Steve Young had an incredible career and is one of the best quarterbacks of all time. The hall of fame quarterback had a slow start to his career and was 30 before his first true breakout. Today we are going to break down his career to see just how good he was. Steve Young’s career can be broken down into 4 chapters: The Tampa Days, The Backup, The MVP run, The Final Chapter.
The Tampa Days
Steve Young was drafted with the first pick of the 1984 Supplemental draft. The draft was held to draft players who would have been eligible for the 1984 NFL draft but already signed with the USFL or the CFL. Worried, primarily, that the newly formed USFL would fall apart and there would be a mass influx of free agents, the NFL held the Supplemental draft. After one year with the USFL, Steve Young bought out his contract and joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFL. The Buccaneers were not good in 1985, they started Steve DeBerg for the first 11 games and went 1-10. Then after a franchise record loss 62-28 to the Jets, they decided to give Young a try. He finished the rest of the year 1-4, struggling to do much on the terrible Buccaneers team. The next year, Steve DeBerg started the first two games before being benched for Young who did not fare much better as he went 2-12 with 8 touchdowns, 13 picks, and 11 fumbles.
| Year | Team | Games | Yearly Rank | Tier |
| 1985 | TAM | 5 | 41 | Bad/backup |
| 1986 | TAM | 14 | 29 | Bad/backup |
In 1986, Steve Young was the 29th best quarterback, despite the NFL only having 28 teams. The Buccaneers, with the first overall pick in the 1987 draft decided to take quarterback Vinny Testaverde and traded Young to the 49ers in exchange for 2nd and 4th round draft picks.
The Backup
Steve Young was now the backup behind arguably the best quarterback in the NFL, Joe Montana. His next four years, Young played sparingly. While he occasionally was able to play in blowouts, or when Montana was out, he was still firmly the backup quarterback. Montana meanwhile, was lighting the league on fire, as he had the best four year stretch of his career. Not only was he consistently the best quarterback in the regular season, but Montana was able to win the Super Bowl in 1988 and 1989. Unsurprisingly, Steve Young’s stats over this time period were terrible as he sat behind Montana.
Joe Montana:
| Year | Team | GS | Yearly Rank | Tier |
| 1987 | SFO | 11 | 1 | All Pro |
| 1988 | SFO | 13 | 4 | Elite |
| 1989 | SFO | 13 | 1 | All Pro |
| 1990 | SFO | 15 | 1 | All Pro |
Steve Young:
| Year | Team | GS | Yearly Rank | Tier |
| 1987 | SFO | 3 | 33 | Bad/backup |
| 1988 | SFO | 3 | 42 | Bad/backup |
| 1989 | SFO | 3 | 33 | Bad/backup |
| 1990 | SFO | 1 | 41 | Bad/backup |
At this point in his career, Steve Young had one and a half disappointing years as a starter and four more years as a backup. It seemed like his career would only amass to a footnote in NFL history, but in the 1990 NFC Championship Game, Joe Montana suffered an elbow injury which changed everything. With Montana out for the year, Steve Young was given the chance to start. In his first eight games, while he played really well, the team struggled going only 4-4, before he went down with a knee injury. His backup Steve Bono, after losing his first game won 5 in a row and was named the starter over Young before his own injury put Young back in. After finishing the season, despite fantastic individual play by Young, with Bono having more team success it was still unclear if Young should be the backup.
Steve Young:
| Year | Team | Record | Yearly Rank | Tier |
| 1991 | SFO | 5-5 | 4 | Elite |
Steve Bono:
| Year | Team | Record | Yearly Rank | Tier |
| 1991 | SFO | 5-1 | 13 | Good |
The MVP
With Joe Montan’s injury lingering, the starting quarterback position was again open. After surviving the trade rumors and beating out Steve Bono for the spot, Young had a huge breakout season. He led the 49ers to a 14-2 record, and won MVP. Of course, the following year, there is now a huge controversy between Young and Montana. Ultimately, the 49ers went with Young after the 49ers traded Montana to the Chiefs after he requested a trade. The 49ers ultimately were proved correct with their decision as over the next two years, Young was the best quarterback in the NFL.
| Year | Team | GS | Yearly Rank | Tier |
| 1992 | SFO | 16 | 1 | All Pro |
| 1993 | SFO | 16 | 1 | All Pro |
| 1994 | SFO | 16 | 1 | All Pro |
In the 1992 and 1993 seasons, Steve Young led the 49ers to the NFC championship game but lost both times. The next year, to complete one of the greatest three year stretches any quarterback has ever had, he won the Super Bowl 49-26 over the Chargers throwing for a Super Bowl record 6 touchdowns. From 1992-94, Steve Young was the best quarterback every single year. Winning MVP in ‘92 and ‘94, and barely coming in second in ‘93 to Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith.
The Final Chapter
After one of the best three year stretches in NFL history, Steve Young was fully out of Joe Montana’s shadow and one of the faces of the league. He continued to dominate the NFL for the next four years, even as injuries forced him to miss games every once in a while.
| Year | Team | GS | Yearly Rank | Tier |
| 1995 | SFO | 11 | 4 | Elite |
| 1996 | SFO | 12 | 4 | Elite |
| 1997 | SFO | 15 | 3 | Elite |
| 1998 | SFO | 15 | 2 | All Pro |
Although Young regularly put up huge seasons, the 49ers struggled in the playoffs. In 1995 and ‘96 the 49ers lost to Brett Favre and the Packers in the divisional round, and in ‘97 they advanced to the NFC championship game only to lose to the Packers for the 3rd year in a row. 1998 was Steve Young’s last healthy year of his career, and after another insanely good regular season. He was finally able to be Brett Favre in the playoffs when Terrell Owens made an insane 25 game winning touchdown catch with 3 seconds left. The 49ers lost the next week in the divisional round to the Falcons. The next year, Steve Young got a season ending concussion in week 3 and retired that following off season due to his concussion history.
Overview
Steve Young was in the NFL for 6 years before he finally broke out. But after he did, he was one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL until injuries forced him to retire. In those 8 years of being relatively healthy, Steve Young had 4 All Pro and 4 Elite seasons, never finishing lower than the 4th best quarterback in the NFL. Including a three year stretch where he was the best quarterback in the NFL every year. While he doesn’t have the playoff success of his predecessor Joe Montana, he does have a Super Bowl and 3 more NFC championship game appearances. Steve Young is easily a hall of famer and one of the best quarterbacks of all time.