University of Washington for 2010.

Nate plays in an offense that runs the spread 99 percent of the time. Montana is OK with that.

"My older son is playing for playing time, to be on the field," Montana said. "He hasn't had much game experience. It was more important to get him game experience than to worry about the offense as much.

"We still try to let him get under center. They let him do that a little bit. But what was most important was trying to find a place where he could go play."

Nick also plays in an offense that leans heavily on the spread. But Montana doesn't want his youngest son straying too far from his own pocket-passing roots.

"He has the option of being under center or in the shotgun," Montana said. "They run a lot of four wides and also a lot of two tight ends. They do a little bit of everything. They are more diversified. But they said he can go under center if he wants."

Montana believes if either of his two sons has a future in pro football, it's in their best interests to take as many college snaps in a pro-style offense.

"You have a kid down the road here at Texas Tech [Graham Harrell] who threw for nine million yards," Montana said, "but no one would take a chance with him. Why's he in Canada? When you're in an offense where you've only taken the ball out of the shotgun ... unfortunately, those guys have all struggled when they got to the NFL."

The conventional offense treated Montana quite well in the NFL. In his 15 seasons with the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs, Montana passed for 40,551 yards and 273 touchdowns. He ranks 10th all-time in yardage and ninth in touchdowns. He also ranks as the fifth-most efficient passer in NFL history with a 92.3 rating.

Montana posted those glowing statistics taking his NFL snaps almost exclusively from under center.

"We tried the shotgun once at San Francisco," Montana recalled. "The first snap went over my head, so Bill [Walsh] said, 'OK, that's it. No more shotgun.' "

Walsh didn't embrace the shotgun 30 years ago. And Montana doesn't think the NFL is ready to embrace the spread offense now.

"I guess you can never say never," Montana said. "But I think there will always be a fine line. In the spread [in college], you may play against some good teams ... but they aren't all great players. Then the NFL takes all the [great] players, puts them together, and it's a little tougher [offense] to run. Everyone is so big and strong.

"I think the spread is still a few years away, if not more. They like to run the ball in the NFL. So you have to be able to get up under center."

Nick will get his shot in major college football next fall at Washington. Nate is still looking for his shot. Showing an awareness that he was speaking at a function sponsored by SMU, where June Jones runs the spread offense, Montana asked a question of his own on his way out the door.

"Do they need a 6-5 quarterback with three years left?" Montana asked. "I've got one."

Rick Gosselin shares his NFL analysis Wednesdays through Fridays on the NFL blog.

Rick Gosselin is the author of GoodFellows, the story of Detroit's surprisingly successful St. Ambrose football teams of the '50s and '60s.