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I was at a friend’s slumber party back in elementary school—it was probably 1990. As all of us were rabid Niners fans, it was only a matter of time before the topic of Steve Young came up.
The insult brigade commenced. “What a bum…that guy sucks!” somebody said.
“When the hell is Joe coming back?” I asked in earnest.
The conversation reached its climax when an older kid who was at the party told us that he and his buddies had egged Steve Young’s house (#8 lived down in the Peninsula at the time, where I grew up). Though even as an adolescent I was appalled by vandalism, this seemed to be an appropriate exception to the rule.
We all laughed hysterically. “The guy deserves it” I thought to myself. After all, he was out there trying to steal Joe’s thunder while our Lord and Savior was doing what he could to get healthy.
Little did I know that this “bum” would become my childhood hero a few years later.
Kids say the darnedest things, don’t they?
Except it wasn’t just kids who were ragging on Steve—the majority of the 49er faithful were simply unwilling to give one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of college football a chance to succeed in the pros.
Joe was our guy; the thought of him being traded or retiring one day gave us the shivers.
So we took it out on Steve. These are my sins, father.
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