Steve Young, Hall of Fame QB

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Just use Instacart, Brian. A peanut butter M&M's production. In a world where Super Bowl winners get the world's admiration and a fancy ring, but the runners-up get nothing, one retired cop returns- That's one retired quarterback. Read the script.

Oh, sorry. One retired quarterback returns to claim what's his. Um, that's claim a ring with diamonds made from M&M's peanut butter.

But you're on a roll. The Ring of Comfort, coming soon to a Super Bowl new you. And now joining us is actually a Hall of Fame quarterback, a legendary quarterback in the NFL. And that is Steve Young, kind enough to join us right now. Steve, appreciate the time.

Thanks so much for doing this. How you been? Great. And I'm just catching up on the news myself.

So, geez. It's just terrible, right? We're supposed to be celebrating a football team today. You have a million people at a parade and now from early reports, 10 people have been shot. There are children in hospital and two people have just been taken into custody. I said it earlier and I don't know how much you heard about it when you were waiting. It's just, it's so unfortunate in our country now.

And I love living in this country, but we have so many acts like this that occurs that it feels normal and it should never feel normal when something like this happens. The divisiveness and the acrimony and the, I don't know. I don't know.

I mean, I'm, I'm just reading it myself just right now. I mean, we want to get together. We want to celebrate. We want to see the best in people.

We want to celebrate people who are extending themselves in amazing ways, athletically and anyway. I don't know what to say. That is, that's just terrible, terrible news. I feel so terrible for everybody and I wish I had a good answer. That is, that's rough to hear.

Yeah. There's nothing that you can really say. Steve Young is here with us. Let's get back to the football side of it. I know it's tough with the information that we just have been hearing and all these things that we are seeing out of Kansas city. Let me start you off with the 49ers decision today. They're not going to bring back Steve Wilkes as the defensive coordinator that's been announced from Kyle Shanahan.

What was your first thought to that when you heard it today? Well, there's something went haywire, you know, it was a slow start and they got their feet under him and they had a great middle of the season and then starting with the Ravens game and then to the playoffs. There's just, you know, we had been a dominant pass rush, Ford man pass rush, but we did get it back in the super bowl. So I thought that who we could be defensively felt more familiar in the super bowl. And so I thought what, how the defense played and what they did to try to combat the chiefs and all that they bring, um, I thought they did a good job, probably the best job they've done in a couple of months. So, um, you know, I, I think the 49ers are all in, uh, they were all in this year. They, they put in every ounce of commitment from, from money to intent, to, uh, spirit to try to get this thing done this year. And, uh, they know that there's ebbs and flows and windows that do open and close, or at least open broad wide and then, and then slightly shut, we get all that.

And so, you know, things don't get better off of the season. So maybe this is, you know, they made a fundamental decision around, look, if we're going to go attack it again, uh, we're going to attack it with different people. So you got to give them that right to do that.

Yeah, they have the right to do that. My first reaction to Steve Young is here with us is just that Steve volts is getting unfairly scapegoated for the super bowl loss, his defense for a while made my homes look human in that first half. And it was the offense that wasn't really able to distance themselves from the Kansas city chiefs and capitalize off of some of those mistakes with the fumble and the interception as well that occurred in the first half.

Do you feel like Steve Wilkes is getting unfairly treated here? Well, hopefully they're not making a decision off of what happened in the super bowl. Cause then that would be unfair because they did. I said before the game, if the four guys down lineman that are really the top of the league for the 49ers, if they can bring the heat to Patrick Mahomes themselves, they can dictate terms and win this football game. And so they did that and they did their part. So if it's off the super bowl, certainly that, that, that is unfair.

Obviously this is a, you know, more holistic approach, I'm sure. But as far as the super bowl, that when, when you hold Patrick Mahomes for three, almost three quarters with three points and and, and use and, you know, and you end up with 19 for the, if you said in regulation, Patrick Mahomes is going to score 19 points. You'd think before the game we're in a pretty good spot. And so, you know, you cannot say that the defense didn't do their job. What did you think the biggest reason was with the Niners offense, why they didn't look like themselves for the majority of the game in the super bowl? Again, they haven't looked like themselves since the Ravens game, you know, truly where they just gashing runs you know, just tipping fields immediately, you know, pouring points up early and often, you know, there's just, there's been moments in the season when they'd miss a quarter here or there, but not a whole half, especially in playoff football. They weren't running the ball with as much explosiveness. They just, they just weren't and throwing the football off of that.

The big, the big, yeah, you know, the yak catches, right? They led the league in zero yard rushes. I mean, passes behind the line of scrimmage, those throws behind the line of scrimmage led in yards per attempt for the whole league, all throws. So the explosiveness that they had in their passing game off of that running game kind of, you know, kind of slowed and they never got it back.

And so it's not, you know, it didn't, they didn't get it back, you know, through obviously through Christmas and then through the playoffs. I don't think at any of it, there was some, there was some explosiveness at the end of the game against the lions. There was some explosiveness at certain moments, but they certainly did lose their dominance. I mean, that offense was dominant. Some of the statistics for the, you know, for the season that have come out of the 49ers are incredible. The one I just told you about yards per attempt, leading the league behind the line of scrimmage. Like there's things that have never happened in football before, and that's how dominant they were. And then in the playoffs, it just didn't, it didn't, didn't come out that way.

Talking to Steve Young right now, what did you make of Kyle Shanahan's decision to take the ball first in overtime? Look, you know that they're going to, everyone's going to touch it. So you got to decide what you want. Most people will want to see what they have to do. You know, I mean, most people, I think intuitively think, okay, I'd rather see what you got.

And then I'll, I'll respond. I also feel like if Patrick Holmes is across the field, getting the ball and dictating terms and, and putting people under pressure, which they did. I mean, when they went on and kicked the field goal, there's pressure that's built now.

Yes. Patrick Holmes now gets to see what he has to do, but you know, in that way. So I think we can, like anything, if you decide something and win, you're a genius. And if you decide something to lose, especially if you go against the prevailing, you know, this is a new rule, but if you take the college part as the, as the guiding principle here, that in college, you always defer, right?

But you started the 25, it's a different thing. This is a new rule that is going to have to get kind of figured out, but his, his instinct was in that moment, I want the ball. I want to dictate to Patrick.

I don't want, you know, I want to be able to tell him what, what the story is. Right. And then there was also some injuries on the defense, the last series before. So maybe that played a part in it. Look again, you know, prevailing thought is to, to defer.

So, and it didn't work. So now he's going to have to stand for it, but it's, uh, I can, I can go either way on it, to be honest with you. Yeah.

And just to be abundantly clear, Steve Young is here with us. I actually had no problem with the decision. The thing that I thought was more egregious, it seemed like the 49ers from what their players said after the game had no clue how the overtime worked. And that's to me is a poor reflection on Kyle Shanahan.

Yeah. I think anytime there's rules that, that aren't understood, it just does. You can't see, no one can hide from that. And the players, uh, when they said that after the game, it was alarming, uh, that they understand the context for what they're, what they're going through. And it is a new rule, but look like let's get on, let's, I agree with you.

That is not a good look. Uh, there's no, there's no defending it. And then after the game, you know, a few days later, he said this the other day, Kyle Shannon, he kind of pushed back on the narrative that he can't win the big game. I kind of think he just got to own it in the moment because we all know Kyle's a good coach, but unfortunately for him right now, he's going to be talked about as the guy that's had two 10 point leads up against the chiefs, couldn't get the job done.

And then we all know what happened when he was the OC with the Atlanta Falcons in the Super Bowl. It's hard when you know how many big games you've won, right? And how many times you've faced the elimination round and done and gotten the job done. So it's just as a human being, it's hard to, to not, uh, kind of get into the mitigation of the situation rather than I do see that it's hard to do, but you knew you at that moment, it's probably best to just say, look, well, I haven't done it, which is a fact that I've not won a Super Bowl.

I've been close. I've been knocking on the door and, uh, I own that and you know, next year I'm going to knock it down. That's how this is going to roll.

And then everybody I think would, you know, get on board with that. And I think that's his intent. Um, I think it's, it's hard when, you know, what you don't want is allow a narrative that 49ers on a big, big win.

You know, they, they don't have to win the big game. You know, it's like, I think what he's saying is I don't want a narrative to get started that, that isn't, you know, I'm going to, I'm going to put a stop to that narrative the best I can. So there's two things happening. I want to stop the narrative. And then also you got to own the moment. So you're, you're saying own the moment first deal with the narrative second. And I think he dealt, he dealt with the narrative first and probably should own the moment.

I know it's, it's tough, but I think you're, you have a good point. Talking to Steve young right now, you know, I know everything's so negative when you lose a Superbowl. I thought for sure, just covering this a bunch from afar throughout the years that if the Niners would have lost, everyone would have been trashing Brock Purdy, but we really haven't heard any of that in the last few days. And we know how unintentionally polarizing Brock Purdy has become. I thought he played a good Superbowl and ultimately at the end, there were open people and open receivers, but when your line doesn't block, you know this, then there's no way that you're going to get the ball to that receiver. I thought Brock played a fine Superbowl yourself. Solid.

No question. Hedy, the moment was not big for him. You can, you kind of sense that that's who he is anyway. So I wasn't shocked by that. I would say this at the end of the games in the NFL today, they're decided by people who can get off platform and make their own way. And they don't just play retail football. Now, retail football is where championships are won, getting out of the huddle, getting the most out of the play, being a great processor, all that is vital. But in the end, you saw the last drive with Patrick Mahomes.

How did he actually get it done? He got it done by being dynamic, right? And going out and taking it himself because those yards are out there.

The game is wide open today compared to 20 years ago. And so those championship games will be decided by those kinds of plays. And so if that's for Brock Purdy, the lesson is, okay, I've got to figure out in my own way how to become a threat with my legs and in the movement, because in those biggest moments of the season, not just the rank and file, uh, regular season games where the retail, you know, processing works and it can dominate, dominate.

It's like these end of game scenarios. He's going to have to extend. He did that, uh, was it, uh, against the lions, right? He spit out 49 yards.

That's, that's, what's going to win those games. And even the last play that Patrick Mahomes ran was, um, was an RPO, right? It's on the move, the fourth and one is on the move, the scramble, all the, all the biggest moments of the game where the quarterback's on the move. And so Brock's going to have to figure out how do I get on the move in a really effective way, wrapping up with Steve young, we know you're one of the greatest quarterbacks ever play the game. So to see what Mahomes has now been able to do in his first six years as a starter with the three Superbowl championships, and he's been to four Superbowls.

Like I always sometimes hate this question, but I'll ask it anyway. Like, is he the greatest quarterback in your opinion that you've ever seen? How do you kind of evaluate Mahomes and what he's been able to do? The problem is how do you look at it? If, if we're deciding it by Superbowls, then Tom Brady has seven.

So, you know, that's just, that's the standard, right? Uh, if we're going to, if we're going to try to parse through the Superbowls and then recognize kind of talent to the people, the help that they got and what they were able to accomplish and who could carry the most water, that's a whole other conversation. But in the end, as you know, Zach, it ends up, you know, as you get, as you try to make that case, you keep getting backed up, backed up, backed up until you say, how many Superbowls, you know?

And so you end up in the same place, even though you don't want to be. And so, uh, he's, he, in this day and age and the NFL today, because it's so dominated by the rules, by offense and the quarterback, you can say that getting to seven is more likely today than in the past generations, which probably elevates what Tom did. But in the end, you know, when you get three at a young age and it looks like you can get there, then you're in the mix and you're in the mix for, uh, forever. So you can't, you know, there's only 20 guys that have kind of, you know, kind of been the greatest of all time.

And there's 10 that did went to Superbowls and there's three that went to multiples, you know, it's like, it just, it siphons people down. And so he's done that. He's gone three now is the differentiator, right? There's only a couple of guys have done three, Troy, Joe, Terry, and then Thomas seven. So in that way, we can, we can try to parse it, but he's, he's on his way to being the goat.

Right. And he's got some distance to cover, but man, what a, what a start. And the last thing I'll ask you just to get it back, Steve young to Kyle Shanahan, do you believe that one day he's going to be able to, you know, not necessarily do what Andy Reed has done with multiple championships, but punch through and get one of those titles.

He is as good as anybody and like quarterbacks, like great coaches, like anyone, they need a lot of help to be great in the NFL. It's not golf. It's not, you know, you need a lot of help in golf, but you still have to go do it yourself. You know, basketball's only five.

Like there's a lot of guys in football. If you're going to be great and you're going to go knock down those, those ultimate hurdles and super bowl, you need to help. He has the help and he has to just go get it done. And and, and it's going to define his career, just like a defined mind defined others.

It's like, it's just, it just is. And and he knows that deep down. And, but he's one of the best, if not the best innovative minds in football today, there's only, there's single digits of great innovative minds in the NFL.

And he with Andy are the kind of the top necessary. That's a fact too. So if you take that fact and yet haven't won a super bowl, both are facts and you know, he's not going to give an inch until he gets it done.

And there's nothing about what he does that keeps him from going winning. He's just got to go do it. And you know, just go attack it again next year.

Steve, always appreciate your time. I know it's under difficult circumstances. I honestly, when I, when I, when I just got on zoom, you said it and I looked down at my phone and that's the first I saw that. So I just, I'm heart sick, heart sick about this. And my healing prayers go out to people in Kansas city. My gosh, it's just, it's just terrible news to hear a peanut butter M and M's production in a world where super bowl winners get the world's admiration and a fancy ring, but the runners up get nothing. One retired cop return. That's one retired quarterback. Read the script.

Oh, sorry. One retired quarterback returns to claim what's his. Um, that's claim a ring with diamonds made from M and M's peanut butter, but you're on a roll. The ring of comfort coming soon to a super bowl new you.

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