Montana's 'The Drive' jersey sells for $1.212M, smashes auction record

A jersey worn by Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana during two of his Super Bowl victories set a new record for the most expensive football jersey sold at auction.

The jersey, which Montana wore in Super Bowls XIX and XXIII, sold for $1.212 million with a buyer's premium through Goldin Auctions, according to ESPN's Dan Hajducky. The sale smashed the previous record of $480,000, which someone paid for a 2021 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Tom Brady jersey in January 2022.

Montana first wore the jersey in Super Bowl XIX in 1985, in which he led the San Francisco 49ers to a 38-16 win over the Miami Dolphins. He wore it again four years later in Super Bowl XXIII when he and the 49ers executed a game-winning 92-yard drive - famously known as "The Drive" - to defeat the Cincinnati Bengals 20-16.

"It's only right that the two greatest quarterbacks of all time are still trading off records, even in retirement," Goldin Auctions founder Ken Goldin said in a statement. "Montana was already in rarefied air with four championship rings and three Super Bowl MVPs - (and) with the record-breaking sale of his Super Bowl XXIII jersey, Montana has surpassed Tom Brady on top of that mountain."

Another jersey worn by Montana in the 49ers' Super Bowl XXIV win over the Denver Broncos was also auctioned off early Thursday, selling for $720,000.