Steve Young on the state of the 49ers

Lord of the Rings.

Originally posted by JBrack:

It's missing a couple of frames, here's the real deal.
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Great play that it was; offensive co-ordinators and head coaches don't like that chaos style of play and we have seen in the long term it has had little success in the NFL.

The offensive co-ordinator and head coach get up at 4am in the morning and work through till midnight almost 7 days a week scripting plays to run.

Then Steve Young steps up and says; Nah! I am going to improvise.

Sure it came off in this play but many times the offensive co-ordinator is left scratching his head when it fails say

This guy is uncoachable.

"I spent 14 hours scripting the perfect play and this guy refuses to make the play and just takes off running.

That is part of the reason Colin Kaepernick is not in the league at the moment.

Originally posted by GoldenGateGlory:

Great play that it was; offensive co-ordinators and head coaches don't like that chaos style of play and we have seen in the long term it has had little success in the NFL.

The offensive co-ordinator and head coach get up at 4am in the morning and work through till midnight almost 7 days a week scripting plays to run.

Then Steve Young steps up and says; Nah! I am going to improvise.

Sure it came off in this play but many times the offensive co-ordinator is left scratching his head when it fails say

This guy is uncoachable.

"I spent 14 hours scripting the perfect play and this guy refuses to make the play and just takes off running.

That is part of the reason Colin Kaepernick is not in the league at the moment.

Way to take a play from 1988 and extrapolate it over the course of Steve's Career. It was his second season in the offense. He looked pretty coachable winning 6 passing titles, 2 MVPs and a Super Bowl. Stop trying make him out as some bum. Any team would be lucky to find a QB as talented as Young and as effective he ran the WCO. Pretty Sure Walsh, Holmgren, Shanahan and any other coach that worked with Steve will tell you the same.

Originally posted by GoldenGateGlory:
Great play that it was; offensive co-ordinators and head coaches don't like that chaos style of play and we have seen in the long term it has had little success in the NFL.

The offensive co-ordinator and head coach get up at 4am in the morning and work through till midnight almost 7 days a week scripting plays to run.

Then Steve Young steps up and says; Nah! I am going to improvise.

Sure it came off in this play but many times the offensive co-ordinator is left scratching his head when it fails say

This guy is uncoachable.

"I spent 14 hours scripting the perfect play and this guy refuses to make the play and just takes off running.

That is part of the reason Colin Kaepernick is not in the league at the moment.

When you can score a TD like that, with your legs, why stay in the pocket? That is the problem with such tremendous runners like Steve and Colin. Their running talents are a blessing and a curse. That run kept our 1988 super bowl dreams alive. Link.

As Simmons points out, it was Young's last-second heroics against the Vikings that kept the 49ers' Super Bowl dreams alive in the first place (losing to Minnesota would have cost the 49ers their playoff spot). Simmons said the play typified the determination Young showed throughout his career as well as his knack for "turning apparent disaster into victories."

Originally posted by Giedi:

When you can score a TD like that, with your legs, why stay in the pocket? That is the problem with such tremendous runners like Steve and Colin. Their running talents are a blessing and a curse. That run kept our 1988 super bowl dreams alive. Link.

As Simmons points out, it was Young's last-second heroics against the Vikings that kept the 49ers' Super Bowl dreams alive in the first place (losing to Minnesota would have cost the 49ers their playoff spot). Simmons said the play typified the determination Young showed throughout his career as well as his knack for "turning apparent disaster into victories."

Nope....he should have just taken the sack Steve took a few years in the system to become comfortable in the offense. I'd say by 1990 he was pretty good and not the mad scrambler he was in '87-'88. It's nonsense to act like he didn't run one of the most efficient and productive offense during his starting tenure from '91-'98. All say it again, we were damn lucky as a franchise to have him. He's not Joe....but at his retirement he was a top 10 all time QB.

Originally posted by Niners816:
Way to take a play from 1988 and extrapolate it over the course of Steve's Career. It was his second season in the offense. He looked pretty coachable winning 6 passing titles, 2 MVPs and a Super Bowl. Stop trying make him out as some bum. Any team would be lucky to find a QB as talented as Young and as effective he ran the WCO. Pretty Sure Walsh, Holmgren, Shanahan and any other coach that worked with Steve will tell you the same.

This is just me - Colin Kaepernick Homer, but I really do believe that if Harbaugh would have stayed, he'd have been able to turn Colin into something like a Steve Young. Having said that - it probably would have taken at least a couple of years if not more. I don't think Jed would have been as patient as Eddie D was with regards to Young as with Colin. Oh well, se la vie, life goes on. Greg Cook, same thing, one shot wonder. Life's not fair.

Originally posted by Giedi:

This is just me - Colin Kaepernick Homer, but I really do believe that if Harbaugh would have stayed, he'd have been able to turn Colin into something like a Steve Young. Having said that - it probably would have taken at least a couple of years if not more. I don't think Jed would have been as patient as Eddie D was with regards to Young as with Colin. Oh well, se la vie, life goes on. Greg Cook, same thing, one shot wonder. Life's not fair.

It was my hope that Kap coulda became something similar to young in the pocket. Stability in the coaching staff woulda been huge. My dream scenario with Harbaugh would have been him hiring Marty Morinwheg as OC and QB coach. Always loved Marty's offense and loved the job he did with Vick in 2010. Vick never looked better as a passer then in 2010 under Marty.

Originally posted by GoldenGateGlory:

Young couldn't hold the bootlaces of Montana.

Like chalk and cheese.

Montana loved the moment; Young shied away from it and blamed mental issues for his lack of physical ability to get the job done.

B******t. "Blamed mental issues"?? WTF false narrative is this? He didn't reveal his anxiety issue for over 20 years after he won a Super Bowl!

You just make yourself look like a petty moron by saying things like this.

Originally posted by Niners816:

Originally posted by Giedi:
This is just me - Colin Kaepernick Homer, but I really do believe that if Harbaugh would have stayed, he'd have been able to turn Colin into something like a Steve Young. Having said that - it probably would have taken at least a couple of years if not more. I don't think Jed would have been as patient as Eddie D was with regards to Young as with Colin. Oh well, se la vie, life goes on. Greg Cook, same thing, one shot wonder. Life's not fair.

It was my hope that Kap coulda became something similar to young in the pocket. Stability in the coaching staff woulda been huge. My dream scenario with Harbaugh would have been him hiring Marty Morinwheg as OC and QB coach. Always loved Marty's offense and loved the job he did with Vick in 2010. Vick never looked better as a passer then in 2010 under Marty.

I love Marty, he was a great OC and when we lost him - Mooch lost some oomph in his offense. But Baalke was drafting weirdly. I mean remember that time when we had a deep WR draft, and what does he do? He screws that up. Walsh, right after we went to the super bowl, trades up and gets Rice. I think Baalk's problem was simply that he had too much control and he (as much as he tried) could not envision what Harbaugh wanted in an offense. Or if he did know what Harbaugh wanted, he didn't see the nuances needed to get the *best* type of WR for Harbaugh's offense. GM's are *by their role* should be subservient to the HC. After all the HC is the one that puts the product together and places it on the fans table. it's the coach's vision that counts on game day. Anyway, the current regime design is something I'm all for. So kudos to Jed to eat all that millions in coaching salaries - to get a good coach and put in a good organizational design.

Originally posted by captveg:

B******t. "Blamed mental issues"?? WTF false narrative is this? He didn't reveal his anxiety issue for over 20 years after he won a Super Bowl!

You just make yourself look like a petty moron by saying things like this.

I just don't get the hatred for Steve and I say this as a fan who loved Joe. Steve was not the reason for the 92-93 losses to Dallas. Defense let us down there. We were just totally outcoached by GB in '95 and '97. He just get blamed for these losses way too much IMO.

Read the book.

He blames mental issues as per the below.

Even the title insinuates this.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/steve-youngs-mental-struggle-off-the-playing-field/

"At its root," Young said, "is this desperation, like, I gotta make something happen. So why not run out of bounds? Well, because I can't run out of bounds!"

"Not an option?"

"Stuff's gotta happen!"

Young actually began his pro career in 1984 in the short-lived United States Football League, where he quickly earned another nickname before he stepped on the field for the L.A. Express, coming in as the $40 million man. "Biggest contract in the history of pro sports -- you're tormented by it," Keteyian said.

"Brutal!" he said. "The idea that I had to carry this horrific, in my mind, weight of being highly-paid and the expectations that come with that -- it just felt too much."

That explains his playing style and he claims it was mental.

I've read the book. He doesn't "blame" his anxiety. He simply states it was a part of what he had to deal with his entire life, and not specific to football only. You're framing it as if it's the only thing about him that defines who he is, which is far too simplistic. It's also absolutely ridiculous to say he "blamed mental issues" during his career when:

1. Dismissing anxiety as a "mental issue" suggests you think it was a choice. It was something he needed to work through, but you know what? He worked his ass off to minimize it as much as possible. Film study, practice, game experience, etc. - his anxiety may have been there, but he didn't let it dominate him. He pushed back against it.

2. He didn't disclose his anxiety in public for 17 years *after he retired*. Typically, if someone is gonna use something as an excuse, they don't keep mum about it for 30 years.

3. During his career (and at several times during the book) he rather matter-of-factly states times that he made mistakes due to wrong reads, wrong playcalls, and a myriad of other normal reasons playing a team sport doesn't go your way.

4. He's on record multiple times in his career and post-career saying that a QB always takes the blame when things go wrong on offense, even when things like an interception or fumble was not actually the fault of the QB. His reasoning behind this philosophy is that if a QB steps up and takes the blame for an INT that the WR ran the wrong route on, the WR knows the truth already anyway but now also knows his QB has his back.

5. It suggests Montana never failed at anything because he was "mentally stable", which is absurd. Just ask the Giants or Vikings in the mid-80s playoffs how Montana's cool overcame all. (Spoiler: It didn't. Team game, and nobody's perfect, even Joe).

Originally posted by captveg:

I've read the book. He doesn't "blame" his anxiety. He simply states it was a part of what he had to deal with his entire life, and not specific to football only. You're framing it as if it's the only thing about him that defines who he is, which is far too simplistic. It's also absolutely ridiculous to say he "blamed mental issues" during his career when:

1. Dismissing anxiety as a "mental issue" suggests you think it was a choice. It was something he needed to work through, but you know what? He worked his ass off to minimize it as much as possible. Film study, practice, game experience, etc. - his anxiety may have been there, but he didn't let it dominate him. He pushed back against it.

2. He didn't disclose his anxiety in public for 17 years *after he retired*. Typically, if someone is gonna use something as an excuse, they don't keep mum about it for 30 years.

3. During his career (and at several times during the book) he rather matter-of-factly states times that he made mistakes due to wrong reads, wrong playcalls, and a myriad of other normal reasons playing a team sport doesn't go your way.

4. He's on record multiple times in his career and post-career saying that a QB always takes the blame when things go wrong on offense, even when things like an interception or fumble was not actually the fault of the QB. His reasoning behind this philosophy is that if a QB steps up and takes the blame for an INT that the WR ran the wrong route on, the WR knows the truth already anyway but now also knows his QB has his back.

5. It suggests Montana never failed at anything because he was "mentally stable", which is absurd. Just ask the Giants or Vikings in the mid-80s playoffs how Montana's cool overcame all. (Spoiler: It didn't. Team game, and nobody's perfect, even Joe).

His main premise seems to be this anxiety some how made him this happy footed scrambling QB. Facts don't bare this out though. Most Rush attempts Steve ever had as a niners QB was 76 and usually was in the 50-55 range per season. For comparison sake, Joe most was 61 and was usually in the 40 range per year. That's basically 1-2 more Rush attempts a game. Steve was a fabulous QB especially from the pocket. Trying to imply otherwise is not based in facts or reality.

I don't know if you can read but:-

Steve Young could endure hellacious on-field beatings, but one opponent made him weepy, nauseous and reluctant to get out of bed: anxiety.

As a child, for example, his separation anxiety was so intense that he sometimes slept on the floor outside his parents' room. He invented excuses to avoid sleepovers. And his mother needed to stay in his classroom during his first few weeks of second grade.
His paradox is captured when he writes of his mind-set during his career, "I long to be the best quarterback in the NFL. I dread being the best quarterback in the NFL."

Football exacerbated his biggest fear: disappointing others. During the offseasons, without a game looming, his anxiety dissipated. And now, 17 years removed from his final start, it has vanished.

In an effort to harness his anxiety, Young, who wasn't diagnosed until he was 32, went to elaborate lengths to minimize pressure.

With the 49ers, before playing on Monday nights, he refused to watch NFL games on Sundays. The reason: He'd feel even more anxious if Pro Bowl peers such as Troy Aikman or Jim Kelly had stakes-raising performances.

Instead, Young stayed in his hotel room, watched "City Slickers" on a near-endless loop and had his roommate, tight end Brent Jones, bring him bananas and energy bars for breakfast.

No one else knew, but Young's anxiety was the reason he and Jones, a friend who doubled as an amateur counselor, were the only 49ers who shared a room.

Still, Young's efforts were futile, given the Triple Crown of Pressure that encompassed his career.

At BYU, he replaced Jim McMahon, the best quarterback in school history. In the USFL, he faced impossible-to-realize expectations created by his $40 million contract, then the biggest in pro sports history. And, then, finally, with the 49ers he replaced Montana, an exalted figure who is among the greatest if not the greatest ever Quarterback in NFL history.

I'm not going to say it was just another day at the office, because it takes all of you. The demands of excellent NFL quarterbacking I always said took every piece of me, emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually.

Before pressure nearly crushed him in 1993, Young had often considered quitting football.

In 1984, after he finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting, he was viewed as the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft. And while driving to a workout at BYU with the Bengals, who had the first pick, he fantasized about staying in Provo, earning a law degree and starting a family.

Young forged ahead, but he was staggering in 1993, his first season without Montana on the roster. He was the defending league MVP, but he'd thrown six interceptions in a 1-1 start. Replace a legend? He told a friend he couldn't even survive the season.

Before a Week 3 game at Candlestick Park against the Falcons, Young was vomiting because of nerves and hadn't slept for 36 hours, a wreck on the cusp of a revelatory moment.

http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2016/10/12/steve-young-talks

Listen to the interview. At the 5:00: mark Steve young talks about how separation anxiety made his life semi-miserable, even as an NFL MVP.

Montana failed sure, but he was always Joe Cool. The drive v Cincinnati Bengals to win the Super bowl when he asks the whole offence if they could see John Candy showed that.

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/pictures/50-greatest-super-bowl-moments-20140131/joe-montana-spies-john-candy-super-bowl-xxiii-0106360

Most of us would crack under the pressure of Super Bowl contention, or at least demonstrate some kind of shattered focus. But then, there's a reason guys like Joe Montana are who they are. The eventual four-time champ was so non-plussed en route to his team's nail-biting win against the Bengals that, during San Fran's game-clinching drive, he turned to teammate Harris Barton and asked, "There, in the stands, standing near the exit ramp… Isn't that John Candy?" And the cooler head prevailed.