Best NFL Players of All Time: Steve Young. Ranking the Top Players in History. Place a bet on an NFL football game now.

Best NFL Players of All Time: Steve Young

Steve Young’s name appears everywhere in the NFL record book. Throughout his career, he tied Sammy Baugh for the most passing league leads in NFL history with his six passes. No other quarterback has led the league more than three times in a row, a feat accomplished by Young four times in a row. With a career passer rating of 8.0 yards per attempt, he leads all players in the passing category, surpassing even Peyton Manning and Kurt Warner. Yes, even Joe Montana.

Despite all of his accomplishments, including countless records, Young was frequently regarded as though he had unexpectedly attended the party.

Young was neither a personality like Barry Bonds nor an ogre. He was as friendly and accommodating to the media as he was to his teammates, coaches, and supporters. He did, however, have one flaw: he wasn’t Montana.

In the 1992 season, Young reached adulthood. With only seven interceptions, he completed 268 of 402 throws for 3,465 yards and 25 touchdowns. In addition, he ran for four touchdowns and 537 yards. Joe Montana’s legacy continued to captivate 49ers fans, even in the face of Young’s spectacular performance. Young was aware of the fervor and devotion that Montana fans have for the state. Any quarterback who wins four Super Bowls with his club has earned the support and allegiance shown to him. Sometimes, though, such allegiance was tinged with contempt for Young, and the quarterback found it difficult to bear.

“It’s not like I imagined I could walk in here and get away with it,” Young remarked. Joe accomplished a lot for this club, so it was sense that fans would adore him and want to see him at center. However, once I got going, it became my job.

Young’s ability, maturity, and confidence helped him improve as a quarterback in 1992. However, Mike Shanahan’s coaching—who was in his first season as the team’s offensive coordinator—also helped him.

Naturally, Shanahan would achieve even greater success, leading the Denver Broncos to two Super Bowl victories. But he was the ideal person for the job when he arrived in San Francisco and got the chance to mold Young’s career. Shanahan was aware that Young was a virtuoso player and that he would only need to make small tweaks to work with him. Among these was to alter his way of thinking when he made the decision to break the pocket.

Young turned into a running back after he made the decision to run, using his quickness and agility to avoid or outrun tacklers. Shanahan was hoping he would stay at quarterback. Shanahan instructed his quarterback to “just keep your eyes open as you approach the line of scrimmage.” “There could be a big play there and someone could get loose.”

Though Young was aware of this, hearing it directly from his coach made the point clear. He no longer used his arms or legs to lead. He became one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of the position by exercising sound judgment.

Young had performed as brilliantly as any quarterback in the history of the game going into the 1994 season, but he had yet to win a Super Bowl. He was aware that the title would determine his legacy in the eyes of the public as much as his own.

“Your titles are one of the main ways people judge you, whether you like it or not,” Young stated. “Especially when you play for this team, and especially as a quarterback.”

Though the 1994 Niners would go on to become one of the greatest offensive teams in NFL history, the club really came of age in their early-season defeats to the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs. Although the opposing defenses severely beat Young in both games, he never sought the easy route out. The defeat against the Chiefs, who were led by an aging Montana, must have been especially painful, but Young truly proved himself in the team’s 38–8 home loss to the Eagles.

With defensive end Reggie White having essentially taken up residence in the 49ers backfield, it was evidently Philadelphia’s day, and they were treating Young with a feeling of savagery. Each time he laid hands on Young, he punished him. Head coach George Seifert had no choice but to substitute Elvis Grbac for him as the game became out of hand.

The only issue was that Seifert failed to consult his quarterback before making the switch. Young had never even thought about leaving the game, not even in spite of the physical assault. He didn’t hesitate to express his displeasure to Seifert from the sidelines. On the sidelines, he vented his frustration to his coach, and that was the last straw that persuaded the team’s Montana supporters that Young was an excellent leader. Young spoke up for himself in addition to wanting to continue playing since he was aware that the move would be taken as an admission of guilt for the significant defeat.

Jesse Sapolu, an offensive lineman for the Niners, remarked, “That was a very key moment.” “If Steve had wanted to leave the game, nobody could have held him responsible. But he demonstrated to everyone how badly he wanted it by acting out of character when the coach decided to take him out. He was an excellent quarterback with the same kind of drive and work ethic as his skill. It’s really difficult to defeat that.

The 1994 Niners would go on to win ten games in a row until losing to the Minnesota Vikings in a meaningless Week 17 match. The Niners had already won the NFC West and would have home-field advantage for the duration of the NFC playoffs.

The Dallas Cowboys lost to the Niners in the divisional playoffs, 44–14, in a meaningless victory against the Chicago Bears. The 49ers received a much-needed boost from Deion Sanders against Cowboy receiver Michael Irvin, and Young and Jerry Rice helped the team win 38–28, which was not as close as the score suggests.

Compared to the Super Bowl, that game was more of a test. The San Diego Chargers had made a strong push to represent the AFC in Miami, but they lacked the strength to compete with the Niners.

It was just as terrible in execution as many of the onlookers had predicted. Early in the first quarter, Young found Rice and Ricky Watters with touchdown throws, and the Niners were off and running. With three touchdown throws to Rice, Young set a Super Bowl record with 24 of 36 passes for 325 yards. Young was outstanding. However, it took more than Young’s death to complete the task. In addition, he scored 49 yards on the ground and produced plays with his feet anytime the outmatched Chargers attempted to contain him.

Young’s outstanding effort earned him the Super Bowl MVP award following the game. Triumphant, Young asked Harris Barton, a teammate, to assist him in taking an imaginary monkey off his back. He had won the title he needed to prove his grandeur, and he was not going to let the occasion slip by without a formal ceremony.

Although Young didn’t become a famous figure in the Bay Area until that game, Montana would always be. He had been dramatic and impressive with his own championship team, so he no longer needed to prove anything to the skeptics. Young was now able to enjoy his magnificent moment with his own legion of followers, having triumphed over Montana’s great shadow.

Best NFL Players of All Time: Steve Young Stats

Regular Season

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	No.	G	GS	QBrec	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	TD%	Int	Int%	1D	Succ%	Lng	Y/A	AY/A	Y/C	Y/G	Rate	Sk	Yds	Sk%	NY/A	ANY/A	4QC	GWD	AV
1985	24	TAM	QB	8	5	5	1/4/2000	72	138	52.2	935	3	2.2	8	5.8			59	6.8	4.6	13	187	56.9	21	158	13.2	4.89	3	1	1	4
1986	25	TAM	QB	8	14	14	2/12/2000	195	363	53.7	2282	8	2.2	13	3.6			46	6.3	5.1	11.7	163	65.5	47	326	11.5	4.77	3.73			9
1987	26	SFO	QB	8	8	3	2/1/2000	37	69	53.6	570	10	14.5	0	0			50	8.3	11.2	15.4	71.3	120.8	3	25	4.2	7.57	10.35			4
1988	27	SFO	QB	8	11	3	2/1/2000	54	101	53.5	680	3	3	3	3			73	6.7	6	12.6	61.8	72.2	13	75	11.4	5.31	4.65	1	1	4
1989	28	SFO	QB	8	10	3	3-0-0	64	92	69.6	1001	8	8.7	3	3.3			50	10.9	11.2	15.6	100.1	120.8	12	84	11.5	8.82	9.06	0	1	5
1990	29	SFO	QB	8	6	1	0-1-0	38	62	61.3	427	2	3.2	0	0			34	6.9	7.5	11.2	71.2	92.6	8	41	11.4	5.51	6.09	1	1	2
1991	30	SFO	QB	8	11	10	5/5/2000	180	279	64.5	2517	17	6.1	8	2.9			97	9	8.9	14	228.8	101.8	13	79	4.5	8.35	8.28			14
1992	31	SFO	QB	8	16	16	14-2-0	268	402	66.7	3465	25	6.2	7	1.7			80	8.6	9.1	12.9	216.6	107	29	152	6.7	7.69	8.12	3	5	22
1993	32	SFO	QB	8	16	16	10/6/2000	314	462	68	4023	29	6.3	16	3.5			80	8.7	8.4	12.8	251.4	101.5	31	160	6.3	7.84	7.55			22
1994	33	SFO	QB	8	16	16	13-3-0	324	461	70.3	3969	35	7.6	10	2.2	187	55.5	69	8.6	9.2	12.3	248.1	112.8	31	163	6.3	7.74	8.24	1	1	22
1995	34	SFO	QB	8	11	11	8/3/2000	299	447	66.9	3200	20	4.5	11	2.5	163	50.8	57	7.2	6.9	10.7	290.9	92.3	25	115	5.3	6.54	6.33			13
1996	35	SFO	QB	8	12	12	9/3/2000	214	316	67.7	2410	14	4.4	6	1.9	125	48.9	52	7.6	7.7	11.3	200.8	97.2	34	160	9.7	6.43	6.46	2	2	12
1997	36	SFO	QB	8	15	15	12/3/2000	241	356	67.7	3029	19	5.3	6	1.7	149	48.6	82	8.5	8.8	12.6	201.9	104.7	35	220	9	7.18	7.47	1	1	14
1998	37	SFO	QB	8	15	15	11/4/2000	322	517	62.3	4170	36	7	12	2.3	208	46	81	8.1	8.4	13	278	101.1	48	234	8.5	6.97	7.28	2	3	19
1999	38	SFO	QB	8	3	3	2/1/2000	45	84	53.6	446	3	3.6	4	4.8	17	37	53	5.3	3.9	9.9	148.7	60.9	8	63	8.7	4.16	2.86	1	0	2
Career					169	143	94-49-0	2667	4149	64.3	33124	232	5.6	107	2.6	849	49.4	97	8	7.9	12.4	196	96.8	358	2055	7.9	6.89	6.85	13	16	168
13 yrs		SFO			150	124	91-33-0	2400	3648	65.8	29907	221	6.1	86	2.4	849	49.4	97	8.2	8.3	12.5	199.4	101.4	290	1571	7.4	7.2	7.34	12	15	155
2 yrs		TAM			19	19	3-16-0	267	501	53.3	3217	11	2.2	21	4.2			59	6.4	5	12	169.3	63.1	68	484	12	4.8	3.53	1	1	13

Playoffs

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	G	GS	QBrec	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	TD%	Int	Int%	1D	Succ%	Lng	Y/A	AY/A	Y/C	Y/G	Rate	Sk	Yds	Sk%	NY/A	ANY/A	4QC	GWD
1987	26	SFO		1	0	0-0	12	17	70.6	158	1	5.9	1	5.9			31	9.3	7.8	13.2	158	94.7	0	0	0	9.29	7.82
1988	27	SFO		2	0	0-0	1	1	100	-1	0	0	0	0			0	-1	-1	-1	-0.5	79.2	0	0	0	-1	-1
1989	28	SFO		3	0	0-0	3	5	60	26	0	0	0	0			13	5.2	5.2	8.7	8.7	73.7	0	0	0	5.2	5.2
1990	29	SFO		2	0	0-0	1	1	100	25	0	0	0	0			25	25	25	25	12.5	118.7	0	0	0	25	25
1992	31	SFO	QB	2	2	1-Jan	45	65	69.2	540	3	4.6	3	4.6			36	8.3	7.2	12	270	90.5	5	25	7.1	7.36	6.29
1993	32	SFO	QB	2	2	1-Jan	44	67	65.7	513	1	1.5	1	1.5			43	7.7	7.3	11.7	256.5	87.5	5	18	6.9	6.88	6.53
1994	33	SFO	QB	3	3	Mar-00	53	87	60.9	623	9	10.3	0	0	36	56.9	51	7.2	9.2	11.8	207.7	117.2	4	20	4.4	6.63	8.6
1995	34	SFO	QB	1	1	0-1	32	65	49.2	328	0	0	2	3.1	17	39.9	32	5	3.7	10.3	328	51.3	3	20	4.4	4.53	3.21
1996	35	SFO	QB	2	2	1-Jan	16	26	61.5	169	1	3.8	0	0	9	54.8	36	6.5	7.3	10.6	84.5	93.3	1	0	3.7	6.26	7
1997	36	SFO	QB	2	2	1-Jan	44	68	64.7	474	1	1.5	1	1.5	21	49.1	48	7	6.6	10.8	237	83.8	5	31	6.8	6.07	5.73
1998	37	SFO	QB	2	2	1-Jan	41	69	59.4	471	4	5.8	5	7.2	21	50.8	38	6.8	4.7	11.5	235.5	69.2	3	14	4.2	6.35	4.33	1	1
Career				22	14	6-Aug	292	471	62	3326	20	4.2	13	2.8	104	44.4	51	7.1	6.7	11.4	151.2	85.8	26	128	5.2	6.43	6.06	1	1

 

At YouWager.lv you can place a bet on the NFL with the best odds and promotions. Wager on the moneyline, spread, and total; on your favorite team or an undervalued underdog. Sign up with YouWager.lv now and get in the game with the best welcome bonus, click below: