Before Steve Young became a San Francisco 49ers hero, he was wasting his time in the depth. With Joe Montana set as the starter, his hopes of replacing him looked dim. However, Young felt compelled to stay on.
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“I wanted out,” he said on In Depth with Graham Bensinger. “I was the one that had Leigh Steinberg go figure out how to get me out of here, like, I got to get out of here; I can’t take it.
“It’s just nuts, my career just going by, and I’m just standing here. And then when it got really right down to it, we had to make the decision. … It was the spring of 1991, and there was something about [it]. There’s something about it [that] want to stay.”
Young came to the 49ers in 1987 via a trade with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He had already been deemed a bust by the latter team. And at San Francisco, he was faced with Montana, who had already brought the team two Super Bowls. There was never really a challenge to begin with, especially at that time: Montana would be the starter over Young any day. This situation led Young to remain as a backup for four years.
However, opportunity struck in 1991, when Montana missed the season after surgery on his throwing elbow. Young started for the 49ers that year. It was a rocky experience, with him going 5-5 that year. But he finished the season with a league-best 101.8 passer rating and helped San Francisco win its final six games.
Montana was healthy the next year, and fellow QB Steve Bono also emerged as a solid competitor for Young. But the latter balled out that year, winning the NFL MVP Award.
Young had only started 39 games in seven NFL seasons, even though he had shown he was a talented quarterback. He knew he was getting older and could not keep sitting on the bench. Another year without starting would mean losing an important year of his career.
In 1993, Montana put in a request to be traded, which sent him to the Kansas City Chiefs. The road was finally open for Steve Young to play as he’d always dreamt.
That became turning point of his career. Dallas had beaten San Francisco in the NFC Championship Game two years in a row. So, when Steve Young finally led the 49ers to a 38–28 win over Dallas on January 15, 1995, it was a huge moment for him. He finally defeated the team that had stopped San Francisco from reaching the Super Bowl in the previous two seasons.
He also made it to the CBS Sports 100 Greatest Players in NFL History list before the 2026 season for his legendary career.
All because he patiently waited for the golden chance.