Steve Young expresses confidence that the San Francisco 49ers can defeat the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 58, provided head coach Kyle Shanahan sticks to the team's identity. The Hall of Fame quarterback felt this wasn't the case when the 49ers faced the Baltimore Ravens on Christmas night, resulting in a lopsided defeat.
San Francisco struggled in its two playoff games, requiring come-from-behind efforts to overcome the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions and secure a spot in the Super Bowl.
Young believes the 49ers boast the best collection of athletes compiled in the last 10 to 15 years, potentially posing too formidable a challenge for the Chiefs to overcome.
"If they can get themselves righted, no one's going to beat them," Young told Rich Eisen in Las Vegas ahead of the marquee matchup.
Eisen brought up the "game manager" label thrust upon Purdy, with critics suggesting that the second-year quarterback merely benefits from a talented supporting cast. However, Young views this label as complimentary.
"The people need to stop using it as a slur," Young remarked. "Peyton Manning, you name them, three-quarters of their job was game managing. And so people think, Oh, that's a terrible thing. They're using it as a slur because he can't run around, stiff-arm a defensive lineman ... and you've got to just let him be himself. Stop."
Rod Woodson, seated beside Young during the interview, argued that critics would not characterize Purdy as a "game manager" had he been a first-round pick, a sentiment with which Young concurred.
This week, Purdy was questioned about the "game manager" label and chose to embrace it, also turning the narrative on its head.
"I feel like it can be a compliment at times, where it's like, 'All right, you've got a guy that can come in and run the system well,'" Purdy said. "I feel like that's a compliment. I think you're doing things right, mentally, and obviously, you're good enough to be able to hit guys that are open and make plays.
"You know, there's 32 teams in the NFL, and there's not a lot of people that can come in and play the quarterback position well in the NFL. It's a hard job. So if you're saying that I'm a game manager and I don't look flashy in how I do it, I mean, that's your opinion, and that's okay."