49ers Clubhouse

San Francisco Chronicle

Steve Young's Last Play

June 13, 2000

Fabled 49ers' quarterback orchestrates locker-room farewell
C.W. Nevius, Chronicle staff writer
A reflective, relaxed and -- let's admit it -- rambling Steve Young said goodbye to football yesterday at 49ers' headquarters.
Playing host, master of ceremonies and featured speaker, Young told stories, thanked former coaches and guests and got off a few one-liners in a 1 1/2-hour farewell that was carried live across the nation.
When it ended, no one could doubt the sincere depth of feeling from Young, who spent 13 years with the 49ers and won the Super Bowl at the end of the 1994 season. He got so carried away he claimed he would miss the old windy 3Com stadium.
"I loved Candlestick Park," Young said, sounding almost like a beat poet. "I loved the music they played after touchdowns. I loved the ethereal fog rolling in. I loved walking up the tunnel to the field with my great friend Brent Jones."
What's next? It's a mystery to Young, because he doesn't know what life is like without football.
"I started playing football when I was 7," he said at one point, "and I don't remember when I was 6."
The one missing element was outright emotion. There was a sniff and a long pause when Young spoke of his new bride, Barbara, and their baby, due at the end of this year, but anyone who bet the over on tears came away disappointed.
"I think I got more emotional than he did," said Young's father, the notoriously flinty LeGrande (Grit) Young. "It's a good thing he didn't ask me to speak."
The unexpected exception was wide receiver Jerry Rice, who will be linked with Young forever in football record books. Rice, who acknowledged that the "clock is ticking for me, too," took the time to write out a moving tribute to Young, beginning and ending with the lines: "Sometimes we dream, and dreams come true."
Rice, who was not considered a warm and fuzzy kind of guy early in his career, seemed genuinely touched by the moment. At one point Rice had to pause to recover his composure, while Young, standing nearby, occupied himself by staring fiercely at the carpet on the locker room floor.
TOUGH ACT TO FOLLOW
It has been a long and winding journey. Few of us would have predicted that Young would be getting such an elaborate sendoff when he arrived in 1987. There are those who will never forgive him being so talented that he hastened the departure of the sainted Joe Montana.
"(Denver coach) Mike Shanahan said that Steve was one of the top five quarterbacks of all time," said Jones when he was called to speak. "I agree with that. But I know one thing. None of the other four followed a Hall of Famer. To me, that's the greatest accomplishment of all."
One by one, Young answered the knocks from his critics. He stopped throwing interceptions, harnessed his happy feet, racked up stats and then won the big one. And now, he has made the hardest decision, walking away from the spotlight, even though he knows he could still suit up and be an automatic All-Pro.
"For the record, I know I can still play," he said. "The fire still burns. There is plenty of football left in me."
But, as eyebrows raised around the room -- was there a chance of a comeback in a year or so? -- Young shot the idea down.
A PRAYERFUL DECISION
"I realized that I accomplished what I set out to do," he said. "I have studied on this prayerfully, and I really feel that it is the right decision. I count myself as a spiritual man. At the end, that's what settled on me, that this was the time."
What followed was a collective sigh of relief from fans, friends and family. Grit Young said yesterday he didn't have any problem watching "Steven" get sacked, but there were times when Sherry, his wife, "couldn't stand it, and she'd have to go for a walk around the block."
Local fans know how she felt. Even head coach Steve Mariucci winced when he thought of Young going back out on the field. Asked if he would have been able to congratulate Young if the quarterback had said he was going play this year, Mariucci shook his head. "I told him I would support whatever he decided," Mariucci said. "But he didn't ask me my opinion until last week. Then he said, `All right, c'mon! Tell me.' "
Young didn't want to ask because he knew what Mariucci, and everyone who cared about him, would say. His wife, Barbara, said she told him, "I am 100 percent behind you, whatever you say," but she didn't look too disappointed that her husband won't run the risk of being the featured medical report some Sunday afternoon.
Typically, Young insisted on the blue-collar setting for the farewell, and it probably wouldn't have worked anywhere else. Mariucci held up, and officially retired, the wrinkled T-shirt Young was famous for wearing every day in the locker room, and Young spoke of "the relationships forged here that cannot be broken."
On the other hand, these were a bunch of football players, so you can bet the deep thinking and long sighs didn't last long. Jones, in particular, clearly did not intend to let things become too serious.
BRENT JONES LIVENED IT UP
The former tight end claimed that when Young came to the 49ers, he had the full command of two types of passes, "the slow wobbly pass and the deep wobbly pass." He also noted that when Young emerged from behind a 49ers' banner to start the ceremony, he was actually stepping out of the locker room bathroom.
"When you make your grand entrance through the facility's facilities," Jones cracked, "you've done it all."
Nor was Rice in a mood to turn down a straight line. When he introduced the record-setting wide receiver, Young checked his sport coat against Rice's tailored suit and observed that "Jerry out-dressed me again."
"That's nothing new, Steve," Rice said smoothly as he took over the microphone.
A little levity was certainly welcome. This has been the longest goodbye since Lassie left Timmy's farm. Young suffered his final concussion last September 27 and has been trying to decide if he should play again ever since. He certainly fought the idea of quitting.
"Retiring at 38," he shrugged yesterday, "in some ways it sucks."
"He must have lived on the phone," said Mariucci, who said he couldn't even guess how many times Young called him to discuss the decision in the past month. "His cell phone bill must have been huge."
Now that he is moving on, Young will have no trouble filling his days. One reason the press conference lasted so long was that someone asked him what he might be doing after football. The list, beginning with becoming a dad, goes on and on.
OLYMPICS JOB
Among other things, he mentioned a business he has started, a law firm he would like to set up to do charitable work in family cases and an offer to be CEO of an Internet firm. Besides that, he mentioned in passing, he has accepted a major job with the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. And that's just for starters. "I love the Olympics," he said. "I'd like to be a bobsledder or something, and maybe I will be."
Great, another dangerous sport where he has to wear a helmet. But if anything came of yesterday's goodbye, it was a sense that Young is planning on moving beyond the fields of sport to the next stage of life. He's already setting goals. "On my gravestone," he said yesterday, "I'd like to have it say Steve Young did this, this, and this, and also played some football."

Fabled 49ers' quarterback orchestrates locker-room farewell

C.W. Nevius, Chronicle staff writer

A reflective, relaxed and -- let's admit it -- rambling Steve Young said goodbye to football yesterday at 49ers' headquarters.

Playing host, master of ceremonies and featured speaker, Young told stories, thanked former coaches and guests and got off a few one-liners in a 1 1/2-hour farewell that was carried live across the nation.

When it ended, no one could doubt the sincere depth of feeling from Young, who spent 13 years with the 49ers and won the Super Bowl at the end of the 1994 season. He got so carried away he claimed he would miss the old windy 3Com stadium.

"I loved Candlestick Park," Young said, sounding almost like a beat poet. "I loved the music they played after touchdowns. I loved the ethereal fog rolling in. I loved walking up the tunnel to the field with my great friend Brent Jones."

What's next? It's a mystery to Young, because he doesn't know what life is like without football.

"I started playing football when I was 7," he said at one point, "and I don't remember when I was 6."

The one missing element was outright emotion. There was a sniff and a long pause when Young spoke of his new bride, Barbara, and their baby, due at the end of this year, but anyone who bet the over on tears came away disappointed.

"I think I got more emotional than he did," said Young's father, the notoriously flinty LeGrande (Grit) Young. "It's a good thing he didn't ask me to speak."

The unexpected exception was wide receiver Jerry Rice, who will be linked with Young forever in football record books. Rice, who acknowledged that the "clock is ticking for me, too," took the time to write out a moving tribute to Young, beginning and ending with the lines: "Sometimes we dream, and dreams come true."

Rice, who was not considered a warm and fuzzy kind of guy early in his career, seemed genuinely touched by the moment. At one point Rice had to pause to recover his composure, while Young, standing nearby, occupied himself by staring fiercely at the carpet on the locker room floor.

TOUGH ACT TO FOLLOW

It has been a long and winding journey. Few of us would have predicted that Young would be getting such an elaborate sendoff when he arrived in 1987. There are those who will never forgive him being so talented that he hastened the departure of the sainted Joe Montana.

"(Denver coach) Mike Shanahan said that Steve was one of the top five quarterbacks of all time," said Jones when he was called to speak. "I agree with that. But I know one thing. None of the other four followed a Hall of Famer. To me, that's the greatest accomplishment of all."

One by one, Young answered the knocks from his critics. He stopped throwing interceptions, harnessed his happy feet, racked up stats and then won the big one. And now, he has made the hardest decision, walking away from the spotlight, even though he knows he could still suit up and be an automatic All-Pro.

"For the record, I know I can still play," he said. "The fire still burns. There is plenty of football left in me."

But, as eyebrows raised around the room -- was there a chance of a comeback in a year or so? -- Young shot the idea down.

A PRAYERFUL DECISION

"I realized that I accomplished what I set out to do," he said. "I have studied on this prayerfully, and I really feel that it is the right decision. I count myself as a spiritual man. At the end, that's what settled on me, that this was the time."

What followed was a collective sigh of relief from fans, friends and family. Grit Young said yesterday he didn't have any problem watching "Steven" get sacked, but there were times when Sherry, his wife, "couldn't stand it, and she'd have to go for a walk around the block."

Local fans know how she felt. Even head coach Steve Mariucci winced when he thought of Young going back out on the field. Asked if he would have been able to congratulate Young if the quarterback had said he was going play this year, Mariucci shook his head. "I told him I would support whatever he decided," Mariucci said. "But he didn't ask me my opinion until last week. Then he said, `All right, c'mon! Tell me.' "

Young didn't want to ask because he knew what Mariucci, and everyone who cared about him, would say. His wife, Barbara, said she told him, "I am 100 percent behind you, whatever you say," but she didn't look too disappointed that her husband won't run the risk of being the featured medical report some Sunday afternoon.

Typically, Young insisted on the blue-collar setting for the farewell, and it probably wouldn't have worked anywhere else. Mariucci held up, and officially retired, the wrinkled T-shirt Young was famous for wearing every day in the locker room, and Young spoke of "the relationships forged here that cannot be broken."

On the other hand, these were a bunch of football players, so you can bet the deep thinking and long sighs didn't last long. Jones, in particular, clearly did not intend to let things become too serious.

BRENT JONES LIVENED IT UP

The former tight end claimed that when Young came to the 49ers, he had the full command of two types of passes, "the slow wobbly pass and the deep wobbly pass." He also noted that when Young emerged from behind a 49ers' banner to start the ceremony, he was actually stepping out of the locker room bathroom.

"When you make your grand entrance through the facility's facilities," Jones cracked, "you've done it all."

Nor was Rice in a mood to turn down a straight line. When he introduced the record-setting wide receiver, Young checked his sport coat against Rice's tailored suit and observed that "Jerry out-dressed me again."

"That's nothing new, Steve," Rice said smoothly as he took over the microphone.

A little levity was certainly welcome. This has been the longest goodbye since Lassie left Timmy's farm. Young suffered his final concussion last September 27 and has been trying to decide if he should play again ever since. He certainly fought the idea of quitting.

"Retiring at 38," he shrugged yesterday, "in some ways it sucks."

"He must have lived on the phone," said Mariucci, who said he couldn't even guess how many times Young called him to discuss the decision in the past month. "His cell phone bill must have been huge."

Now that he is moving on, Young will have no trouble filling his days. One reason the press conference lasted so long was that someone asked him what he might be doing after football. The list, beginning with becoming a dad, goes on and on.

OLYMPICS JOB

Among other things, he mentioned a business he has started, a law firm he would like to set up to do charitable work in family cases and an offer to be CEO of an Internet firm. Besides that, he mentioned in passing, he has accepted a major job with the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. And that's just for starters. "I love the Olympics," he said. "I'd like to be a bobsledder or something, and maybe I will be."

Great, another dangerous sport where he has to wear a helmet. But if anything came of yesterday's goodbye, it was a sense that Young is planning on moving beyond the fields of sport to the next stage of life. He's already setting goals. "On my gravestone," he said yesterday, "I'd like to have it say Steve Young did this, this, and this, and also played some football."