Joe Montana finds empty nest in San Francisco

Joe Montana is back, and the 49er Faithful will want to know how soon he can suit up, unretire No. 16, and go after that fifth Super Bowl ring. But the nearest he'll get to a game is the glow of the Candlestick lights that he can see from his high-rise condo in downtown San Francisco.

At 54, Montana and his wife, Jennifer, have no kids at home, so they've sold off their homes. The ranch in the Wine Country has been listed for $49 million (a coincidental price point). They've downsized into a leased two-bedroom on the 41st floor of Millennium Tower, six floors above former 49ers President Carmen Policy.

From Mission Street, it is 15 to 17 minutes to SFO. Montana has clocked it because when he's not flying out to Indiana to see his oldest son, Nathaniel, 20, play quarterback at Notre Dame, he'll be flying to Seattle, where his other son, Nicholas, 18, is just getting started at the University of Washington. The Montanas' oldest daughter, Alexandra, 24, is starting law school in Southern California, and their other daughter, Elizabeth, 23, just started a career in public relations at San Francisco's Glodow Nead Communications.

Her first day on the job, she was escorting her father into a rare interview, in the Millennium Club Level, while her mother was upstairs unpacking boxes. Montana dispatched Elizabeth to take a shirt to be dry-cleaned. Then he sat down and opened up the smile that will forever belong behind the gray crossbars of a 49ers facemask.

Q: Is your daughter now your publicist?

A: (Laughs) She might be. She has to work her way up the ladder.

Q: Can you name all the places you have lived, starting in Monongahela, Pa.?

A: (Laughs.) We lived in Atherton. We bought some property in the Wine Country, and we ended up building a home up there, and as the boys started getting into sports, it just wasn't a good atmosphere for pushing the kids into the D-I (Bowl Championship Subdivision) type schools. We went over to Lafayette and got them into De La Salle. It's a great school, but for a quarterback, it really wasn't a great place. That's when we ended up in Southern California. We lived in Thousand Oaks for under two years.

Q: What did you do down there?

I had a bunch of property down there. I still have it, a big piece of property in the Anaheim area and some other property along the beach areas. There is another one out in the Central Valley. I have a piece over here in Hayward. Basically, we take them through rezoning or the entitlement process and turn them over.

Q: So how did you end up here?

A: I came to do an event up here through Lori (old friend "Pooch" Puccinelli of Glodow Nead.) We came to look at the building and got a tour and just fell in love with it, the views and the location. All the amenities are something that we never thought about.

Q: Have you ever lived in San Francisco?

A: When I first met Jennifer, I was living over on Lombard by the Bay Club. The team was still in Redwood City so it was easy to commute.

Q: What are your spots in the city?

A: I love the Ferry Building and Union Square. It is going to be fun experiencing new areas and walking around. That's what I'm looking forward to the most, being somewhat carless where you can get around on foot. I have a limp on occasion. My wife is always saying, "Why are you limping?" I didn't know I was limping. The thing about Jennifer and I is we're always looking for new places. It's been so long since we were in the city or able to have the freedom to come into the city.

Q: Will you be taking public transit?

A: I see myself on BART. When we lived in Lafayette, the girls both had internships in the city and they would jump on BART. There is nothing worse for me than sitting in traffic. That's what killed me in L.A.

Q: What will you do about people recognizing you everywhere you go?

A: You get used to that part of it. The more you're around, the more people get used to seeing you around.

Q: Are you bothered by fame?

A: Some people have no respect whether you are with your family or not. That's the hardest part. I was shopping in a grocery store in Seattle looking for stuff for Nicholas. This guy kept following me with his cell phone video on. The lady comes up and says, "Can I have a picture?" I said, "I don't do pictures anymore." If you're out to dinner, one is never enough. The same person will shoot 10 while you're eating. I sign autographs. It's getting a little bit easier because I'm getting older, and a lot of the younger people are like, "Who's that?" You will be walking through an airport, and you get, "Aren't you Joe Namath?"

Q: Do people ask you if you can still get out there and play?

A: If I could still play, I would be trying. It's been 15 years.

Q: Do you have any involvement with the 49ers?

A: I don't.

Q: Can you handicap the 49ers' quarterback race?

They're in a tough position. They want Alex (Smith) to step up, and I think he's getting better at it. I don't watch a lot of the games on Sunday. But I always kept an eye on the 49ers. I think Mike Singletary has made a big difference. He's done a tremendous job.

Q: Can you handicap the 49ers' stadium race?

A: My money is on Santa Clara. Nobody wants them to leave San Francisco, but nobody wants to vote for them to be here. Somebody contacted me about doing something down there, a property group. Somebody knows something.

Q: Are you still riding cutting horses?

A: No, we don't have any horses left.

Q: What happened to your riding?

A: Two years ago, when we were moving to L.A., I moved a box with my foot, and next thing you know, I had two back surgeries within 12 days. Before that, I had two neck surgeries. I had two elbow surgeries, one on my hand.

Q: So how do you feel when you get up in the morning?

A: Not too bad, lately. My back only bugs me when I sleep wrong. I feel my knee more than anything, the left one. It's arthritic. I have a bad nerve in the back of my eye. My vision was getting funny, so I went and visited an eye doctor. She said, "You've damaged the nerve in the back of your eye." I said, "How would I have done that?" She said, "Usually it's from some kind of head trauma." I can't imagine where that came from.

Q: Have you met Montana Newsom?

A: We talked on the phone from the delivery room. He (the mayor) said what was going on, and I was shocked. He didn't have to ask me permission to use the name.

Q: Did he say whether Montana Newsom was named after you or the state?

A: I think he said the state.

Q: One favorite throw?

A: One of two. One was the touchdown to John Taylor for the Super Bowl. The other one was a game that we played back in Philadelphia. We had fought our way back from three touchdowns. It was 3rd-and-3 or 4. We were just trying to get a first down. The back was wide open, and I threw a touchdown to Jerry Rice.

Q: Do you ever dream of games gone by?

A: I don't live in the past. I just live in the enjoyment of the game. With the two boys playing, I kind of live vicariously through them. I probably bug the heck out of them. I always say, "If you don't want me talking to you, tell me. But I can help. I really enjoy watching you guys because I've been there, done that. So when you do something, I have that same feeling."

Q: You don't worry about concussions?

A: No. They're protecting the quarterback more than ever. You look forward to the first hit of the game. I tell them to call a play where somebody misses a block. If you don't get hit, you're always waiting for it to happen. It's better to get it out of the way early.

E-mail Sam Whiting at swhiting@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page A - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle