Steve Young

Young's father was of English descent, and was a direct descendent of the Puritan Joseph Young, who arrived in Salem, Massachusetts from England in 1635 as part of the Puritan migration from England to New England.

Jon Steven Young (born October 11, 1961) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, most notably with the San Francisco 49ers.

He was drafted by and played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Prior to his NFL career, Young was a member of the Los Angeles Express in the United States Football League (USFL) for two seasons.

Young earned 1978 All-FCIAC West Division First Team honors in his junior year, his first year as a starter.

In his senior year, Young rushed for 13 touchdowns and earned All-FCIAC West Division First Team honors, and was named to the CIAC All-State team.

In the rush-first option offense run by Greenwich, he completed only 41 percent of his throws for 1,220 yards, but ran the ball 267 times for 1,928 yards.

On Thanksgiving Day in November 1979, Greenwich lost to Darien High School, known for its "Tidal Wave Defense", 17–0.

During his senior year, Young was co-captain of the football, basketball, and baseball teams.

In basketball, he averaged 15 points a game.

In baseball, Young hit .384 and played center field when he was not pitching.

Young was 5–1 and threw a 3–0 no-hitter against New Canaan High School.

Young was heavily recruited by the University of North Carolina.

Coach Dick Crum was enamored of Young's running ability, and wanted him to run his option offense.

Young instead chose BYU.

Initially, he struggled at throwing the ball, and BYU's coaching staff considered switching him to defensive back because of his athleticism.

However, Young worked hard to improve his passing skills and eventually succeeded record-setting Jim McMahon as BYU's starting quarterback.

Young passed for 3,902 yards and 33 touchdowns in the regular season, and his 71.3% completion percentage set an NCAA single-season record.

Young also added 544 yards rushing.

With Young at quarterback, BYU set an NCAA record by averaging 584.2 yards of total offense per game, with 370.5 of those yards coming from his passing and rushing.

The Cougars finished the year with an impressive 11–1 record; Young was named a unanimous All-American and received the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, which recognizes the nation's best collegiate quarterback each year.

He also finished second in voting for the Heisman Trophy, behind Nebraska running back Mike Rozier.

He played college football for the BYU Cougars, setting school and NCAA records en route to being runner-up for the 1983 Heisman Trophy.

Young capped his college career by scoring the game-winning touchdown on a pass from the halfback in BYU's 21–17 victory over Missouri in the 1983 Holiday Bowl.

Young finished his college career with 592 pass completions for 7,733 yards and 56 touchdowns, along with 1,048 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns.

Young was selected by the USFL Los Angeles Express in the first round (11th overall) of the 1984 draft held that January.

Express general manager Don Klosterman told Young that if he signed with the Express, his head coach would be John Hadl, a former All-Pro quarterback who had shepherded John Elway through his first year in the NFL.

Klosterman also told Young that Hall of Fame coach Sid Gillman, who had been hired as a consultant, would tutor him on how to be a pro quarterback.

The regular 1984 NFL draft would not be held until May.

To help influence his decision, the Express offered an all-sports record 10-year, $40 million contract.

Young was named the AP's NFL Most Valuable Player in 1992 and 1994, and was the MVP of Super Bowl XXIX where he led the 49ers to a victory over the San Diego Chargers with a record six touchdown passes.

During his 1994 MVP campaign, Young set a new NFL record for passer rating at 112.8.

He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Young was an extremely efficient passer, leading the league in passer rating a record six times and completion percentage and yards per attempt five times.

At the time of his retirement, Young had the highest passer rating among NFL quarterbacks with at least 1,500 passing attempts (96.8).

Currently, he is ranked fourteenth all time in passer rating, and is ranked fourth-highest amongst retired players, behind only Drew Brees, Tom Brady, and Tony Romo.

Young’s 43 career rushing touchdowns are third among quarterbacks, while his 4,239 rushing yards ranks sixth all time.

Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Young attended Eastern Middle School, and Greenwich High School in Greenwich, Connecticut, where he played quarterback on its Cardinals football team.

He was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001.

At the time Young left college the USFL was proving a serious challenge to the established NFL, and he had a choice to be a top pick in either league.