Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young, center, stands on stage with former 49ers coach Bill Walsh, left, and former 49ers cornerback Jimmy Johnson during a halftime ceremony honoring Young’s induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Nov. 20, 2005.
Jeff Chiu, Associated Press
In the NFL, as in life, all you need is love.
Well, you need athletic skills too, but love helps you use them, according to Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young.
Young shared this lesson recently when asked to talk about the best thing he learned from legendary coach Bill Walsh, who led the San Francisco 49ers when Young first joined the team.
He said Walsh taught him and his teammates to love each other and to love their opponents because he believed that building relationships is how a player becomes great.
“He taught that when you’re in Lambeau Field, down by four in the last minute. It’s 3rd and 10. It’s sleeting rain and windy and you’ve never been colder in your life. Across the huddle, when you’re in that huddle, you want to look across to someone that you have an element of love for,” Young told Kevin Clark, who hosts a show called “This is Football” for Omaha Productions and ESPN, during a recent interview.
“He always said … ‘That element of connection is what’s going to make us great,’” Young added.
I asked Steve Young the best thing Bill Walsh taught him about football. I expected an answer about strategy. Instead I got something sorta amazing. Watch this: pic.twitter.com/5a4Fl9VVui
— Kevin Clark (@bykevinclark) February 22, 2024
Bill Walsh’s legacy
If you rate it based on Super Bowl rings, Walsh’s love-focused strategy earns high marks.
Walsh won three during his time with the 49ers. So did Young, and they only overlapped for one of those five games.
To this day, Walsh, who died in 2007, is considered one of the best football coaches in the history of the sport.
“His influence is now all over the league and I was grateful for the formative role he played in my progress,” Young said about Walsh when Young was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2005.
He described his former coach as “the man with the most impact in football over the last 25 years.”
San Francisco 49ers intern Andrew Su, left, looks over a memorial for former head coach Bill Walsh outside of the 49ers’ practice facility Thursday, Aug. 2, 2007, in Santa Clara, Calif.
Jeff Chiu, Associated Press
Steve Young religion
In a recent interview with current 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, Young spoke about another key influence on his playing career: his faith.
The BYU product, who is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said his religion helped him stay grounded during high-pressure moments.
“(Faith) was one of my super powers,” he said, as the Deseret News previously reported. “It’s a grounding. It sends a kind of constant message to your brain that you’re grounded and nothing’s going to stop that.”
Purdy agreed with Young’s assessment.
“Tying into my faith, that allows me to just play and not be afraid to fail,” Purdy said.