Steve Young is a name that many fans of the National Football League will recognize. He started his career in 1984 and retired after the 2003 season. He played for three teams: the San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles, and Kansas City Chiefs. In his career he completed 1,187 passes and threw for 48,325 yards. Steve still holds many records including being voted into five Pro Bowls. And he is also a descendant of Brigham Young Academy’s founder which makes him a member of the College Football Hall of Fame as well as the National College Athletes hall of fame.
Young’s father, Tim, was born in Cottonwood Heights Utah. He graduated from Reed High School in 1973 and continued his education at Brigham Young University. He married Anne Marie Young the next year and they had six children together, four boys (Douglas, Chris, William and Steve) and two girls (Lisa and Tiffany). As a young child he played football for an inter-school league on the Weber County Sports Association. At age 10 his family moved to Idaho where he would play for a local team. In high school he played both football and baseball as well as being involved in student government. Young received an athletic scholarship to BYU where he played quarterback for three years starting in 1977. He received both the Sammy Baugh Trophy and the W.J. Voit Trophy in 1983 leading BYU to a 10-1 record and a victory over Wyoming in the Holiday Bowl. He was also named MVP of bowl game as well as being named to the All-America Team twice and becoming a finalist for the Heisman Trophy.
After graduating from Brigham Young University in 1984, Young was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1985 but did not play with them because they were deep at quarterback. Instead he spent time with the Memphis Showboats of the USFL where he led them to two consecutive league championships making him MVP both years. In 1988 the USFL collapsed and Young signed with the San Francisco 49ers. He started all 16 games in his first season.
The following season he led San Francisco to the playoffs, where they were eliminated by the Philadelphia Eagles in a defensive struggle. In 1990, Young led the 49ers to an impressive 6-8-1 record and threw for 3,179 yards but he was injured in week 12 of that year and did not play after that due to a shoulder injury that resulted in surgery. He then bounced back to start all 14 games in 1991 but fell short of making it into the playoffs by one game after losing to Buffalo 20-17 in week 17. The next season he started all 16 games and recorded a league high 97.8 QB rating, leading the 49ers to a 10-6 record and an appearance in the playoffs. They were eliminated in the first round by the Dallas Cowboys, but Young had led them to victory over the New York Giants two weeks earlier. In 1993, Young led San Francisco to a 12-4 record but they lost 35-20 to Philadelphia in the NFC championship game after losing Steve Wallace, their star receiver, to injury. The following season he led San Francisco back into the playoffs where they won their first game against Green Bay Packers but were defeated by Dallas in the divisional round 36-21 with Young recording his worst performance of that year.
