PHOTOGRAPHED AT Lafayette Park Hotel & Spa. (Photograph by Eric Millette.)

In addition to his work at the bank, Montana has a real estate investment company and gives motivational speeches. Having amassed substantial wealth through his 16-year career in the NFL and from endorsements and investments, Montana sees his own needs as similar to those of families and individuals he would like to recruit as customers. He also sees high-profile, professional athletes who are newly successful, but who lack any experience with wealth, as those who could benefit from his bank’s assistance.

His career in financial services began eight years ago, when former 49er teammates Harris Barton and Ronnie Lott convinced him to join a money management firm focusing on funds of funds in equities. Montana worked at HRJ Capital until 2005, often on real estate investments. As he explains to Worth contributor Dan Weil, his new focus is on family, financial services and the future.

Banking is a long way from the football field. When you were growing up, did you imagine working in the financial services industry?

No. I did think I would be somewhere in the business world, but I didn’t think it would be in financial services. In college, at Notre Dame, I thought about design. Even though I never smoked, I was interested in the design on cigarette packs and thought about what their selling points were. But design classes were available only during the fall, and with football practice, I couldn’t do it. So I majored in marketing. I always thought I would go back to school and maybe study business. I never thought I would last in the NFL that long.

What do you do as the vice chairman of Modern Bank?

I’m helping to bring in new business, especially on the West Coast. I do all kinds of marketing, which includes spending a lot of time in the media talking about what we’re doing. I bring some understanding of real estate investments, and have offered some guidance in that area. I’ve also advised on loans we’ve made to several sports franchises and a radio sports network.

Have you brought in any athletes as clients?

Not yet. Selling to athletes is difficult. It’s a longer cycle than with nonathletes. There are so many layers between us and athletes, and most of the people in between are not qualified to be there. To get people to change from something they are comfortable with, even if they are not happy, is hard.

Do successful celebrity athletes have different financial needs than regular affluent customers?

Many athletes have people with hands in their pockets who don’t want them to use professional financial advisors. That is the most difficult thing for them. Their brother’s uncle’s cousin has the best deal handling their money. Then you read in the paper that these athletes are having financial problems, and at that late point, they start looking for qualified help. That’s unfortunate. It’s sad that athletes today make so much money and often there is no one there to even help them preserve it, let alone grow it. The average career span in the NFL is four years. I try to get these guys to understand how important it is to do the right thing from the beginning. If you buy everyone in your family a house and car, which athletes tend to do, the money is gone quickly. I tell them that the group most devastating to your finances can be your family, especially at the beginning, because they’ve never had money around and think it’s endless.