These days, no team would be able to afford to have two of the most talented quarterbacks in the NFL on its roster for five straight years. Even if a team was somehow able to procure two quarterbacks of that caliber, it would be lucky to be able to keep both of them for even two seasons. Once unrestricted free agency began in 1993 and the salary cap went into effect a year later, in order to keep two top-tier quarterbacks, a team would have to sign both to big money, long-term deals. Thus, practically speaking, if a team has two star signal-callers, it could only sign one to a huge extension. As a result, the other player is almost always traded or signs a handsome contract somewhere else.
From 1987 to 1992, the San Francisco 49ers, in the middle of the best decade in the team’s history, enjoyed the luxury of having Joe Montana and Steve Young, two Hall of Fame quarterbacks, on their roster at the same time. Although, back then, few viewed it as much of a luxury. Niners head coach Bill Walsh, who was responsible for bringing both players to San Francisco, found it difficult to navigate a roster of two great quarterbacks who desperately wanted to play but despised their predicament and resented each other for it. It became the longest and most contentious quarterback rivalry the NFL has ever seen.
The way in which the 49ers’ coaching staff and front office handled the situation is still fodder for debate. But while it may not have looked like it at the time, Montana and Young’s rivalry arguably may have been the best thing to happen to the two players, and the franchise.
By the end of the ’80s, most were certain that the intense and combustible pairing would eventually leave a messy legacy. But, somehow, it didn’t. And while few foresaw the actual end result, at some point during the five years the two quarterbacks were on the roster, countless journalists and commentators throughout the Bay Area and the country, levied just about every possible criticism and predicted just about every type of conclusion to the story. The commentary left many Freezing Cold Takes in its wake—a treasure trove waiting to be dug up decades later.
“THEY BELIEVE THE ROSTER CONSISTS OF ONE MAN, MONTANA”
To categorize Joe Montana, the iconic San Francisco 49ers quarterback, as a hero in the Bay Area is an understatement. Before Montana came along, this same town saw Willie Mays and Willie McCovey play baseball for the Giants. But Montana was even bigger and more beloved than either of those baseball legends. In San Francisco, Montana was the idol of all idols.
Fiercely competitive, handsome, with a winsome personality, the city quickly developed an attachment to its star quarterback. Simply put, in the 1980s, Montana was San Francisco sports. For a town that had never seen a professional team win a title (only Oakland-based franchises had produced championships), when Montana came along and started leading the 49ers to Super Bowls, the reality shifted for its fans. He was a household name, even for residents who only watched the NFL casually, or not at all. As one local columnist described it in 1993, “Most of the people who cheer for the 49ers know as much about football as Madonna knows about San Andreas Fault. They believe the roster consists of one man, Montana.”
WALSH, MONTANA, AND THE “TEAM OF THE ’80S”
Now recognized as the “team of the ’80s,” the San Francisco 49ers hadn’t achieved anything notable before that breakout decade. By the end of the 1978 season, the Niners had suffered six straight losing seasons, during which time they had gone through five different head coaches. But their fortunes changed in 1979 when owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. hired Stanford head coach Bill Walsh. Walsh immediately pushed the team to draft Montana, who had just graduated from Notre Dame, in the third round of the NFL Draft. Montana didn’t look like a superstar. Listed at 6-foot-2, which was considered small for a quarterback at the time, his physical frame was considered slight, average at best. His arm strength was sufficient but not amazing. Nevertheless, he and Walsh ended up being a match made in heaven.
An offensive pioneer, Walsh immediately implemented his complex, innovative, pass-heavy offense in San Francisco. Later coined the “West Coast Offense,” Walsh’s system emphasized short horizontal routes by wide receivers instead of a heavy running game. It also prioritized ball control and favored the mentally strong quarterback who could, with perfect timing, quickly decipher what the defense was showing and then determine who to throw to. The quarterback needed to think quickly and be precise, and an extraordinary arm was not a prerequisite.
Montana fit right in to Walsh’s system and quickly mastered it. He had a natural ability to process a significant amount of information just before and after the snap and understand who would be the open receiver, then make a perfect throw. While not noticeably fast, Montana had quick feet and glided through the pocket to avoid sacks. He possessed the sharp improvisational skills to make a play when needed.
Perhaps Montana’s most important win came during the 1981 season, his third, in the 1981 NFC Championship game against the Dallas Cowboys at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. It is, at the very least, the one for which he is best known. By that point in the season, the Cowboys had established themselves as the biggest brand in football. Down 27–21 with 0:58 left, it was 3rd and 3 with the ball at the Cowboys’ 6-yard line. Montana rolled right toward the boundary, pump-faked once, and threw an off-balance ball toward the back of the end zone, where Niners wide receiver Dwight Clark leapt up and snared it. Clark’s game-winning touchdown catch capped a four-minute-plus, 14-play, 83-yard drive, led by Montana. The 49ers won 28–27. Now known as “the Catch,” it is universally considered one of the most memorable plays in the history of the NFL.
A few weeks later, Montana led the 49ers to a 26–21 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl XVI for the franchise’s first Super Bowl title. The win made Montana a bona fide national sports star and a hero in San Francisco. After falling short in 1982 and failing to make the playoffs, Montana and the 49ers kicked it into high gear offensively in 1983. Having developed a productive running game with rookie Roger Craig and veteran Wendell Tyler, Montana had his best regular season yet. However, it was cut short when the Niners lost to eventual Super Bowl XVII Champions Washington 24–21 in the NFC Championship game. The 1984 season would have a much happier ending, as the Niners they bounced back, going 18–1 and destroying the Dolphins and their young superstar quarterback Dan Marino in Super Bowl XIX, winning 38–16.
By 1985, Montana, who had a reputation as being one of the most durable players in the league, started to show cracks in his armor. During training camp, a CT scan of his back showed an inflamed disk that was causing spasms, forcing him to miss two preseason games. In June 1986, he underwent shoulder surgery, as he had been hampered with persistent pain in his throwing shoulder when he was throwing.
Montana faced even more medical issues at the beginning of the 1986 season. In the first game, he suffered an injury that required surgery for a ruptured disk in his back. The procedure cost him half the season. But, against all odds, he was back on the field by Game 10. Sadly, however, the season ended with a thud when the 49ers ended up getting blown out by the Giants 49–3 in an NFC Wild Card game. The Giants’ defense was relentless. Montana spent much of the day on his back as the Giants’ defense delivered ferocious hit after hit, including one by Giants defensive tackle Jim Burt that knocked Montana out of the game near the end of the first half.
The playoff drubbing by the Giants, who would go on to win the franchise’s first Super Bowl title, was a reality check for the 49ers. They had lost in the NFC Playoffs to the Giants in two straight seasons and didn’t score a touchdown in either game. Local papers immediately started harping on the “major rebuilding job” Walsh faced. Some of the Niners players even conceded that the rest of the NFL finally had caught up with them.
“JOE MIGHT WANDER AROUND A LITTLE BIT. BUT THERE’S NO WAY HE’S GOING TO BE ABLE [PLAY FOOTBALL] ANYMORE” (1987)
Walsh was beginning to believe that Montana was just about nearing the end of his run. Montana had no interest in quitting. But the veteran coach wasn’t the type to rest on his laurels. He needed not just a suitable backup, but an heir apparent. A capable quarterback to take over when Montana hung up his cleats. He quickly focused on Steve Young.
Young, a left-hander, was ahead of his time. Not only did he have a quality arm but he possessed great speed, and was, at the time, one of the few quarterbacks in the NFL who was a threat with his arm and his legs. After a stellar career at Brigham Young University, he was the top-rated quarterback in the country coming out of college and was projected to be the first pick in the 1984 NFL Draft. Instead, he chose to sign a contract with the Los Angeles Express of the upstart United States Football League (USFL). Announced as a four-year deal worth $40 million, the contract was, at the time, the richest for any professional athlete. But by the time the Express’s second season ended in June 1985, the team and the league were on the brink of collapse. As a result, the USFL let Young out of his Express contract, paving the way for him to play in the NFL. He signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who owned his rights after they selected him No. 1 in a supplemental draft of USFL players in June 1984.
The Bucs were terrible before Young came in, and they weren’t any better with him. In each of the two seasons Young was with the team, they finished with a 2–14 record. Young started 19 of those 32 games, and won only 3. He threw 11 touchdowns and 21 interceptions. Young felt he didn’t have a great foundation to work with in Tampa. He later recalled, “The football I played at the LA Express, the coaching I had, and the teammates that I had were much, much better in every situation, and every way, than in Tampa Bay in the NFL.” After Tampa Bay used its first pick in the 1987 Draft to select University of Miami quarterback Vinny Testaverde, the Buccaneers agreed to allow Young to look for a team with whom Tampa Bay could seek a trade.
Walsh couldn’t understand why a guy who was so athletic and threw with such sharpness and accuracy could be discarded so quickly. He was convinced that Tampa didn’t use him properly. The 49ers’ offensive coordinator, Mike Holmgren, was keenly aware of Young’s talent, as he had been Young’s quarterbacks coach at BYU.
In discussions with Walsh, Young naturally expressed concerns about Montana, but Walsh assured him that wouldn’t be a problem. “Steve, you don’t come back from a second back surgery,” he told Young. “Joe might wander around a little bit. But there’s no way he’s going to be able to do it anymore.” The trade for Young was consummated on April 24, 1987. The Niners didn’t even have to give up a first-round pick. Throughout the previous six years, Montana had faced no competition within the franchise—the quarterbacks on the depth chart behind him had been wholly inferior. That was about to change.
When Young arrived at the 49ers minicamp a month later, he quickly realized that Montana had not gotten the memo about his career being over. On his first day of camp, Young saw Montana come onto the field, move around normally, and throw perfect passes. He looked healthy. Contrary to what Walsh had been telling Young, Montana had no interest in hanging up his cleats any time soon.
Montana possessed an unmatched competitive spirit that was borderline maniacal, and was not happy with Walsh’s recent acquisition. He referred to Young as the “opposition,” and considered him a threat. According to Young’s agent, Leigh Steinberg, if Young and he knew that Montana would be up and throwing when training camp started, Young would never have accepted the trade to San Francisco.
In 1987, Montana remained the starter. He had the best statistical season of his career up to that point, and the 49ers finished the regular season with the best record in the NFL. Young didn’t see his first regular-season action until late October. In December, Montana pulled a hamstring, forcing Young to take the majority of the snaps for San Francisco’s final three weeks of the regular season. In the three games with Young at quarterback, the 49ers outscored their opponents 124–7. Young threw nine touchdowns and zero interceptions. Not long after, legendary Hall of Fame head coach and CBS radio commenter Hank Stram gave Young the highest of praises. “Steve Young is a clone of Joe Montana,” he said. “He does the same things Montana has been doing for the 49ers all these years, except that Steve is faster than Joe.” The 49ers destroyed the Rams 48–0 in the final regular-season game to finish 13–2 for the year. Young played the first half, Montana took over in the second. Both played great. But Young’s play in December turned some heads. “In the present tense,” wrote Dave Albee in USA Today, “Young is the 49ers’ quarterback of the future.”
Going into the 1987 Playoffs, San Francisco was the odds-on favorite to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. The consensus was that the one team in the conference that even posed a threat to the 49ers in the NFC was the Saints, who had beaten them in San Francisco two months earlier. But when the Minnesota Vikings took out New Orleans in the first round, San Francisco was essentially declared, by much of the media, Super Bowl champions.
Montana was reinstalled as starter for the Divisional Round game against Minnesota. The Niners were expected to win easily. However, Montana struggled to handle the pressure from the Vikings’ defensive line, particularly Minnesota’s young defensive end Chris Doleman. With the 49ers down 27–10 in the third quarter, Walsh threw everyone for a loop when he benched Montana for Young. It was his first playoff game appearance. He almost led the 49ers to a comeback victory but fell short at the end and the Niners lost 36–24. It was the 49ers’ third consecutive postseason loss and the third consecutive postseason start where Montana did not lead the 49ers to a single touchdown. Soon after, Walsh said that there would be an “open competition” at the quarterback position the next season.
“MONTANA MIGHT NOT HAVE LASTED MORE THAN A COUPLE OF YEARS IN THE NFL WITH SOME TEAMS”
By the time 1988 rolled around, some were starting to wonder about the effect the previous three seasons’ playoff failures would have on Montana’s legacy. One journalist started writing about that before the 1987 season ended. In November 1987, San Francisco Chronicle columnist Glenn Dickey wrote that, essentially, the many local folks who thought that Montana was the greatest quarterback of all time couldn’t see the forest from the trees, and chalked up their jaded minds to the “provincialism” of the Bay Area.
Dickey added that he didn’t even think Montana was the best in his own era and hinted that Dan Marino and John Elway had surpassed him. “Montana’s local reputation rests entirely on the four years, 1981–84, when he took the 49ers to two Super Bowl wins,” he wrote, explaining that, up to that point, other quarterbacks had more Super Bowl wins, and Montana had never led the league in passing.
Dickey also essentially labeled Montana a “system quarterback.” “Montana has been, indisputably… the right man in the right system,” he wrote. He then added that quarterbacks always prospered under Bill Walsh, and, while he admitted that without Montana the 49ers wouldn’t have won two Super Bowls, it was Walsh’s offense that “could take advantage of Montana’s strengths and minimize his weaknesses.” Dickey also believed that “Montana might not have lasted more than a couple of years in the NFL with some teams.”
“QUARTERBACK CONTROVERSY” (1988)
Montana had elbow surgery a month after the playoff loss, but he was ready to play in time for the start of the 1988 season. Despite Walsh’s declaring an open quarterback competition eight months earlier, Montana’s job never really appeared to be in any jeopardy. There was little doubt around the 49ers organization that Montana was still the team’s No. 1 quarterback. However, possibly feeling that Montana was too comfortable, Walsh stirred the pot. He told NBC’s Merlin Olsen, during a taped interview that aired before the 49ers’ preseason opener, that the team had “a quarterback controversy, and we’re going to have to select between Steve Young and Joe Montana.” It momentarily caused a stir, and Walsh eventually tried to walk back his words. But whether or not it was intentional, it had an effect on Montana.
During the 1988 regular season, Young saw more action than he did the year before. He was even given a chance to start some games. However, he didn’t perform as consistently as he did in 1987. In one 49ers loss, Young threw crucial interceptions in the fourth quarter. In another, which Young played from start to finish, the 49ers blew a 23–0 third-quarter lead. In yet another one, Walsh replaced him at halftime with Montana who led the 49ers to a thrilling fourth-quarter win, courtesy of a late 78-yard game-winning touchdown pass to Jerry Rice. Young’s best game was in Week 9, where, as the starter, he led the Niners to a 24–21 home win against the Vikings, which included him scoring on a 49-yard, game-winning touchdown run that is now considered perhaps the most exciting play of his career.
By Week 12, the Niners were 6–5 and on the ropes. On Monday Night Football, Joe Montana started and led the 49ers to a 37–21 win over Washington, the defending Super Bowl champions. San Francisco never looked back after that. Montana became the permanent starter, and the 49ers won six out of their last seven games to finish 10–6 and win the NFC West.
The Niners’ near-dominance in the last half of the regular season carried over to the playoffs. They made it to Super Bowl XXIII, facing off against the Cincinnati Bengals once again. Down three with 3:10 left in the fourth quarter, a cool, calm, and collected Montana led one of the most famous drives in NFL history, a methodical 11-play, 92-yard march, culminating in a game-winning 10-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver John Taylor. The 49ers won 20–16, and, once again, Montana was the hero.
After Montana’s heroics in Miami, any confidence or ground gained by Young from the previous postseason was essentially lost. He never really had much support, if any, among the fans or the locker room in the first place, so by this time Montana had a firm grip on the job.
“[I]T SEEMS INEVITABLE THAT [YOUNG’S] UNEASY RELATIONSHIP WITH THE 49ERS WILL BE OVER” (1990)
Bill Walsh retired after the Super Bowl. Defensive coordinator George Seifert was elevated to head coach and he immediately named Montana the permanent starter. However, when Montana suffered more injuries, Young clocked significant time as a backup. This time, he played very well, starting three games, and winning all of them. But Montana played even better and picked up his first league MVP award. With the best record in the NFL, the 49ers again breezed through the playoffs with Montana leading the way. In Super Bowl XXIV, a 55–10 Niners romp over the Broncos, Montana threw five touchdowns and was voted MVP. It was his fourth Super Bowl ring.
Young played in the final four minutes of the Super Bowl. To him, it was bittersweet. His contributions to the team’s success were, once again, minimal. Young was 28. He did not want to wait until he was 33 or 34 to again become a permanent NFL starter. But with a year left on his contract, there was nothing he could do. If that wasn’t ominous enough, during training camp, Montana signed a four-year, $13 million contract extension.
In late August 1990, writer Tom Jackson, in the Sacramento Bee, suggested that Young demand a trade. “He’s running out of time,” Jackson wrote. “And he darn well ought to be running out of patience.” Also, Jackson surmised that “it seems inevitable that [Young’s] uneasy relationship with the 49ers will be over” at the end of the 1990 season.
Young languished on the sidelines for almost the entire 1990 season as the 49ers rolled to a 14–2 record, while Montana won his second straight league MVP. As the Niners were nearing another Super Bowl appearance, a vicious fourth-quarter hit by the Giants’ Leonard Marshall knocked Montana out of the NFC Championship game. Young came in, but with under three minutes left in the game, the Niners up 13–12 and trying to run out the clock, running back Roger Craig fumbled. The Giants recovered on their own 43-yard line, and they eventually drove downfield and converted a field goal to win 15–13 with no time left.
STEVE YOUNG GETS HIS SHOT AS THE STARTER (1991)
Young’s contract with the 49ers expired after the 1990 season. Against the advice of many, he signed a two-year contract to remain with San Francisco. He thought that the 49ers’ offense fit him well, and that he was getting close to becoming the full-time starter. It was a gamble, but it paid off immediately. Due to a nagging elbow injury, Montana was physically unable to play for most of the 1991 and 1992 seasons.
With Young at quarterback in 1991, the 49ers started 2–4. In the fifth game of the season, the Niners lost an ugly game 12–6 to the Raiders at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Young threw two terrible interceptions and he could not capitalize on numerous red zone opportunities. After the game, fiery 49ers defensive end Charles Haley went berserk. According to a witness, he shouted, “I don’t want anyone from this losing team touching me!” It became so bad, he took a swing at George Seifert, which luckily didn’t connect. Niners reps had to ask former 49ers safety (and Raiders off-season acquisition) Ronnie Lott to calm Haley down.
Haley wasn’t shy about his disdain for Young. “He was such a whiner,” Haley recalled years later. “He was always moping around the locker room, bad-mouthing Joe, stabbing him in the back.”
Haley wasn’t the only one clamoring for Montana’s return. After the game, former 49ers receiver and Montana’s close friend Dwight Clark, then a 49ers executive assistant, said on TV that “Joe Montana could have won this game in his sleep.”
In the following game against Atlanta, Young threw for 348 yards, ran for two touchdowns, and played brilliantly for three-and-a-half quarters. But on the team’s final two drives he threw two interceptions, both to former 49ers cornerback Tim McKyer, and the 49ers lost 39–34.
The loss to the Falcons further raised speculation, perpetuated by many, that Young would never win a Super Bowl because he was not “a winner,” and he buckled under pressure in the fourth quarter. This was in contrast to Montana, whose most famous trait was his ability to thrive in the most pressure-packed situations and lead the 49ers to victories at the end of games. In his NFL career, Montana led San Francisco to 31 fourth-quarter comeback victories. By 1991, Young made mistakes in quite a few games, costing the team in the fourth quarter.
After the game, not only did Young’s teammates have to answer questions about his capability in late-game situations, but Atlanta players had to field a few, too. “I’m just glad Joe Montana didn’t come on the field at the end,” said Falcons safety Scott Case.
“JUST IMAGINE THE NUMBER 16 ON [STEVE BONO’S] JERSEY AND YOU WOULD THINK YOU WERE WATCHING MONTANA” (1991)
If Montana’s shadow wasn’t large enough, another quarterback was about to join the fray. In 1989, the 49ers signed Steve Bono, a six-year veteran with little experience, as their third-string quarterback. During the 1987 players’ strike, he crossed the picket line and started three games for the Steelers, but that was almost all the NFL experience he had. A 6-foot-4, pure pocket passer out of UCLA, Bono wasn’t as talented or athletic as Montana or Young, but he had a strong arm.
In Atlanta, during the 49ers’ ninth game, Young was hurt. Bono came on and threw a 31-yard, go-ahead touchdown pass to John Taylor on 3rd and 21 with 53 seconds left (though the Falcons completed a miracle Hail Mary touchdown with 1 second left to win the game 17–14).
With Young injured, Bono started the next six games. After getting swallowed whole in his first start by the 49ers’ division rival New Orleans Saints in a 10–3 loss, he led the Niners to five straight wins. His best game came in the Saints rematch at Candlestick Park. In a 38–24 Niners win, Bono threw for 347 yards and three touchdowns, including the go-ahead score with under two minutes left. That evening, while narrating the highlights on ESPN’s weekly Sunday night staple NFL Primetime, host Chris Berman exclaimed, “It looks like [Bono] has been running this offense for six years.” Bono’s performance also spawned a media narrative that Bono, like Montana, and unlike Young, could execute in the fourth quarter.
Bono’s apparent composure under pressure, willingness to stay in the pocket, and fourth-quarter calmness started to remind people of Montana. It was as if he were a Montana clone (albeit a less talented and taller one). San Francisco was a Montana town, and Bono seemed to most closely resemble the real thing. Bono had become yet another barrier in Young’s journey. Now he wasn’t just trying to surpass Montana; Young was going to have to shake off Bono as well.
The Montana body-double theory started to take hold. “[Bono] is quickly becoming a poor man’s Montana,” wrote Joe Santoro in the Reno Gazette-Journal. “He’s right handed… he throws 15-yard passes that turn into 47-yard touchdowns, and he wins games in the fourth quarter.” Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts went even further, “Just imagine the number 16 on that jersey and you would think you were watching Montana,” he said.
There was more. “Bono is Montana’s surrogate,” wrote Larry Minner in the Modesto (California) Bee. “He runs the system the same. He stands firm against the rush, and he passes—dink, dink, boom!—Montana style.” The following week, as the Seattle Seahawks were preparing to play the 49ers, their assistant coach Joe Vitt scouted Bono. “Believe me,” Vitt said. “If you didn’t know the [jersey] numbers, this guy looks like Montana.”
“[STEVE YOUNG’S STOCK] HAS BECOME SO DEVALUED THE POOR GUY VIRTUALLY DROPPED OFF THE EXCHANGE” (1991)
In a Chronicle column, Lowell Cohn became one of the first to truly advocate for Bono to permanently start over Young. “[Steve Young’s stock] has become so devalued the poor guy virtually dropped off the exchange,” Cohn wrote. “The brutal truth is that Bono could do what Young couldn’t—win.” He continued, “It is a fact that Bono seems more of the 49ers’ type of quarterback… The 49ers should consider trading Young after this season for a good running back.”
Not all journalists felt this way. A few days later, (Santa Rosa, California) Press Democrat columnist Mike Silver staunchly defended Young:
The Bay Area has officially gone insane… Make Bono the 49ers’ quarterback of the future? You people have all gone stark, raving mad… It’s really very basic. Steve Young is a better quarterback than Steve Bono. He’s better than almost anybody in the league. He’s big, strong, fast, and intelligent, a threat to throw short, throw deep or run at any moment. He’s one of the few players in the league opponents actually dread facing, and if he hadn’t spent the last four years toiling behind the greatest football player in history, he’d be a superstar.
It wasn’t so much that Silver was down on Bono, he just couldn’t fathom how people were willing to toss aside a talent like Young. “I definitely wasn’t anti-Bono. I loved him. He was a good dude,” he said in 2020, “and I thought he played tremendously. I just didn’t think people were getting it.”
Bono started the next game and led the 49ers to a win over the 5–8 Seahawks in Seattle. Despite San Francisco turning the ball over five times, including two interceptions by Bono in the last four minutes, the Niners were able to get one more chance. With 1:08 remaining in the game, Bono hit John Taylor in the end zone from 15 yards out. It was the go-ahead score, and the 49ers held on to win 24–22. “Get ready for the Montana/Bono comparisons now, Tim,” commentator Irv Cross told play-by-play man Tim Ryan after the touchdown on the CBS game broadcast. He was right. Various scribes likened Bono’s heroics to Montana’s iconic Super Bowl XXIII–winning touchdown pass to Taylor in Miami three years earlier.
As Bono’s stock continued to rise, he started to receive more and more media endorsements. Dan Fouts thought that with Bono, the Niners didn’t need Young. “Steve Bono can play in the NFL and is perfect for San Francisco’s system—better than Young,” Fouts explained. “Bono has the obvious physical traits of height and a strong arm but can also put touch on a pass. He’s studied Montana so well that he copied some of Joe’s characteristics. He’s become a Montana clone.”
The 49ers won their final two games in 1991. Young recovered from his injury in time to start the final game, a 52–14 shellacking over the Bears. But the Niners missed the playoffs. Young finished the season only 5–5 as a starter, but he led the NFL in passing efficiency.
The following off-season was tough for Young. With Joe Montana expected to be ready to go by training camp, Young was in a precarious position. If Montana was cleared to play, Young would almost certainly revert back to his backup role. As the San Francisco Examiner’s Ray Ratto put it, “If Montana is healthy, he starts. It is as immutable as a law of gravity in these parts.” In addition, because of the emergence of Bono, who, at that time, had no problem playing second fiddle behind Montana, there was a sense that Young was expendable.
“TIME TO SAY SO LONG TO STEVE YOUNG” (1992)
Young was almost shipped out of San Francisco before the 1992 season. Near the end of the 1991 season, rumors were spreading that Young might be traded. One plugged-in writer, Chronicle scribe Ira Miller, wrote in December about his “inescapable” conclusion that the 49ers needed to trade Steve Young so that they could fill needs at safety and running back.
Four months later, the Niners almost heeded Miller’s advice. “There was a lot of pressure to trade Steve,” team president Carmen Policy said later in the year. “There were many factors, including the friction between Joe and Steve as superstar quarterbacks and the belief that the 1992 Draft was critical to our franchise… Even Bill Walsh said he thought it would be best to trade Steve.” The morning of the 1992 NFL Draft, the Niners were set to trade Young to the Los Angeles Raiders. They wanted two first-round draft picks in return, but Raiders owner Al Davis only agreed to two second-rounders. No deal was made.
That off-season, Young’s frustration began to mount, so much so that he made some uncharacteristic remarks at the opening of minicamp. “I’m not going to accept No. 2 status,” he told reporters. “That would be like running the Kentucky Derby and then going back to run with the trotters at Yonkers. It’s illogical in my mind. There would be no fulfillment in that. No way.”
Young’s rant didn’t go over well with much of the media, to whom he came across as a whiner. “Time to say so long to Steve Young,” wrote Bruce Jenkins in the Chronicle. “It doesn’t look that complicated from here.” (San Jose, California) Mercury News columnist Mark Purdy wrote, “Barring a Montana setback, the 49ers must trade Young. Period.” In his column in the (Santa Rosa, California) Press Democrat, Bob Padecky agreed. “Steve Young is not a winning quarterback,” he wrote. “The 49ers should do everyone a favor. Trade Young. The myth. And the man.”
“STEVE YOUNG HAS A BETTER ARM… STEVE YOUNG IS A BETTER ATHLETE… IT DOESN’T MATTER… BECAUSE STEVE BONO IS A BETTER PRO QUARTERBACK (1992)”
At the start of training camp in 1992, Seifert designated Montana the 49ers’ starting quarterback. But persistent soreness in his elbow caused him to miss the preseason. While it seemed to be a minor issue at first, it turned out to be a significant problem. Montana ultimately ended up sidelined for most of the regular season. The 49ers won their first two preseason games. Young started the first, but sat out the second with a sore back. In Game 3, a 17–15 win over Washington in London, Young played the entire first half, but San Francisco scored all of its 17 points in the second half with Bono at the helm. In each of the three games, Bono led the Niners on fourth-quarter, game-winning scoring drives. Young started the next preseason game in San Diego, and played the whole first half, but once again, the Niners were unproductive with him while Bono thrived in the second half. He led San Francisco on two touchdown drives in the final 3:43 to win 20–14. While Bono was making a great impression with his preseason play, Young failed to move the offense into the red zone in any of the drives in which he was playing.
A growing faction in the media was starting to endorse Bono as the starter. Padecky once again threw his support behind Bono. In a column, he declared himself to be “pro-Bono.” Although he admitted that Young had a better arm and was a better athlete, he believed that Bono was the better quarterback. He theorized that the 49ers’ offensive system was tailor-made for Bono, and that Bono gave them a better chance of making the Super Bowl. Padecky wasn’t alone in these beliefs. On CBS, Randy Cross explained that “If you took a poll of 49ers, they’d have much more confidence in Steve Bono than in Steve Young.” In an interview with Cross that aired prime time on CBS, Montana told Cross that he should start ahead of Young if he was able to play.
Despite some of the media backing Bono, in late August, before the final preseason game, Seifert formally announced that Steve Young would be the 49ers quarterback for the 1992 season. It wasn’t without drama. Even though Montana had missed the entire preseason and most had written him off, he started throwing passes in practice the week prior to the opening game and felt he was close to being ready. When Seifert made the announcement that Young would start, Bono, who was close friends with Montana, relayed that Montana was angry. “To put it mildly,” said Bono, “I think he has a right to be… A healthy Joe Montana—if that’s the case—is kind of hard to put on the bench.”
The 49ers won their final preseason game 24–17 over the Seahawks at Candlestick Park. This time it was Young leading the way with two touchdown passes and one rushing score. In the days leading up to the game, there were discussions by Seifert and others about the possibility that Montana could, and would, play. However, Seifert stuck with Young. When Montana heard that Young would be starting, he didn’t even suit up. On the sidelines, he refused to recognize Young’s existence.
Young started the first game of the regular season against the Giants and led the Niners on a touchdown drive on its opening possession. But he left the game with a concussion late in the first quarter after his second series of plays. Bono took over, threw two touchdowns, and led the Niners to a 31–14 win. “Steve Bono should still be the quarterback,” wrote Chris Mortensen in the Sporting News a few days later.
Week 1 of the 1992 season was the last week that Steve Bono was ever associated with an active 49ers quarterback controversy. The following week, at Candlestick Park, the defending AFC Champion Buffalo Bills beat the Niners 34–31 in one of the great offensive games of the decade. It was the first time in the history of the NFL in which neither team punted. Both Steve Young and future Hall of Famer Jim Kelly threw for more than 400 yards.
Although the 49ers lost to Buffalo, it was truly a breakout game for the 49ers offense, and a preview of what was to come under Mike Shanahan, the 49ers new offensive coordinator. Shanahan was hired by Seifert after Holmgren left in January 1992 to become the head coach of the Green Bay Packers.
One of the common criticisms of Young early in his career was that he was too eager to take the ball, leave the pocket, and run. Many felt he should stay in the pocket longer and focus on his progressions. Shanahan worked with him on keeping his options open as he began to scramble, to focus on throwing on the run, and to maintain the ability to pass until the moment he got to the line of scrimmage. Young loved Shanahan’s aggressive play-calling and truly began to shine. After the Buffalo loss, the rest of the 1992 regular season went near perfectly. The 49ers won 13 out of their final 14 games and finished with a 14–2 regular-season record, the best in the NFL. They also finished with the league’s No. 1 offense. Young won his first league MVP and led the NFL in passer rating and touchdown passes.
“I HOPE STEVE YOUNG BREAKS HIS LEG” (1992)
In the 1992 regular season, Young proved he was truly one of the NFL’s elite signal-callers. But even an MVP season wasn’t going to catapult him over Joe Montana in terms of popularity. Soon, Montana would be ready to return, and his presence would serve as a reminder that Young’s future remained unresolved.
Montana was back at practice on November 25 and was cleared to play three days later. That was a big deal. Soon, for the first time in almost two years, Joe Cool would join the 49ers’ active roster. There was one major caveat: He was no longer the team’s starting quarterback. Young had been fantastic. He was the NFL’s top-rated passer and its leader in throwing yards for a 49ers team that was No. 1 in the NFL in total offense. Seifert was not going to permanently bench Young. At least not for the remainder of the ’92 season.
Young may have remained the starter, but for one week, he lost the spotlight. Going into the last week of the regular season, Montana was gearing up for some action. The 49ers had a home game on Monday Night Football against the Lions, and had already clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. There was much talk during the week about whether Montana would play. People were desperately hoping to see Montana at least one more time. “I hope Steve Young breaks his leg,” said one caller to KGO-AM Radio in San Francisco.
“A LEGEND BECAME LARGER MONDAY NIGHT” (1992)
It was a cold and rainy Monday night at Candlestick Park. Just prior to the game, Seifert told Young that he would start but that Montana would play the second half. The scene was set as a tribute for Montana. Signs were plastered everywhere welcoming him.
In an uninspiring, sloppy first half, Young led the 49ers to a 7–6 lead. Montana entered the game for the 49ers’ first drive of the second half, and the crowd thunderously roared. Up in the broadcasting booth, Dan Dierdorf, calling the game for ABC along with play-by-play man Al Michaels and Frank Gifford, felt the energy. “And all is right with the world once again,” Dierdorf said. After a slow third quarter, Montana picked it up in the fourth. With under 12 minutes remaining, he threw a 9-yard touchdown to tight end Brent Jones, and the crowd went wild. “It might be raining, but, for this crowd, the sun just came out,” said Michaels. When the Niners got the ball back with 6:31 remaining, Montana led them on a surgical 10-play, 74-yard drive, capped off by an 8-yard touchdown pass to running back Amp Lee. “Now. All is well,” said Gifford, echoing Deirdorf’s earlier comments. Montana completed his final six passes in the 49ers 24–6 win. He finished the game 15-of-21 for 126 yards and two touchdowns.
The Montana adulation was apparent in the papers the next day. “Yes, if it is possible, The Legend became larger Monday night,” wrote Padecky. The performance also spawned another discussion: whether he had done enough to supplant Bono as Young’s backup for the playoffs. “You hate to say it but now we can tell what the difference is between Montana and Young,” Padecky noted. “Montana moves his team smoothly through a defense; in comparison, Young’s offense looks like it struggles.”
If the fans had it their way, Montana would be taking the snaps. According to the 49ers’ play-by-play radio voice Joe Starkey, some fans thought that “Montana is the greatest quarterback [and the] greatest human being in the world and no matter what, he should be starting.” A few days before Montana’s return to the field, (New York) Newsday columnist Bob Glauber reported that at a Golden State Warriors NBA home game in Oakland, Steve Young, who was in attendance, was booed by the Bay Area crowd. Fans were fighting over Montana versus Young at bars. “Last week, these guys started throwing punches and we had to break it up,” a bartender at Ricky’s, a popular sports bar in San Leandro, told the Los Angeles Daily News in early January 1993. “I asked someone what they were fighting about and they said, ‘Montana and Young.’ It’s getting crazy.”
Michael Wilbon, in his Washington Post column a few days before the game, expressed his desire to see Montana play against Washington. Despite acknowledging that it was “unjustifiable, and borders on irresponsible,” he wished for an unserious ailment to fall upon Young during the game. “What would be the harm in Young coming down with a three-hour virus, right around 4 p.m. Eastern on Saturday,” Wilbon wrote. “Something that would leave him temporarily congested and stuff just long enough to see The Man in one more playoff game.”
In the 49ers’ first playoff game, a Divisional Round matchup against Washington, Young and the 49ers were victorious 20–13 on a rain-soaked, muddy field at Candlestick Park. Young tossed two touchdown passes, but also threw an interception and fumbled three times. The Niners won, but it didn’t make anyone forget about Montana.
The NFC Championship game was a major disappointment for Young and the 49ers. In what launched one of the great rivalries of the ’90s, the Dallas Cowboys, led by Troy Aikman, beat the Niners 30–20 in San Francisco. The 49ers had four turnovers. Young had 313 yards passing but threw two interceptions in the fourth quarter. The Cowboys were clinical. In the first 23 minutes of the second half, the 49ers only ran 12 plays from scrimmage. It was another disappointing loss for Steve Young. From Lowell Cohn’s next day Chronicle column: “Someone from the cleanup crew watched Young walk through the parking lot. ‘One day you can fill Joe’s shoes,’ the cleanup man said.”
The loss paved the way for another off-season of great speculation. Within a few hours after the game ended, KGO-AM had already received 1,300 calls responding to the question “Should the 49ers trade Joe Montana?” A whopping 59 percent said no.
After the game, Seifert told the media that “right now” Steve Young is the quarterback and “at this particular moment I don’t foresee any change.” Young’s agent, Leigh Steinberg, immediately stirred the pot and said that he was going to push for Young to “consider someplace else where he can be recognized for himself.” Young countered those statements two days later, and said that he wanted to stay. His contract was about to expire, but the Niners were poised to put a franchise tag on him, which would restrict him from becoming a free agent.
Joe versus Steve was, once again, the top topic of conversation in the city. The day after the loss, Sacramento Bee writer R. E. Graswich wrote a column titled “1993 will be the Joe show,” where he confidently predicted that the quarterback job would go back to Montana. Frank Cooney, in the San Francisco Examiner, suggested that the Niners trade Young because they could get more in return for him, as opposed to Montana, and the team could use the compensation to improve the defense.
It didn’t end quietly. The resolution to the San Francisco Montana/Young saga was as dramatic as it was bizarre. Montana wanted a fair shot at the quarterback job he felt he lost by default, but made it clear that he would rather be somewhere else as a starter than in San Francisco as a backup. At the end of March, the 49ers signed Steve Bono to a multi-year deal to be Young’s backup, and Seifert reassured Young he would be the starter moving forward. They told Montana to look for teams to whom they could trade him.
Almost a month later, Montana agreed to a three-year deal for more than $10 million with the Kansas City Chiefs. However, the 49ers and Chiefs reached an impasse on the terms of a trade. Then, a plot twist: The day after Montana flew to Ohio to say goodbye to his pal, owner Ed DeBartolo Jr., Seifert announced that Montana would be the “designated starter” going into the season, a decision that Seifert said was solely his.
None of this made any sense. Young was known to be Seifert’s guy. Ray Ratto, in the Examiner, called it “one big silly charade.” “I think it was meant for it to go this way,” he speculated. “Joe Montana gets offered the world, turns it down, and the 49ers get to say, ‘Well, we did everything we could.’” The Sacramento Bee’s Mark Kreidler was suspicious as well, “Are we being taken for a ride?” he asked. “Listen, does Mr. Toad live at Disneyland?” In the New York Daily News, Gary Myers had a theory:
Either DeBartolo was getting so weepy over losing Montana or the 49ers were scared of the public backlash if they traded Montana solely because he wanted a chance to start… The 49ers orchestrated the whole thing knowing they had nothing to lose: if Montana left, he was walking out on them, not the other way around… They used Montana to get off the hook.
“Moe, Larry and Curly would be proud of this bunch,” wrote Graswich in another column. “The 49ers insist they are doing what is best for the franchise. If that is true, they should think about trading Young, firing [team president and GM Carmen] Policy and Seifert and rebuilding.”
“[SEIFERT] JUST LOST HIS LAST CHANCE FOR GLORY… NOW HE’S STUCK WITH A DOOMED TEAM” (1993)
A day after Seifert’s surprise reversal, Montana, tired of all the drama, declined the offer to be the 49ers’ starter. He said it was in his “best interest and that of my family to play for the Kansas City Chiefs.” DeBartolo and Seifert came off looking bad. Shortly thereafter, the 49ers traded Montana, a third-round pick in the 1994 NFL Draft, and safety David Whitmore to the Chiefs for their first-round pick (No. 18) in the upcoming 1993 Draft. The saga was over. In May 1994, Bono joined his pal in Kansas City, when the 49ers traded him to the Chiefs. There, he backed up Montana for a year before becoming the Chiefs’ full-time starting quarterback in 1995.
The reaction to the trade was mixed, but the backlash from the detractors was sharp. Bruce Jenkins in the Chronicle called it the darkest day in the history of the 49ers. “[Seifert] just lost his last chance for glory,” he wrote. “Now he’s stuck with a doomed team.” He continued: “The fans might be the biggest losers of all… [Joe is] gone, and they don’t understand why. They’ve been hurt, scorned, and violated.” The New York Times summed up some of the reactions from 49ers’ fans: “A 14-year-old boy sobbed for 15 seconds on live television, grown men vowed to shred their season tickets and a somewhat militant crowd gathered outside the San Francisco 49ers training complex this morning to echo ‘We want Joe. We want Joe.’”
The 1993 season, Young’s first year without Montana hovering over his shoulder, didn’t go as well as the year before. The Niners went 10–6 in the regular season and made it to the NFC Championship game, but again were defeated by the Cowboys. It was a disappointing end to the season. Once again, Young led the league in passer rating and touchdown passes.
The losing quarterback in the AFC Championship game was a familiar one: Joe Montana. His Chiefs lost 30–13 to Buffalo. Montana, who missed five games during the season due to injury, was knocked out of the game in the third quarter with a concussion.
After their second straight championship game loss to Dallas, the 49ers made it clear that they were going to leave nothing to spare in an effort to improve their team enough to beat them. They addressed their biggest problems, starting with revamping their defense with many free agent signings, including superstar cornerback Deion Sanders and former Cowboys linebacker Ken Norton Jr.
“THIS WAS THE GAME THAT… EXPOSED THE 49ERS AS A TEAM THAT DOES NOT HAVE JOE MONTANA” (1994)
The second game of the 1994 season, the Niners traveled to Kansas City for a matchup with Joe Montana and the Chiefs. Predictably, the game was preceded by a sizable amount of hype. The Chiefs won 24–17. Young threw for 288 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions, but he was sacked four times (one for a safety) and fumbled once. Montana threw for 203 yards and two touchdowns. To Chronicle writer Scott Ostler, Montana’s victory was appreciable and revealing:
This was the game that made Joe Montana famous and exposed the 49ers as a team that does not have Joe Montana.
This was the game that Joe fans will point to forever as proof that their man is superior to Steve Young, and probably to Zeus.
This is a game that Montana will tell his grandchildren about some day. Maybe someday next week.
Montana and Young had been right, after all. This game wasn’t Joe vs. Steve. It was just Joe.
“IT’S TIME TO ADMIT IT: STEVE YOUNG IS AS GOOD AS JOE MONTANA AT HIS BEST” (1994)
After two straight wins to go to 3–1, the Niners were trounced at home by the Eagles. With the Eagles up 33–8 in the third quarter, Young suffered a brutal hit, one of many he incurred throughout the day. Siefert had seen enough. Before the next play, he sent in backup Elvis Grbac to take over. Young had been violently brought to the ground numerous times throughout the game, and Seifert felt, with the game out of the 49ers’ reach, there was no reason for him to keep taking the punishment. Young threw a fit on the sidelines, directed at Seifert, and Seifert was criticized for embarrassing Young by giving him the hook mid-drive. Meanwhile, the 49ers’ defense looked atrocious. Philadelphia amassed 437 yards of total offense and won the game 40–8. Eagles running back Charlie Garner had 16 rushes for 111 yards. “Management for the best defense money can buy may soon want a refund,” wrote Kevin Lyons in the Washington Times.
Young’s sideline tirade ended up being the turning point in the season. After the Eagles’ debacle, the Niners won 10 of their next 11 games. Young had the best season of his career. He achieved what was then the NFL record for highest passer rating in a season, and was once again named league MVP. San Francisco finished with the best record in the NFL.
After leading the 49ers to a 44–15 win over the Bears in the Divisional Round of the playoffs, Young exorcised his Cowboys demons. In the third straight NFC Championship game between the two teams, the Niners jumped out to a 21–0 lead and never looked back. The Cowboys turned it over five times. Young led the 49ers to a 38–28 win, clinching a spot in Super Bowl XXIX in Miami. There, the Niners walloped the Chargers 49–26. Young threw six touchdowns, a Super Bowl record, eclipsing Joe Montana’s five in 1990.
Stories in the papers the next day paid homage to Young. The Super Bowl triumph confirmed what Young and Seifert already knew: Parting ways with Montana was the right thing to do. “If you were watching carefully, you might have seen that spectral image [of Joe Montana’s shadow] lifting off Young’s shoulders Sunday evening,” wrote Washington Post columnist Tony Kornheiser. Glenn Dickey saw enough to make the ultimate declaration: “It’s time to admit it: Steve Young is as good as Joe Montana at his best,” he wrote in the Chronicle. “Yesterday was the final proof.”
The 49ers never made it back to the Super Bowl with Steve Young. They were always competitive, but they couldn’t get over the hump. As with Montana, injuries started to catch up with Young, as well as many of the other Niners stars. Also, with free agency and the salary cap in full swing, the talent on 49ers rosters were nowhere near as dominant as they had been in the ’80s. The 49ers ran into significant salary cap issues down the road, partly because of their decision to enter into incentive-laden contracts with free agents to stockpile talent for the 1994 season and go all-in to try to win it all. It paid off with a Super Bowl, but many of the players hit their incentives, giving the team salary cap issues for years to come.
Montana ended up missing seven games to injury in two seasons in Kansas City. After he led Kansas City to the AFC Championship game in 1993, the Chiefs quietly lost to the Dolphins in the Wild Card Round of the 1994 playoffs. Montana retired for good a few weeks later.
THE UNEXPECTEDLY, IMPERFECTLY, PERFECT PLAN
There was a time around 1988 where the transition from Montana to Steve Young seemed like it was going to come sooner rather than later. Montana’s body appeared to be falling apart, Walsh was bringing in Young in important game-time situations, and Walsh was showing no deference to Montana’s legacy. Few thought pitting the two against each other was a good idea.
As for Young, at some point, practically nobody believed he would ever become the 49ers’ full-time starting quarterback. It is not what anyone around the Bay Area wanted. No matter what Young did, he couldn’t hold a candle to Montana. Even after Young won the passing title two years in a row and was coming off an MVP season, and Montana was 37 and had missed almost the entire previous two seasons to injury, there were numerous reporters who were still convinced that the Niners should unload Young.
The quarterback competition with Young fueled the fire and altered the narrative for Montana, who enhanced his game at a time when he was operating in cruise control, and proved, with four championship rings, that he was more than just a “system QB.” The same can be said for Young, who became stronger mentally and as a player, after grudgingly sticking out a frustrating situation before finally getting his chance and taking advantage of it. “What about all the people who have criticized you for not being Joe Montana?,” someone asked Young after the Super Bowl win over the Chargers, “To hell with them,” Young said, smiling.