Just Because: The same name as a star -- LT Steve Young
If you've never heard of Steve Young -- no, not the Hall of Fame quarterback -- here's a quick sketch of the former left tackle.
You probably know all about Steve Young -- the Hall of Fame quarterback who made seven Pro Bowl squads and had one of the best quarterback ratings of all time (and the guy who played in front of dozens of people when he battled against Jim Kelly in a mid-1980s USFL matchup).
He was a pretty good player, right?
| Year | Tm | G | GS | QBrec | Cmp | Att | Yds | TD | Int | 4QC | GWD | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | TAM | 5 | 5 | 1-4-0 | 72 | 138 | 52.2 | 935 | 3 | 8 | 56.9 | 1 | 1 |
| 1986 | TAM | 14 | 14 | 2-12-0 | 195 | 363 | 53.7 | 2282 | 8 | 13 | 65.5 | ||
| 1987 | SFO | 8 | 3 | 2-1-0 | 37 | 69 | 53.6 | 570 | 10 | 0 | 120.8 | ||
| 1988 | SFO | 11 | 3 | 2-1-0 | 54 | 101 | 53.5 | 680 | 3 | 3 | 72.2 | 1 | 1 |
| 1989 | SFO | 10 | 3 | 3-0-0 | 64 | 92 | 69.6 | 1001 | 8 | 3 | 120.8 | 0 | 1 |
| 1990 | SFO | 6 | 1 | 0-1-0 | 38 | 62 | 61.3 | 427 | 2 | 0 | 92.6 | 1 | 1 |
| 1991 | SFO | 11 | 10 | 5-5-0 | 180 | 279 | 64.5 | 2517 | 17 | 8 | 101.8 | ||
| 1992*+ | SFO | 16 | 16 | 14-2-0 | 268 | 402 | 66.7 | 3465 | 25 | 7 | 107.0 | 3 | 5 |
| 1993*+ | SFO | 16 | 16 | 10-6-0 | 314 | 462 | 68.0 | 4023 | 29 | 16 | 101.5 | ||
| 1994*+ | SFO | 16 | 16 | 13-3-0 | 324 | 461 | 70.3 | 3969 | 35 | 10 | 112.8 | 1 | 1 |
| 1995* | SFO | 11 | 11 | 8-3-0 | 299 | 447 | 66.9 | 3200 | 20 | 11 | 92.3 | ||
| 1996* | SFO | 12 | 12 | 9-3-0 | 214 | 316 | 67.7 | 2410 | 14 | 6 | 97.2 | 2 | 2 |
| 1997* | SFO | 15 | 15 | 12-3-0 | 241 | 356 | 67.7 | 3029 | 19 | 6 | 104.7 | 1 | 1 |
| 1998* | SFO | 15 | 15 | 11-4-0 | 322 | 517 | 62.3 | 4170 | 36 | 12 | 101.1 | 3 | 4 |
| 1999 | SFO | 3 | 3 | 2-1-0 | 45 | 84 | 53.6 | 446 | 3 | 4 | 60.9 | 1 | 0 |
| Career | 169 | 143 | 94-49-0 | 2667 | 4149 | 64.3 | 33124 | 232 | 107 | 96.8 | 14 | 17 |
(Chart via Pro Football Reference)
But Steve Young wasn't the only Steve Young ever to play in the NFL. In fact, the Steve Young you know wasn't even the original Steve Young (and he's not even Steve Young -- his given name is Jon Steven Young). And he definitely wasn't the tallest Steve Young.
Those monikers belong to this Steve Young, a 6-foot-8 tackle who played for the Buccaneers in 1976 and the Dolphins in 1977.
(H/t for the photo to the Xanga website that no longer exists, but apparently was run by Young’s kid)
According to Pro Football Reference, Young started 11 of 13 games for Tampa Bay at left tackle (in the year Tampa Bay went 0-14), and he played well enough for the team's season highlight video to label him as one of the franchise's "important building blocks for the future."
But he didn't start at all the next season after Miami traded a fifth-round pick to acquire him, because as Tecmo Legacy League points out, he was stuck behind Pro Bowl tackle Wayne Moore.
After that, Young disappeared from the league.
But not before he strained his entire face doing what looks like a very strenuous pull-up (via the Sarasota Herald-Tribune).
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