BOISE, Idaho — THIS DAY IN SPORTS…March 5, 1984, 40 years ago today:
Quarterback Steve Young, fresh out of BYU, signs a 10-year contract worth $40 million with the Los Angeles Express of the United States Football League. According to terms of the deal, deferred payments would be made to Young until the year 2027. So away he went—after missing the first six games of his rookie season while taking classes at BYU in order to graduate on time (imagine that happening today). When Young did play, the L.A. Coliseum was mostly empty.
Young continued with the Express in 1985, but it was apparent that the end of the USFL was near. He and most of his teammates, let’s say, conserved effort in order to avoid injury and stay on the NFL’s radar. And with the league about to fold, Young essentially bought out the landmark contract—making an estimated $5.2 million when it was all said and done—and jumped to the NFL with Tampa Bay. But the Buccaneers were in the middle of 12-straight 10-loss seasons, going 2-14 in each of Young’s two years with them. He looked bad, mainly because he had no supporting cast. But the Bucs looked at him as a bust and traded him to the San Francisco 49ers in the spring of 1987.
The move to the other bay ultimately worked out well, of course. Young had to play behind one of the greats, Joe Montana, for four years (imagine that happening today—Montana looking over his shoulder, and Young waiting). The duo put on a friendly front but were fierce competitors at practice. "We're friends, Steve and I," Montana told Sports Illustrated in 1988. "But out on the practice field, if he doesn't hate me as much as I hate him, then there's something wrong."
Montana missed all of the 1991 season and almost all of 1992 with a serious elbow injury, and Young became the 49ers starter. In 1993, club owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. pushed for a return of Montana to the starting spot, but the Niners eventually traded him to Kansas City. Young, with the job to himself once and for all, ended up being a two-time NFL Most Valuable Player and was MVP of Super Bowl XXIX after the 1994 season, when he threw a record six touchdown passes in a 49-26 win over the San Diego Chargers.
By the way, the late Pokey Allen, Boise State’s future coach, was in his second season as an assistant with the L.A. Express in Young’s first. Allen stayed in the USFL in 1985 as defensive coordinator of the Portland Breakers. He then segued to the head coaching position at Portland State, and the legend began. Allen was with the Vikings for seven successful seasons before taking the Broncos job in December, 1992.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
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