As Bill Tobin prepared to leave his suburban Chicago home shortly before sunup on May 4, 1979, his wife Dusene asked him who he thought the Bears would draft that day. They were thinking about defensive lineman Dan Hampton and linebacker Al Harris in the first round, he told her. And he was certain who the Bears would select in Round 3. That would be Notre Dame quarterback Joe Montana.
In all of the team's preparatory discussions, the only possibility the Bears considered in the third round was Montana. They had given themselves Montana in every mock draft they had prepared in the month leading up to the event.