Ira Miller

Although it was not until a year later that he became the 49ers' regular starting quarterback, Steve Young would have been the starter in Super Bowl XXV -- the 49ers' bid for a ``three-peat'' following the 1990 season -- if they hadn't lost the NFC Championship Game to the Giants in the closing moments.

Joe Montana was knocked out of the game with a broken hand and Young was trying to protect a one- point lead when Roger Craig's fumble gave the Giants a chance to kick the winning field goal.

Young said he ``would have loved'' that opportunity but admitted ``it wouldn't have been the same (because) I was the sub player. There's something to handling all that you have to handle as the starting quarterback and doing it all year long, and then going to the Super Bowl.''

Four years later, he got that chance when he led the 49ers to a victory in the Super Bowl following the 1994 season.

Nonetheless, Raiders coach Jon Gruden, who was a quality-control coach on the 49ers' staff with that 1990 team, says Young might have gotten that earlier Super Bowl if the 49ers hadn't called a play set up specifically to be used with a right-handed quarterback.

The Craig fumble came on a running play known as ``90-O.'' The left-handed version of the play would have been ``91-O,'' Gruden explained.

``We only practiced them one way,'' he said. ``We never ran 91-O, only 90-O. So Steve Young came in, and it is a difficult pivot for a left- handed quarterback. We just didn't get a great exchange (on the handoff from Young to Craig). One of those deals.''