Steve Young: Losing Super Bowl has to drive 49ers’ Jimmy Garoppolo

Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young knows a thing or two about rebounding. He followed back-to-back defeats to the Dallas Cowboys in NFC Championship games with a Super Bowl XXIX victory and Super Bowl MVP honors to close out the 1994 season.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo could be on the cusp of doing the same thing after a disheartening defeat in Super Bowl LIV, and Young feels the setback could be a source of motivation moving forward.

"When you get there, and you don't get it done, that's — you don't get it done, so you eat that," Young recently told David Lombardi of The Athletic. "And that has to be something that drives you forward."

Despite the fourth-quarter collapse by the quarterback and the 49ers, Garoppolo had an otherwise impressive 2019 campaign. He completed 69.1 percent of his pass attempts for 3,978 yards with 27 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. It was the fourth-best single-season performance by a San Francisco quarterback in franchise history.

Young, by the way, is responsible for two of those better performances while Jeff Garcia's 2000 season leads them all.

Young remembers a conversation he once had with the father of 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, Mike Shanahan. The latter was the team's offensive coordinator in the years leading to and including Young's Super Bowl season.

"I remember (Kyle's) dad said to me: 'Steve, I'm going to be as aggressive as I possibly can, and I want you to protect me,'" Young said. "That, I think, is the statement Jimmy needs to look for, to get from Kyle: 'Jimmy, I'm going to be as aggressive as I possibly can. I want you to protect me.'"

Young's conversation with Lombardi is part of a more extensive feature that breaks down what the history of 49ers quarterbacks might say about Garoppolo's future. Click here to read that feature over at The Athletic.