Steve Young make the HOF

[jjakq27]

http://www.bengals.com/press/news.asp?iCur...=0&news_id=2744

Young's detour

2/6/2005

BY GEOFF HOBSON

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. _ Steve Young likes to say he always took the road less traveled. It began by detouring through Cincinnati. On Saturday, it ended in Canton at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

“Who knows?” said Young here after his election to the class of 2005 when asked about the greatest what-if in Bengals history. “You’d like to think that when you’re with good players and with your talent, you can still do all the things you do. The bottom line is its still football and you need a lot of help to be great.”

The bottom line is, the Bengals thought they had a deal for Young when they had the No. 1 draft pick in 1984 and prepared to sign him. Yet the next message from agent Leigh Steinberg was about a flight to the USFL and not one to Cincinnati.

Now, nearly 21 years later, Steinberg doesn’t quite see it that way. He says the Los Angeles Express’ mind-numbing $40 million deal included such ground-breaking items as scholarships at Young’s alma mater of Brigham Young and indicated he wasn’t all that far along in negotiations with the Bengals.

“John Elway got $1 million a year the year before,” Steinberg said Saturday, “and I’m sure the Bengals would have at least matched it.”

Mike Brown thinks he did. But on Saturday, the Bengals president chose to congratulate Young and not debate the particulars. In the second round that year, the Bengals drafted Boomer Esiason and ended up going to a Super Bowl. Young capped his three-team career winning one Super Bowl title, which is the major reason he got elected to Canton.

“When he was at his peak, he was as effective as any quarterback,” Brown said. “He had great accuracy, very quick of mind, and he had tremendous running ability. He was the equal of any of the guys today running the ball. He’s very deserving of the Hall of Fame.”

Both Steinberg and Young agree on the major reasons why the decision was made. Even though No. 1 quarterback Ken Anderson had just turned 35, he was only three years removed from a NFL MVP season and they felt Young wouldn’t play very much for a few more years.

They were also attracted by the Express’ coaching staff of Sid Gillman (“The Father of NFL Offense,” Steinberg said) and former Chargers quarterback John Hadl.

Young remembers new Bengals head coach Sam Wyche flying to BYU to work him out, but at that time Wyche was known only as the guru to Joe Montana and not yet as one of the NFL’s top offensive minds.

“John Hadl and Sid Gillman came in and they said, ‘Look, you need to play football,’” Young recalled. “They kind of convinced me. There wasn’t anything that was negative about Cincinnati. I think they convinced me that in your training as being a great quarterback, we will make that happen.

“The idea was to go play with great people and learn the game,” Young said. “And come out with a chance to pick your team. At the time, it was kind of best laid plans of mice and men.”

But on Saturday, Young sounded like he had no regrets. The move to Tampa Bay after the USFL was a struggle, and he didn’t find his niche with the 49ers until Joe Montana got traded in 1993.

“No one knows what would have happened,” Brown said. “It would have been a great thing if we had him. He did develop very slowly in the pros and went from team to team for awhile. But there’s no question he had a great career.”

The election of Young and Dan Marino brings the total of quarterbacks in the Hall to 28, and Brown is convinced now more than ever that the Bengals’ Anderson leads the list of quarterbacks who should be No. 29

Although he’s the top-rated passer of all time, the word is that Young wasn’t sure if he had done enough to make the Hall. He apparently wondered if he hadn’t won a Super Bowl if that would keep him out. But a record six touchdown passes against the Chargers took care of that.

“Whether you like it or not,” Young said, “Super Bowls define people."

[DontPushMe]

if you guys are going to be consistent with your rules, this thread will have to be moved to the NFL forum

[CTBengalsFan]

if you guys are going to be consistent with your rules, this thread will have to be moved to the NFL forum

will you stop being a bitch?

seriously?

[jjakq27]

if you guys are going to be consistent with your rules, this thread will have to be moved to the NFL forum

It has a Bengals connection, PushPop. Get a clue.

[DontPushMe]

if you guys are going to be consistent with your rules, this thread will have to be moved to the NFL forum

It has a Bengals connection, PushPop. Get a clue.

So does any corey dillon post. Though Corey Dillon posts have even more bengal connections. If you are going to do this rule, you have to be consistent with it.

[jjakq27]

if you guys are going to be consistent with your rules, this thread will have to be moved to the NFL forum

It has a Bengals connection, PushPop. Get a clue.

So does any corey dillon post. Though Corey Dillon posts have even more bengal connections. If you are going to do this rule, you have to be consistent with it.

When you add nothing new since the game in December, what's the point? Other than being a troll.

[HoosierCat]

if you guys are going to be consistent with your rules, this thread will have to be moved to the NFL forum

Actually, I'm not sure this thread even belongs on a discussion forum, since it has yet to spawn any actual discussion...