San Francisco NFL Draft Weekend: Living in the Past with Steve Young

(Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)

If I could travel in a time machine back to that slumber party, I would have told my parents to pick me up, drive us over to Steve Young’s house, scoop the broken eggs into a grocery bag, and return to the slumber party with some goodies for this older kid.

Then, I would smear the egg yolk all over his stupid face before doing the same to my own mug.

For it was we who deserved to be egged.  Our utter naivety allowed us to talk foul of this fine warrior—who’s career, at 29 years of age, was just beginning to blossom.

In some way, I feel I have paid for my sins.  By 1992, Young was far and away the league’s best QB—the new face of the Niners.  Quickly realizing the error of my ways, I cheered him on during every play of every game.

I would do the same up until the day in which a concussion ended his career seven years later.

Every game I watched of Steve Young’s from 1992 to 1999 was a special one for me.  I loved Joe Montana as a young child, but I truly became a man with Steve.

Young led the league in passer rating a record six times in his career and won two MVP awards. His career quarterback rating of 96.8 remains the highest mark in NFL history.

Statistically speaking, he may be the greatest passer in the history of the league.  And that’s not even including his mind-boggling numbers as a rusher.

Numbers, however, don’t tell the whole story of Steve Young.  It’s hard to fathom what must have been going through this guy’s head throughout those years given the large shoes he was expected to fill.

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