So Long Steve
June 13, 2000
Nancy Gay, Chronicle Staff Writer
A sterile hotel ballroom setting would never do, Steve Young insisted. The most accurate passer in NFL history would say his good-byes in a huddle, in the 49ers' locker room.
The smelly, crowded, chaotic locker room.
``I dunno. It just seemed like the right place,'' Young explained, almost apologetically. ``It's the most intimate place for players. Where else?``
Joe Montana, the Hall of Fame quarterback whom Young succeeded in San Francisco, called it quits after the 1994 season in a massive ceremony at Justin Herman Plaza. Young, with his spot in the Hall of Fame secure and his life in perfect order, did it in front of his locker.
Through the miracle of black backdrops and ceremonial seating the place was transformed -- from the inner sanctum where 49ers past and present forged greatness and endured adversity to an intimate gathering place for 250 of Young's family, friends, teammates, coaches and media followers.
And so it was yesterday that Young, 38, walked away from his beloved NFL after 15 seasons, from the competitive football that has consumed and enriched his life for the past 30 years. Yet this wasn't a retirement ceremony as much as it was a graduation celebration.
``In many ways, what lies ahead for me is maybe more important than what I leave behind,'' Young said. He is, in no particular order, a newlywed, an expectant father, a lawyer, a generous benefactor of several charitable organizations and causes, a crusader for children and a budding Internet businessman.
He also is a football player. Always will be.
``For the record, I know I can still play,'' Young said. ``The fire still burns, but not enough for the stakes -- given the stakes to go back out (on the field). But the truth is, there is plenty of football left in me.''
He was upbeat and optimistic throughout the 95-minute ceremony, but all the while was willing to acknowledge that his transition from athlete to spectator will be difficult
``I didn't want to cry on TV -- I can cry, and I will. But there's something about seeing somebody cry on TV,'' Young said afterward.
It's been nearly nine months since Young's final NFL play, a gruesome hit September 27 against the Arizona Cardinals that left him lying unconscious on the field at Sun Devil Stadium with his fourth concussion in three years. General manager Bill Walsh -- who was in Los Angeles yesterday to deliver a eulogy at the funeral of former NFL and USFL executive Don Klosterman -- said by telephone that Young's decision to leave football was for the best.
``The risk factor was really too much for us to overcome,'' said Walsh, adding that he believed Young's successor, Jeff Garcia, will be among the top 12 quarterbacks in the NFL next season in passing efficiency.
Everyone acknowledged Young could have played in Denver or Seattle. He said it wasn't until a jog last week near his home that retirement finally hit him as the right destination. ``It was the first time I spoke the word,'' Young recalled. ``I told people, `I feel this way. This is the right thing to do.' ''
Young acknowledged he will dearly miss it all.
``I loved playing for the San Francisco 49ers. I am very proud of what we accomplished together here in the Bay Area. It brings me great joy just to think about all the things that have happened,'' he said. ``I love Candlestick Park. I love the music they play after touchdowns. I love the hyped-up roar of a Monday night crowd and the ethereal fog rolling in.''
Nevertheless, Young didn't wallow. He was intent on celebrating. During the drive with his family from his Palo Alto home to the 49ers' Santa Clara headquarters, the mood was festive. ``Everyone in the car was laughing,'' Young said. ``It was a good time.``
The ceremony, orchestrated by Young and hastily organized by an exhausted 49ers front office, was equal parts Who's Who, family reunion and juicy soap opera.
Young -- looking typically rumpled in a wrinkled sage sports coat, blue shirt, burgundy tie, khakis and lug-soled work boots -- emerged from a huge 49ers' banner draped across the entrance to the showers and toilets. He smiled sheepishly as he stood on a small podium and addressed a phalanx of cameras and live feeds, surrounded by a remarkable collection of personalities, influences and uneasy factions:
-- To his right, newly anointed (and notoriously private) team owner Denise DeBartolo York sat alongside 49ers coach Steve Mariucci. To Mariucci's right, an emotional Jerry Rice sat elegantly, alternately sobbing and smiling as Young addressed the audience. Then came Brent Jones, and then Young's wife, Barbara.
In York's first public comments since assuming ownership, she praised Young as an athlete and a generous man. ``I think we all have been privileged to have you all to ourselves for all these years,'' a beaming York told Young. The two warmly embraced.
-- Mariucci, who's grown very close to Young over the past three years, presented Young with a framed, game-worn No. 8 jersey, and vowed that the quarterback's number would be retired in a halftime ceremony. He also took the opportunity to publicly clean out Young's always-overstuffed locker, digging up some of the archaic football equipment the quarterback has used since his Brigham Young days.
``These little `Mini Me' shoulder pads,'' said Mariucci, holding the undersized, Pop Warner-style pads aloft, ``are probably not legal anymore. These are 20 years old. But they're going into the 49ers' Hall of Fame.'' The same went for Young's overworked practice T-shirt and a beat-up set of rib pads no thicker than a dishrag.
``Steve, I know it was important for you to have your kids see you play,'' Mariucci told him. ``I promise you, believe me, you are going to enjoy watching your kids play and that is far, far more important. Everybody here loves you, Steve. We all do. We are going to miss you.''
-- Rice, who teamed with Young for an NFL-record 85 touchdown receptions, dabbed his eyes and spoke of the pair's ``great chemistry and a great relationship.''
``I know the clock is ticking for me also,'' said Rice, 37, who referred to a poem he penned for the quarterback.
``Sometimes we dream, and dreams come true,'' Rice read, in reference to Young's new wife and the child the couple expects December 14 or 15.
-- Several rows back, the now-departed and deposed architects of the 49ers' empire were present. Former owner Eddie DeBartolo, who handed over the franchise reins to his sister to resolve a long-standing family feud, sat off to the side with his wife, Candy. In the middle of the VIP group, former 49ers president Carmen Policy looked like a proud father.
``It's been a wonderful run,'' said Policy, who left the 49ers for the Cleveland Browns after a falling out with Eddie DeBartolo. ``Coming here to celebrate the greatness of Steve Young allows everyone to get on the same page, no matter how many differences there may be underneath the surface. To me, old wounds dissipate. And I don't scar easily.''
He and DeBartolo later embraced and engaged in an animated conversation. Brother and sister did not mingle but spoke briefly.
-- Young's parents, Grit and Sherry, and his brothers and sister were there, along with LaVell Edwards, Young's college coach at BYU. Former 49ers lineman Harris Barton, a close friend, sat in the background, near Denver coach Mike Shanahan, the former 49ers assistant and a longtime confidant of Young.
-- Current 49ers such as Terrell Owens, Greg Clark and Dave Fiore were on hand. So were former 49ers Steve Bono and Gary Plummer.
Who wasn't? Well, the retirement ceremony caught many in Young's inner circle off-guard.
Former 49ers assistant and current Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren had a minicamp and couldn't break away. The same was true for former 49ers offensive coordinator Marc Trestman, who was running a minicamp for the Cardinals. Former 49ers coach George Seifert, now the Carolina Panthers coach, was on a holiday in Mexico.
Montana was invited as well. But it was a long-planned moving day at his household, with the family pulling up stakes to relocate to the Napa Valley. Of course, his relationship with Young was often strained, especially after injuries forced Montana to the sidelines in 1991.
To his credit, Young praised Montana for his influence. ``For me to watch one of the greats, I was energized by that and grateful for it,'' Young said. ``It was the finishing school for me in quarterbacking. In all my years, I just wanted to live up to the standard that had been set.''
And when the spotlight dimmed, the always-cooperative Young remained at the 49ers' facility, giving one-on-one interviews for 3 1/2 hours. Then he took off to get his golf clubs. A tee time in Rice's celebrity golf tournament awaited.
``I'm not reluctant at all. It's a celebration for me,'' Young said. ``You want to play football -- that's what you do. But how you do it, that's what is important.''
No one can say Young didn't do it all with style.
``Steve Young is the personification of what an NFL player should be . . . His accomplishments as a community leader set a standard for all of us to admire. As Commissioner and as a fan, I say thank you to Steve Young.'' Paul Tagliabue, NFL commissioner
``How many franchises have the luxury of having two guys who follow each other and continue the greatness of the franchise?''
--Eddie DeBartolo Jr., former 49ers owner
``Steve Young was a great player; one of the great competitors that I ever had the chance to be on a team with. I wish him well and, as a fan of this game, I'm going to miss him.''
--Jon Gruden, head coach of Oakland Raiders
``I really believe he was one of top five players ever to play the game at his position.''
--Mike Shanahan, head coach of Denver Broncos
