The crazy story behind Steve Young’s crazy 43-year USFL contract
Jun 24, 2016 at 11:10 AM
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This offseason, Shutdown Corner will travel down memory lane with a series of stories presenting some interesting and sometimes forgotten stories from the NFL's past. Join us as we relive some of the greatest and craziest moments in the sport's history. A $42 million pro football contract barely causes a ripple anymore. In 1984? Steve Young's deal that brought him to the USFL was a tsunami. Oh, and the deal was for 43 years. Yeah, it was a memorable one. The historic contract and the story behind how it got signed, from Young's agent Leigh Steinberg, sum up the USFL's existence in general: fun, different and a little insane. First things first: Young's contract with the Los Angeles Express never came close to paying $42 million or spanning 43 years. There are conflicting reports on how much the contract was supposed to be worth; most say the deal was $40 million though Steinberg remembers it being about $42 million in total. The numbers in the deal weren't necessarily exaggerated, but it wasn't exactly all guaranteed money either (this is apparently a never-ending theme with football contracts). The many years and millions tacked on the end were in the form of an annuity. But when...
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