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John Earl Madden was an American professional football coach and sports commentator in the National Football League. He served as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1969 to 1978, leading them to eight playoff appearances, seven division titles, seven AFL/AFC Championship Game appearances, and the franchise's first Super Bowl title in Super Bowl XI. Never having a losing season, Madden holds the highest winning percentage among NFL head coaches who coached at least 100 games. As of the end of the 2023 season, Madden has the most wins as head coach in Raiders history with 103 wins.
After retiring from coaching, Madden was a color commentator for NFL telecasts from 1979 to 2009 and won 16 Sports Emmy Awards. Madden appeared on all four major American television networks, providing commentary for games broadcast by CBS, Fox, ABC, and NBC. He also lent his name, expertise, and commentary to the Madden NFL video game series, which became the best-selling American football video game franchise. Madden was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006.
A football star in high school, Madden played one season at the College of San Mateo, in 1954, before he was given a football scholarship to the University of Oregon, studying pre-law, and playing football with childhood friend John Robinson. He was redshirted because of a knee injury and had a knee operation. Then he attended the College of San Mateo in 1955, then Grays Harbor College, playing in the fall of 1956, before transferring to Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, where he played both offense and defense for the Mustangs in 1957 and 1958 while earning a Bachelor of Science in education in 1959 and then a Master of Arts in education in 1961. Madden's senior research project at Cal Poly focused on the use of weights to increase strides and speed in athletic training.
He won first-team all-conference honors at offensive tackle in his debut season at Cal Poly, and was a catcher on the Mustangs baseball team. Known amongst his teammates for his impressive downfield speed for a lineman, Madden also was selected by United Press International for Little All-Coast Second Team accolades following his junior season of 1957.[26] During the 1957 season, Madden caught a pass from future fellow Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, then-teammate and Cal Poly quarterback, Bobby Beathard.
Madden was drafted in the 21st round (244th overall) by the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles in 1958 (months before beginning his senior season at Cal Poly). His senior year, which again saw Madden regularly start on the left side of the offensive line,[28] was cut short due to a season-ending collarbone injury suffered while making a tackle against Long Beach State in October 1958, with four games remaining on the schedule.
However, on January 3, 1959, Madden played in the All-American Bowl in Tucson, Arizona, and was later praised by Lou Pavlovich of The Sporting News for his play in the showcase. Then, however, he suffered an injury on his other knee in his first training camp, during an Eagles scrimmage in August 1959, ending his playing career without having had an opportunity to play in a regulation game professionally.
Madden recounted how he became involved with coaching: "I got hurt in my rookie year with the Philadelphia Eagles — a knee injury — and I couldn't play. While I was rehabbing, Norm Van Brocklin would be watching films and would explain what was happening. I ended up with a degree in teaching and my love for football meshed with teaching."
In 1960, he became an assistant coach at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, California. He was promoted to head coach in 1962. Madden went 12–6 in two seasons, including an 8–1 mark in 1963, during which his Bulldogs were ranked No. 9 nationally among city colleges. Following the 1963 season, he was hired as a defensive assistant coach at San Diego State, where he served through 1966. During that final campaign, the 1966 Aztecs were ranked among the top small colleges in the country. While at San Diego State, Madden coached under Don Coryell, whom Madden credited as being an influence on his coaching.
Building on that success, Madden was hired by Al Davis as linebackers coach for the AFL's Oakland Raiders in 1967, putting him in the Sid Gillman coaching tree. He helped the team reach Super Bowl II that season. A year later, after Raiders head coach John Rauch resigned to take the same position with the Buffalo Bills, Madden was named the Raiders' head coach on February 4, 1969, becoming, at the age of 32, the AFL/NFL's youngest head coach to that time.
Madden's first Raiders squad went 12–1–1 in 1969 but lost 17–7 to the Kansas City Chiefs in the last-ever American Football League Championship Game. This would become a frustrating trend during Madden's coaching career. Oakland won seven AFC West division championships and always played to a winning record during his ten seasons as head coach, but they also lost in six AFL/AFC Championship Games. One of the most frustrating playoff defeats came in 1972, when what appeared to be a last-minute AFC divisional round victory over the Steelers instead became a part of football lore when Franco Harris' "Immaculate Reception" gave Pittsburgh a 13–7 win. In 1974, after knocking the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Miami Dolphins out of the playoffs in dramatic fashion, the Raiders again lost to the Steelers in the AFC Championship game. The Steelers would once more end the Raiders' season one game short of the Super Bowl in the 1975 AFC Championship game.
In 1976, the Raiders went 13–1 in the regular season and escaped the first round of the playoffs with a dramatic and controversial 24–21 victory over the New England Patriots. In their third straight battle with the Steelers in the AFC Championship game, Madden's Raiders finally defeated their nemesis 24–7 to reach Super Bowl XI. On January 9, 1977, Madden won his first and only NFL title with a 32–14 win over the Minnesota Vikings.
The Raiders made the playoffs in 1977 as a Wild Card team, but again lost the AFC Championship Game, this time to the Denver Broncos. The Raiders enjoyed their tenth straight winning campaign under Madden in 1978 but failed to qualify for the playoffs for just the second time in his tenure. Soon after their season ended, Madden announced his retirement on January 4, 1979, due to a troublesome ulcer and occupational burnout, stating that he was permanently ending his coaching career.
Among Madden's accomplishments as a head coach were winning a Super Bowl, and becoming the youngest coach to reach 100 career regular-season victories, a record he compiled in only ten full seasons of coaching at the age of 42. Madden is still the coach with the most wins in Raiders history.
Madden never had a losing season as a head coach. His overall winning percentage, including playoff games, ranks second in league history behind Guy Chamberlin and is the highest among those who coached 100 games. Madden achieved his record during a period that included head coaches Tom Landry, Don Shula, Chuck Noll, and Bud Grant, who are generally regarded as the top coaches of that era.
Madden joined CBS as a color commentator in 1979. After working lower-profile contests during his first years, he was elevated to CBS's top football broadcasting duo with Pat Summerall in 1981, replacing Tom Brookshier. Prior to teaming with Summerall on CBS, Madden was paired with a variety of announcers, such as Bob Costas, Vin Scully, Dick Stockton, Frank Glieber, and Gary Bender. The team of Madden and Summerall would go on to call eight Super Bowls together. On occasions in which Summerall was unavailable (during the CBS years, Summerall was normally scheduled to commentate on the U.S. Open tennis tournament during the early weeks of the NFL season), Madden would team with the likes of Vin Scully[58] and subsequently, Verne Lundquist. On their final CBS telecast together (the 1993 NFC Championship Game on January 23, 1994), Madden told Summerall that while CBS may no longer have the NFL, at least they have the memories. On ABC's final Monday Night Football telecast in 2005, Madden used a similar choice of words.
When Fox gained the rights to NFC games in 1994, CBS employees became free agents. Madden was the biggest star in football broadcasting, and Fox, ABC, and NBC made offers higher than the $2 million a year maximum for sportscaster salaries; NBC's owner General Electric (GE) offered to make Madden its "worldwide spokesman", and GE Rail would build for him a luxury train. After he almost joined ABC, Madden and Summerall, along with Producer Bob Stenner and Director Sandy Grossman -- known as the football broadcasting "A Team" -- helped establish Fox's NFL coverage, Madden and that group gave Fox credibility to broadcast what Rupert Murdoch called "the crown jewel of all sports programming in the world". Madden's contract paid him more annually than any NFL player. However, toward the end of his tenure, Fox was reportedly losing an estimated $4.4 billion on its NFL contract for the eight-year deal it signed in 1998, and it had been trying to cut programming costs as a result. Madden's Fox contract would have been worth $8 million for 2003.
In 2002, Madden became a commentator on ABC's Monday Night Football, working with longtime play-by-play announcer Al Michaels. Madden reportedly made $5 million per year.
In 2005, Dick Ebersol, president of NBC Sports, announced that Madden would provide color commentary for NBC's Sunday night NFL games, beginning with the 2006 season, making him the first sportscaster to have worked for all of the "Big Four" U.S. broadcast television networks. On October 13, 2008, NBC announced that Madden would not be traveling to the October 19 Sunday Night Football Seattle Seahawks–Tampa Bay Buccaneers game in Tampa, Florida, marking the end of Madden's 476-weekend streak of consecutive broadcast appearances. Madden, who traveled by bus, decided to take the week off because he had traveled from Jacksonville to San Diego, and would have had to go back to Florida before returning to his Northern California home. Madden was replaced by Football Night in America studio analyst Cris Collinsworth for the game, and returned for the following telecast on November 2, 2008, in Indianapolis (until 2010 the NFL did not schedule Sunday night games for one week in October, so as not to overlap with the World Series taking place roughly around the same time). Madden called his final game on February 1, 2009, for Super Bowl XLIII between the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Madden announced his official retirement from the broadcasting booth on April 16, 2009. He was succeeded by Collinsworth.
Madden got his start in broadcasting calling in to longtime San Francisco radio personality "The Emperor" Gene Nelson's show on station KYA in the 1970s while coach of the Raiders. He followed Nelson when he moved to station KSFO, and the call-ins continued even after Madden's coaching retirement. Madden later made appearances on KNBR.[66] In 1997, he began calling in to radio station KCBS five days a week at 8:15 a.m. Pacific Time. This continued through Thanksgiving 2015, when he ceased calling after heart surgery and other health concerns. He began making twice-weekly appearances on KCBS radio again in 2017, appearing Mondays and Fridays at 9:15 a.m. He stopped making regular radio call-ins in August 2018, citing a desire to remove any obligations from his schedule. KCBS named him "Senior Investigative At-Large Correspondent", indicating that he may occasionally call in again. Madden also aired sports commentaries in syndication on the Westwood One radio network in the United States.
Madden's lively and flamboyant delivery won him critical acclaim and fourteen Sports Emmy Awards for standing Sports Event Analyst. His announcing style was punctuated with interjections such as "Boom!", "Whap!", "Bang!", and "Doink!"' and with his use of the telestrator, a device which allowed him to superimpose his light-penned diagrams of football plays over video footage. Madden's use of the telestrator helped to popularize the technology, which has become a staple of television coverage of all sports.
Madden was also known for working the annual Thanksgiving Day games for CBS and later Fox. He would award a turkey or turducken to the winning team. He would also award a turkey drumstick to players of the winning team following the Thanksgiving Day game, often bringing out a "nuclear turkey" with as many as eight drumsticks on it for the occasion. The drumsticks served as an odd take on the "player of the game" award. Madden stopped announcing the Thanksgiving Day games after he moved to ABC in 2002, but the tradition continued. Fox, CBS, and the NFL Network (and later NBC) presented the Galloping Gobbler to the game's "Most Valuable" player through 2015.
Following his death, the NFL now honors Madden every Thanksgiving; beginning in 2022, the entire tripleheader of games was dubbed the "John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration". A recording of Madden was played before each of the Thanksgiving games in 2022, and has continued since, along with the awarding of a “Madden Player of the Game” after each game, with NBC continuing on the tradition of awarding the turkey leg(s) to its player(s) of the game.
In 1984, Madden took the advice of NFL coach John Robinson—a friend of Madden since elementary school—and created the "All-Madden" team, a group of players who Madden thought represented football and played the game the way he thought it should be played. Madden continued to pick the All-Madden team through the 2001 season when he left to move to ABC and Monday Night Football. Madden added his "Hall of Fame" for his favorite players, he created a special 10th Anniversary All-Madden team in 1994, an All-Madden Super Bowl Team in 1997, and an All-Time All-Madden team in 2000. All Madden was also the title of Madden's third best-selling book (after Hey, Wait A Minute? I Wrote a Book and One Knee Equals Two Feet).
Madden was featured in the movie Little Giants. He also played himself as the broadcaster of the fictional games in the film The Replacements alongside his broadcast partner at the time Pat Summerall.
On December 25, 2021, the Fox network presented All Madden, a documentary highlighting Madden's rise to stardom as an NFL coach and broadcaster. Former and current NFL players appear in the film, which premiered prior to a Christmas Day contest on Fox between the Cleveland Browns and Green Bay Packers in Green Bay, just three days before his death.
Following his death, Fox chose to re-air the documentary with a special encore presentation two days later on December 30. Various streaming platforms also made the documentary available following the encore broadcast due to popular demand.
Madden appeared in a variety of radio and television commercials including Ace Hardware, Outback Steakhouse (the corporate sponsor of the Madden Cruiser),[80] Verizon Wireless, Rent-A-Center, Miller Lite, Toyota, Sirius Satellite Radio, and "Tough Actin" Tinactin. In particular, the Miller beer advertisements cemented Madden's image in the public eye as a bumbling but lovable personality.
Madden appeared in a 1999 episode of The Simpsons, "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday". Madden also hosted an episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live in 1982 with musical guest Jennifer Holliday. As well, Madden was featured in U2's music video for the song "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of". He made a similar appearance in the video for Paul Simon's 1972 single "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard", in which he attempts to teach football fundamentals to a group of kids playing a pickup game.
To minimize travel to studios, Madden built Goal Line Productions in Pleasanton, California.
From 1988 on, Madden lent his name, voice and creative input to the John Madden Football series of football video games, later called Madden NFL, published by EA Sports/Electronic Arts. Entries in the series have consistently been best-sellers, to the extent that they have even spawned TV shows featuring competition between players of the games. Despite Madden's retirement as a broadcaster in 2009, he still continued to lend his name and provide creative input to the series, which were so popular that he became better known as the face of Madden to contemporary football fans than as a Super Bowl-winning coach and broadcaster, up until his death in 2021.
Madden viewed the game as an educational tool. During initial planning conversations with Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins in 1984, Madden envisioned the program as a tool for teaching and testing plays. He stated in 2012 that Madden NFL was "a way for people to learn the game [of football] and participate in the game at a pretty sophisticated level".
The EA Sports series continues to use his name, iconography and licence following his death, and announced on Madden Day (June 1, 2022) that all editions of Madden NFL 23 would feature Madden on the cover in tribute of his legacy, with the next gen version cover being a picture of Madden celebrating his victory as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XI and the All Madden Edition cover being based on the cover of the series' 1st installment, John Madden Football.
Madden met his wife, Virginia Fields, in a bar in Pismo Beach, California. They married on December 26, 1959, at St. Mary of the Assumption in Santa Maria, California. Afterward, they lived in Pleasanton, California, and had two sons, Joseph and Michael. Joe played football at Brown University and Mike attended Harvard University, where he started as receiver on the football team.
Madden and Virginia celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary two days before his death.
Madden's aversion to flying was well known, although his fear was not realized until many years into his adult life. He had lost people close to him in the October 29, 1960, California Polytechnic State University football team plane crash that claimed the lives of 16 players, the team's student manager, and a football booster. However, it was not until 1979 that he had his first panic attack on a flight originating in Tampa, Florida; he never flew on a plane again. Madden, however, stated once in an interview that his fears were not about turbulence, flying, or heights, but primarily claustrophobia.
During his Saturday Night Live hosting appearance in the early 1980s, a short film aired depicting Madden making the journey to New York City to host SNL by train. In the mid-1980s, Madden was a frequent rider on Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited; Amtrak let the famous customer use the dining car at any time. However, beginning in 1987, Greyhound Lines supplied Madden with a custom bus and drivers in exchange for advertising and speaking events, dubbed the Madden Cruiser. The Madden Cruiser shells were manufactured by Motor Coach Industries. The coach-bus sponsors over the years included Walker Advantage Muffler and Outback Steakhouse. In 2018, Madden donated the original Madden Cruiser to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, where it was restored to its original condition.
Madden never did commentary for the Pro Bowl, which was held in Honolulu during every year of his broadcasting career. Likewise, Madden never called any preseason game held outside of North America, even when his play-by-play partner was on the telecast. Madden found an unexpected use for his bus in New York City after the September 11, 2001 attacks, when he provided transportation for former ice-skating champion Peggy Fleming, whose flight home to Los Gatos, California, had been grounded.
Madden died at his home in Pleasanton, California, on December 28, 2021, at the age of 85. While the cause of death has never been disclosed, many believe it was due to a heart attack, citing open-heart surgery he had in 2015. In a press release announcing Madden's death, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said that Madden "was football", adding, "there will never be another John Madden, and we will forever be indebted to him for all he did to make football and the NFL what it is today."
In addition to hosting an annual bocce tournament which raised money for both the Special Olympics and diabetes research, Madden began funding six scholarships to his alma mater, Cal Poly, for students graduating from various East Bay high schools, starting in September 2021.
In October 2022, Cal Poly and the Madden family announced that Madden had donated a leading contribution toward a total $30-million football facility on the Cal Poly campus. The facility, to be named the John Madden Football Center, would furnish all-new lockers, strength and conditioning facilities, a nutrition center, offices, training rooms and a film-review theater for the team's coaches, players and trainers.
The facility will encompass 30,000 square feet and is anticipated to open in 2029, with the entrance adjacent to the university's memorial for the 1960 airline crash victims, many of whom were Madden's friends.
As of June 2016, Madden's bocce tournament, co-hosted with Steve Mariucci, had raised $5 million for Northern California Special Olympics, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the Diabetes Youth Foundation.
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Harry Donald Carson is an American former professional football player who spent his entire career as a linebacker for the New York Giants of the National Football League. Carson was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2002, the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006 and the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2018.
After his college career, Carson was drafted in the fourth round of the 1976 NFL draft by the Giants. He spent all of his 13 seasons with them, leading the team in tackles for five seasons, and more impressively, served as their captain for ten. Carson was a member of the Crunch Bunch, a team of fierce linebackers composed of Carson, Brad Van Pelt, Brian Kelley, and Lawrence Taylor. The group is widely considered one of the best defensive combos in NFL history. He was a member of the Big Blue Wrecking Crew defense and also made nine Pro Bowl appearances (1978–1979, 1981–1987) in his career. In the 1980s he was joined by Lawrence Taylor, another Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker. In his 13 seasons, Carson intercepted 11 passes and returned them for a total of 212 yards. He also recovered 14 fumbles, returning them for 36 yards and one touchdown. Officially, he recorded eight quarterback sacks (sacks did not become an official NFL statistic until 1982) but his total is 19 sacks when the 1976–81 seasons are included.[citation needed] He retired at the end of the 1988 season, two years after helping the team win Super Bowl XXI, the Giants' first, and Carson had seven tackles for the victors.
Carson was one of the first practitioners of the "Gatorade shower" which is when the coach of the winning team is doused with a cooler of Gatorade by some of the players following a win. The practice was started by his teammate Jim Burt in 1985 as Carson recounted in his 1987 book Point of Attack: The Defense Strikes Back. When Bill Parcells had Carson as a player with the Giants, he would have him at his side during the singing of the national anthem for good luck.
Bill Belichick, an assistant coach for the Giants for 12 years, who as head coach, led the New England Patriots to six 21st century Super Bowl victories, considered Carson the best all-around linebacker he ever coached.
Carson was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006. His selection came after years of outspoken criticism of the Hall of Fame selection process, where his principal criticism was that the vote is done by the media, not players and coaches.[citation needed] In 2004, Carson asked to have his name taken off the ballot.
Despite previously stating that due to his frustration at not being elected he wanted his name removed from the ballot, when elected to the Hall of Fame in 2006 Carson appeared and gave an induction speech. Carson later commented on the selection, saying he was humbled by the selection but noting:
The Hall of Fame will never validate me. I know my name will be in there, but I take greater pride in the fact that my teammates looked at me as someone they could count on. I still remember, and I will remember this for the rest of my life, the Super Bowl against Denver. We had three captains—me, Phil Simms and George Martin. But when it came time for the coin toss before the game, I started to go out and looked around for those guys. Bill Parcells said to me: 'No. You go. Just you.' And that was about the coolest feeling I've ever had in the world—going out to midfield for the Super Bowl, as the lone captain. There were nine Denver Broncos out there, and me. Just me. An awesome responsibility. The greatest respect.
During his Hall of Fame speech in 2006 Harry Carson does not directly mention CTE, but he does mention that he does not think the NFL is doing the best job they can to help out ex-NFL players. When he states "I would hope that the leaders of the NFL, the future commissioner, and the player association do a much better job of looking out for those individuals. You got to look out for 'em. If we made the league what it is, you have to take better care of your own" (Carson). Carson takes an aggressive stand when it comes to CTE and how the NFL handles their own ex-players that are struggling with head trauma later in their lives. Although Harry Carson was an excellent football player he does suggest that kids not start playing football because of the consequences that could come to them later in life. The NFL reached a concussion settlement of 765 million dollars for the former NFL players that sustained head injuries on the field. When Carson was asked about the settlement in a Frontline interview he says, "And so I think everyone now has a better sense of what damage you can get from playing football. And I think the NFL has given everybody 765 million reasons why you don't want to play football" (Carson). Harry Carson thinks the huge settlement is good for the former players, but it also scares people away from playing football because of the chances of head trauma players could experience later in life.
Carson remains in close involvement with the Giants. He has also had a successful career in sports broadcasting and has his own company, Harry Carson Inc., which deals mainly in sports consulting and promotions. Carson was also part-owner of the Arena Football League's New Jersey Red Dogs, alongside ex-Giants Carl Banks and Joe Morris. He currently co-hosts Giants 1st & 10 on Madison Square Garden Network with Bob Papa, Carl Banks and Howard Cross.
On May 17, 2015, Harry Carson served as the commencement speaker for New York University School of Professional Studies. Two days later Carson served as the commencement speaker and was presented with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. The honor was bestowed upon Carson for his advocacy not only for his football brethren but for anyone who lives with the effects of a traumatic brain injury. Carson simply says "I have to speak up for all people who really don't have a voice".
Carson is a long-time resident of Franklin Lakes, New Jersey.
Since his retirement, Carson has lived with various physical maladies brought on by injuries incurred during his playing days. He was diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome in 1990, and estimates that he had 15 concussions during his long high school, college and professional football career. In 1992, he stated: "I don't think as clearly as I used to. Nor is my speech, diction, selection of vocabulary is as good as it used to be, and I don't know why." In 2001 while he was a broadcaster with the MSG Network he said, "I would mispronounce words and lose my train of thought. Things would happen, and at times I'd think I was going crazy."
Carson authored his second book "Captain for Life" published by St. Martin's Press in 2011. In his book he documents his experiences with post-concussion syndrome. He was one of the first former professional athletes to share his own personal first hand experiences years before the long-term effects of concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), long before the subject became a "hot button" topic.
While Carson has acknowledged he has "managed" the long term effects of concussions he does not know if he has been affected by chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). When asked, Carson is increasingly critical of the NFL and questions whether football should be played, as he believes the hazards of concussions and subconcussive hits are not an understood risk such as physical ailments are. He is quoted in this interview as saying of the NFL's $765 million settlement with former players that "the NFL has given everybody 765 million reasons why you don't want to play football."
In March 2018, Carson joined with former NFL stars Nick Buoniconti and Phil Villapiano to support a parent initiative called Flag Football Under 14, which recommends no tackle football below that age out of a concern for the brain health of the young players. He said, "I did not play tackle football until high school, I will not allow my grandson to play until 14, as I believe it is not an appropriate sport for young children."
In 2012, Carson was said to be strongly considering a run for Congress against Republican Scott Garrett in the newly redrawn 5th congressional district of New Jersey. His campaign never came to pass.
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Boburg, Shawn. "Harry Carson replaces helmet for Midland Park charity auction" Archived 2012-09-30 at the Wayback Machine, The Record (Bergen County), February 27, 2011. Accessed May 25, 2011. "After former Giant and Hall of Famer Harry Carson's donation to a local charity was swiped at a fund-raising event, he was quick to make sure it wasn't the non-profit's loss. The legendary linebacker and Franklin Lakes resident did more than replace the autographed football helmet that mysteriously disappeared at the auction."
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Troy Kenneth Aikman is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League for 12 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. After transferring from the Oklahoma Sooners, he played college football for the UCLA Bruins and won the Davey O'Brien Award as a senior. Aikman was selected first overall by the Cowboys in the 1989 NFL draft, went to six Pro Bowls, and won three Super Bowls. He was also named MVP of Super Bowl XXVII, the franchise's first title in over a decade. Aikman was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008.
After retiring in 2000, Aikman served as the color commentator of NFL on Fox from 2001 to 2021 and has served as the color commentator of Monday Night Football since 2022. He and his partner play-by-play announcer Joe Buck are the longest tenured announcer pairing in NFL history. Aikman was also a co-owner of the now defunct NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team Hall of Fame Racing from 2005 to 2009, along with fellow former Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach, and is a part-owner of the San Diego Padres in Major League Baseball (MLB).
Aikman was selected as the first overall pick in the 1989 NFL draft by the Dallas Cowboys. On February 25, 1989, new owner Jerry Jones fired Tom Landry and replaced him with Jimmy Johnson. A few months later, in the NFL's supplemental draft, Johnson drafted Steve Walsh, who played for Johnson at the University of Miami. Aikman won the starting quarterback job, and Walsh was traded early in the 1990 season.
Aikman played his first NFL preseason game on August 26, 1989, against the Denver Broncos. His NFL debut started with a 28–0 loss to the New Orleans Saints. The following week, Aikman threw his first touchdown pass, a 65-yard completion to Michael Irvin, but the Atlanta Falcons intercepted two passes and won. In a game against the Phoenix Cardinals, he threw for 379 yards to set an NFL rookie record.[9] Aikman finished 1989 with a 0–11 record as a starter, completing 155 of 293 passes for 1,749 yards, 9 touchdowns, and 18 interceptions.
Following Aikman's rookie season, Dallas selected Florida Gators running back Emmitt Smith in the first round of the 1990 NFL draft. With Smith and Irvin, Aikman led the Cowboys to a 7–7 record in the 1990 season but was injured in the 15th game, against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Cowboys would go on to lose that game and the following week against the Atlanta Falcons with backup quarterback Babe Laufenberg, missing the final playoff wild card spot by one game.
In 1991, Aikman led the Cowboys to a 6–4 record in the first 10 games and had the Cowboys ahead in week 12 against an undefeated Washington Redskins team when he was injured. Steve Beuerlein replaced Aikman, and Dallas finished the season 5–0 and earned the #5 playoff seed. Beuerlein went on to lead the Cowboys to a road upset over the #4 seed Chicago Bears in the Wild Card round. With the Cowboys trailing 17–6 at halftime the following week against the Detroit Lions in the NFC Divisional Playoff game, Aikman was inserted to start the third quarter but was unable to provide a spark as the Cowboys lost, 38–6. Aikman was selected to the first of six consecutive Pro Bowls.
In 1992, Aikman set career highs in completions (302), passing yards (3,445), and touchdown passes (23), and led the Cowboys to a team record 13 regular-season victories and the second-best record in the NFC. During the playoffs, Aikman broke Joe Montana's record of 83 passes without an interception by throwing 89. The Cowboys defeated the Philadelphia Eagles at home in the Divisional Round and squared off against the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship, a matchup that featured the two best teams in the NFC. The Cowboys won, 30–20, with Aikman completing two game-changing passes to send the Cowboys to their first Super Bowl appearance since 1978. In Super Bowl XXVII against the Buffalo Bills, Aikman led the Cowboys to a 52–17 victory (coincidentally the game was played in his alma mater's home stadium, the Rose Bowl). Aikman was named Super Bowl MVP after completing 22 of 30 passes for 273 yards and 4 touchdowns.
In 1993, the Cowboys finished 12–4, the best record in the NFC. In the playoffs, Aikman again led the Cowboys to a home playoff win, this time over a young, upstart Green Bay Packers squad led by quarterback Brett Favre, who was in his first full season as a starting quarterback. Aikman then shredded the San Francisco 49ers secondary in the NFC Championship 38–21, before leaving the game with a concussion after 49ers defensive tackle Dana Stubblefield's knee hit Aikman's head. Aikman now says he has no memory of playing in the game. In Super Bowl XXVIII, Aikman was kept out of the end zone, but a combination of key turnovers by the Buffalo Bills offense and the running of Emmitt Smith helped lead to a 30–13 victory for the Cowboys.
Head coach Jimmy Johnson left the team on March 29, 1994, and Jerry Jones hired Barry Switzer, Aikman's former college coach at Oklahoma. In 1994, the Cowboys finished with the second-best record in the NFC (behind the San Francisco 49ers) and Aikman again missed playing time due to injuries. The Cowboys won their Divisional Playoff game against the Green Bay Packers 35–9, but fell to the 49ers in the NFC Championship, 38–28.
In 1995, Aikman passed for over 3,300 yards as the Cowboys once again finished with the best record in the NFC, with the 49ers having the second-best record. Aikman was knocked out of a highly anticipated rematch between the Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers when 49ers' Stubblefield landed on Aikman, forcing his knee to hit the turf. After a playoff loss at home by the 49ers to the Green Bay Packers, the Cowboys hosted the Packers in the NFC Championship and, for the third straight season, knocked the Packers out of the playoffs, this time by a 38–27 score, to earn their third Super Bowl appearance in four years. The Cowboys won Super Bowl XXX against the Pittsburgh Steelers 27–17, with Aikman throwing one touchdown pass.
In 1996, despite offensive troubles, Aikman again helped lead the Cowboys to another NFC East Division title and a home game for the Wild Card playoff round, a 40–15 drubbing of the Minnesota Vikings. The following week, the Cowboys fell in the Divisional Round to the Carolina Panthers, 26–17.
In 1997, Aikman became the first quarterback in Cowboys history to have three straight 3,000-yard seasons, but the team finished 6–10 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 1990. Switzer suffered the first losing season of his career and resigned at the end of the season.
1998 was a rebound year for Aikman and the Cowboys, and despite missing five games, Aikman again helped lead the Cowboys back to the NFC East title and the playoffs. The Cowboys were stunned at home in the Wild Card game as the #6 seed Arizona Cardinals won, 20–7.
The 1999 season started with a bang for Aikman and the Cowboys as they squared off against the Washington Redskins. Aikman threw a career-high five touchdown passes, including the game-winner in overtime to beat the Redskins. 1999 also marked the final playoff appearance for Aikman, and the final season the trio of Aikman, Irvin, and Emmitt Smith would play together. The Cowboys finished 8–8 and lost in the Wild Card round to the Minnesota Vikings, 27–10.
The 2000 season was Aikman's final season as a professional football player. Aikman suffered several concussions during the season, and a revolving door at quarterback took place between Aikman and former Eagles quarterback Randall Cunningham. Aikman's final game was at home against the Washington Redskins. He was hit by linebacker LaVar Arrington and suffered the tenth and final concussion of his career.
During the 2001 offseason, Aikman was waived a day before he was due a $70 million/7-year contract extension, and ultimately announced his retirement on April 9, after failing to find another team. He ended his career as the Cowboys' all-time leading passer (32,942 yards). 90 of his 94 career wins were in the 1990s and the most of any quarterback in any decade until Peyton Manning surpassed him in the 2000s with 115 wins. Presently, Aikman is third on that list, also trailing Tom Brady (122 in the 2010s).
During a late December 2013 radio interview, Aikman said the real reason he retired was due to persistent back issues he had in his final season. Aikman explained that he had back surgery in the offseason following Super Bowl XXVII with no complications but by the time he reached his final season he was constantly getting treatment for back pain. While the hit by Arrington ended his 2000 season, he claims it was the back pain and not that concussion that ended his career. In a January 2020 interview, Aikman said he wanted to sign with the San Diego Chargers after being released by the Cowboys in the 2001 offseason to play for Norv Turner (Aikman's former offensive coordinator in Dallas), but they signed Doug Flutie instead and Aikman chose to retire. He said Andy Reid called him after Eagles' starting quarterback Donovan McNabb suffered a broken ankle in week 11 of the 2002 season to offer him the starting position, but Aikman declined. In 2003, Aikman agreed to play for the Miami Dolphins with Turner as their offensive coordinator and began training again, but the team decided not to sign a contract with him.
After he retired from professional football as a player, Aikman joined Fox's NFC telecasts as a color commentator for the 2001 season. A year later, he was named to the network's lead announcing crew, teaming with Joe Buck and (from 2002 to 2004) Cris Collinsworth. Aikman received an Emmy Award nomination for his television work in 2004 and has helped broadcast six Super Bowls (XXXIX, XLII, XLV, XLVIII, LI, and LIV) to date. It was revealed in 2016 that in 2004, Aikman nearly came out of retirement to sign a one-year deal with the Miami Dolphins, but the Dolphins ended up not signing him.
Aikman also hosts a weekly sports radio show which airs on Thursday from 7 to 8 p.m. ET on Sporting News Radio and appears weekly during the football season on the Dunham & Miller morning show on Dallas sports talk radio station 1310 The Ticket. He was a public spokesman for Acme Brick throughout his career. He is also the chairman of the Troy Aikman Foundation, a charity to benefit children that has recently focused on building playplaces for children's hospitals. In 2016, Aikman merged his foundation with the United Way Foundation of Metropolitan Dallas and donated $1 million to United Way in the process. The Agency Sports Management & Marketing handles Aikman's marketing activities, where Jordan Bazant is his lead agent.
Aikman, who in 1999 was ranked No. 95 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, has been the official Wingstop spokesman for several years. He appeared in The Simpsons episode "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday" alongside former Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino. He also participated in the 2001 and 2011 videos honoring Billy Graham's 83rd and 93rd birthdays. Aikman said he was going to appear on Dancing with the Stars in front of TMZ cameras. However, he revealed he was only joking about it and won't appear on the show.
On September 19, 2005, at halftime of the Dallas Cowboys-Washington Redskins game (broadcast on Monday Night Football), Aikman was inducted into the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor with his longtime teammates Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith. On August 5, 2006, Aikman was one of six players inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
At another halftime ceremony, on February 7, 2009, at the UCLA-Notre Dame basketball game, Aikman's induction into the College Hall of Fame was honored. Aikman announced he had completed coursework to finish his degree in sociology. He participated in UCLA's 2009 Sociology Department commencement ceremony with current quarterback Kevin Craft and former linebacker Marcus Reece, who also came back to finish his college education. Former UCLA quarterback John Sciarra was the keynote speaker at the ceremony.
On February 9, 2010, Aikman became a member of the National Football Foundation Board of Directors.
As of fall 2010, Aikman is a co-spokesman for Rent-a-Center, along with Hulk Hogan.
In the fall of 2011, Aikman joined the Oxford Preparatory Academy Charter School Advisory Board in Southern California.
In November 2013, Aikman was named a 2014 recipient of the NCAA Silver Anniversary Award, given annually to six former college athletes 25 years after the end of their college athletics careers.
In March 2014, Aikman was announced as a partner and spokesman for IDLife.
Before a 2020 NFL broadcast between the Packers and Buccaneers in Tampa, Aikman and his partner Joe Buck were caught on a hot mic questioning the necessity of a military flyover when only 15,000 fans were allowed in Raymond James Stadium for the game. Aikman most notably said "That's a lot of jet fuel just to do a little flyover" and "That stuff ain't happening with a Kamala-Biden ticket, I'll tell you that right now, partner." An Armed Forces spokesperson later said there is no additional cost to conduct the flyovers. Meanwhile, Buck and Aikman faced accusations of being unpatriotic.
After 20 seasons as Fox's lead broadcast team, ESPN announced on March 16, 2022, that both Buck and Aikman would join the network as the new lead commentators of Monday Night Football.
In late 2005, Aikman together with another former Cowboys quarterback, Roger Staubach, established a NASCAR team known as Hall of Fame Racing, fielding the No. 96 car (derived by multiplying Aikman's jersey number as a Dallas Cowboy by Staubach's) shared between Terry Labonte and Tony Raines during the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. Raines drove for Hall of Fame full-time in 2007, and J. J. Yeley and Brad Coleman drove the car in 2008. The team closed after the 2009 season.
Aikman has owned several car dealerships in the Dallas–Fort Worth area and launched a light beer brand called Eight in 2022.
Aikman was once named the most eligible bachelor in Dallas by Texas Monthly, and dated country singer Lorrie Morgan. He married former Cowboys publicist Rhonda Worthey on April 8, 2000, in Plano, Texas. Worthey has a daughter named Rachel from a previous marriage. Worthey and Aikman have two daughters. The couple announced their separation on January 24, 2011. Their divorce was finalized on April 12, 2011. On June 2, 2017, Aikman announced his engagement to high-end fashion retailer Catherine "Capa" Mooty on Instagram. Mooty has two sons with her ex-husband, lawyer Jerry Mooty, who is the nephew of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. On September 1, 2017, Aikman and Catherine Mooty married at the Biltmore Four Seasons in Montecito, California. However, it was revealed in July 2023 that Aikman and Mooty were officially divorced. Aikman resides in Dallas.
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Jon Steven Young is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League for 15 seasons, most notably with the San Francisco 49ers. He was drafted by and played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Prior to his NFL career, Young was a member of the Los Angeles Express in the United States Football League (USFL) for two seasons. He played college football for the BYU Cougars, setting school and NCAA records en route to being runner-up for the 1983 Heisman Trophy.
Young was named the AP's NFL Most Valuable Player in 1992 and 1994, and was the MVP of Super Bowl XXIX where he led the 49ers to a victory over the San Diego Chargers with a record six touchdown passes. During his 1994 MVP campaign, Young set a new NFL record for passer rating at 112.8. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Young was an extremely efficient passer, leading the league in passer rating a record six times and completion percentage and yards per attempt five times. At the time of his retirement, Young had the highest passer rating among NFL quarterbacks with at least 1,500 passing attempts (96.8). Currently, he is ranked fourteenth all time in passer rating, and is ranked fourth-highest amongst retired players, behind only Drew Brees, Tom Brady, and Tony Romo. Young's 43 career rushing touchdowns are third among quarterbacks, while his 4,239 rushing yards ranks sixth all time.
At the time Young left college the USFL was proving a serious challenge to the established NFL, and he had a choice to be a top pick in either league.
Young was selected by the USFL Los Angeles Express in the first round (11th overall) of the 1984 draft held that January. Express general manager Don Klosterman told Young that if he signed with the Express, his head coach would be John Hadl, a former All-Pro quarterback who had shepherded John Elway through his first year in the NFL. Klosterman also told Young that Hall of Fame coach Sid Gillman, who had been hired as a consultant, would tutor him on how to be a pro quarterback.
The regular 1984 NFL draft would not be held until May. To help influence his decision, the Express offered an all-sports record 10-year, $40 million contract. Young was convinced, and signed with the Express in March 1984. He agreed to take his payment in the form of an annuity paid out over forty years to help the fledgling team.
After missing the first six games of his rookie season while taking some college classes in order to graduate on time, Young started the final 12 games. He had a respectable year, highlighted by becoming the first pro football player ever to pass for 300 yards and rush for 100 in a single game.
Despite a roster which included such future NFL players as Jojo Townsell, Mel Gray, and Kevin Nelson, and making the Western Conference title game in Young's first season, the Express were never able to create a sustaining fan base in Los Angeles. They often played to sparse crowds that looked even more so in the then-95,000-seat Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Near the end of the 1984 season, Express owner J. William Oldenburg was forced to give up control of the team after multiple reports revealed he had misrepresented his net worth. Houston Gamblers minority owner Jay Roulier was cleared to buy the team, only to be pushed out shortly before the 1985 preseason when it emerged that he too had lied about his finances. For all intents and purposes, the Express' 1985 season ended at that point. The league took over the team and cut the budget to the bare minimum. Notably, no money was allocated to replace injured players. This left the Express in a precarious position when a rash of injuries decimated the roster. Even before then, Young and the other young players concluded that the Express would not be around for the planned move to a fall schedule in 1986, even if the USFL survived. With this in mind, they played tentatively so as not to harm their NFL prospects. As a result, despite fielding essentially the same team as a year prior, the Express cratered to a 3–15 record.
Before the Express' final home game — which had been moved to Los Angeles Pierce College in the San Fernando Valley — the bus driver refused to leave unless he was paid up front, in cash. Young contributed some money, as did the team trainer, and the driver took them to the game. In the season finale at Orlando, Young had to line up at tailback because the Express had no healthy running backs left on the roster.
It was reported that Young had insured his contract and would still be paid until 2027. However, facing the prospect of both a faltering owner and an unstable league, Young had already renegotiated his 10-year deal down to 4 years, and had already collected a total of $4.8 million of the $5.8 million due in toto through the final year of that deal (in 1987), working out to an annual rate of pay of $2.4 million for his first two seasons that was the highest in all of American sports. Included in that negotiation was a payment of $1.4 million for the balance of the 10-year annuity (less money paid out against it), and salaries for the remaining two years of the deal "in excess of $450,000" annually according the USFL Commissioner then overseeing the LA Express (which had fallen into receivership).
Young grew increasingly dissatisfied with the disarray surrounding the Express. Just a week before what proved to be the last USFL title game, Young gave the USFL an ultimatum – find a new owner for the Express, or allow him to buy out his contract and go to the NFL. Soon after the league decided to suspend the Express's operations for the 1986 season, Young bought out his Express contract and signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who had made him the first pick in a supplemental draft of USFL and CFL players a year earlier.
By this time, the Buccaneers were in the midst of what would be 12 consecutive 10-loss seasons. They posted identical 2–14 records in Young's two seasons with them, going 3–16 with him as a starter. Young threw for only 11 touchdowns with 21 interceptions while completing fewer than 55% of his passes.
The Buccaneers selected University of Miami quarterback Vinny Testaverde first overall in the 1987 NFL draft because Young was deemed a bust. Young was traded to the San Francisco 49ers on April 24, 1987, to serve as a backup to Joe Montana. 49ers coach Bill Walsh was impressed by Young's natural abilities, and believed his lackluster numbers were primarily due to the lack of talent around him in Tampa Bay.
The Buccaneers received second and fourth round draft picks in the trade, which they used to draft Miami linebacker Winston Moss, and Arizona State wide receiver Bruce Hill, respectively.
Young played behind Montana for four years, but shone as a backup. Substituting for an injured Montana, early in the first quarter of a 1987 game against the Chicago Bears, Young threw four touchdown passes in a 41–0 victory. In their 1987 divisional playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings, he replaced Montana in the second half after the team fell behind 27–10. The 49ers still lost the game, but Young had a good performance, completing 12 of 17 pass attempts for 158 yards, a touchdown, and an interception while also leading San Francisco in rushing with 72 yards and a touchdown on six carries. On October 30, 1988, Young ran for a 49-yard, game-winning touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings. He started the game out with a 73-yard touchdown pass to John Taylor, after Montana went down with an injury. The play earned the 49ers a 24–21 victory and a bit of revenge on the Vikings for their previous season's playoff loss. The win turned out to be crucial. Without it, the 49ers would have finished the season 9–7 and missed the playoffs. Two other teams in their division, the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints, had 10–6 records. Instead, the 49ers won their division, earned the #2 playoff seed, and went on to win the Super Bowl.
In 1989, Young displayed potential to become the team's starter in the future. While Montana won the NFL MVP award and led the team to a victory in Super Bowl XXIV, Young still had a good season, completing 69% of his passes for 1,001 yards, eight touchdowns, and only three interceptions. On October 22, 1989, he posted a perfect passer rating of 158.3 when he completed 11 of 12 passes for 188 yards and three touchdown passes in a 37–20 victory over the New England Patriots.
Young rushed for a career-high 102 yards on just eight carries against the New Orleans Saints on December 23, 1990, making him only the second 49ers quarterback to rush for at least 100 yards in a single game. The 49ers lost the game 13–10.
In his four seasons as a backup, Young threw 23 touchdown passes and only six interceptions.
Following an injury to Montana's elbow in the 1990 NFC Championship Game, which forced him to miss the entire 1991 season, Young got his chance to lead the 49ers, but got off to a rough start. Midway through the season, the 49ers found themselves struggling with a 4–4 record. In the ninth game of the season, after throwing a franchise-record 97-yard touchdown pass to Taylor, Young suffered a knee injury and was replaced by backup quarterback Steve Bono. After a loss in that game and the next, Bono led the 49ers to five consecutive victories, playing so well that coach George Seifert decided to keep him in the starting lineup after Young had recovered. It was not until late in the 15th game of the season, after Bono went down with an injury of his own, that Young got to play again. Young then closed out the season by throwing for 338 yards and three touchdowns and also rushing for 63 yards and another touchdown in a 52–14 win over the Chicago Bears in a Monday Night Football game at Candlestick Park.
Young finished the season with an NFL best 101.8 passer rating. Despite missing five full games and most of a sixth, he still threw for 2,517 yards, 17 touchdowns, and only eight interceptions. Despite Young's strong season, the season for the team was widely regarded as a disappointment. The 49ers had slipped from a 14–2 record in the previous season to a 10–6 record in 1991. 10 wins, while usually being enough to grant a playoff spot for a team, kept the 49ers just short of the playoffs, and San Francisco ended up not playing in the postseason for the first time since 1982. It was thought by many that Young's days as the 49ers starter were numbered due to the impending return of Montana from the injury to his right elbow, and some observers said the 49ers should trade Young and keep Montana and Bono. However, the trade never happened.
By the start of the 1992 season, it appeared that Young's starting job was in serious peril. In addition to having to compete with Bono, Montana appeared to be close to recovering from his elbow tendon surgery. San Francisco came close to trading Young to the Los Angeles Raiders, but no deal was finalized and it turned out that Montana would not recover in time to start in the opening game. Montana would not return until the final game of the 1992 season, a Monday Night home game against the Detroit Lions. Montana played the entire second half of that final game and guided the 49ers to victory.
Young ended up as San Francisco's starting quarterback, but once again got off to a rough start. On the fifth play of the opening game at the New York Giants, he suffered a concussion and was replaced by Bono, who threw two touchdown passes while leading the 49ers to a 31–14 victory. The following week, the 49ers lost 34–31 to the Buffalo Bills, despite a career-high 449 passing yards and three touchdowns from Young, in a game that for the first time in NFL history had zero punts from either team.
Young recovered and led the 49ers on a five-game winning streak, capped off by a 56–17 victory over the Atlanta Falcons in which he passed for 399 yards and three touchdowns. After missing most of the next game (a 24–14 loss to the Cardinals) with the flu, Young led San Francisco to a victory in all of their remaining games of the season, giving the team a 14–2 record. He went on to throw for 227 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 73 yards in a 20–13 divisional playoff win over the Washington Redskins. However, the 49ers lost the NFC Championship game, 30–20, to the eventual Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys. Young threw for 313 yards, completing 71.4% of his passes while passing for a touchdown and rushing for another. However, he also threw two interceptions, but the final one came with the outcome of the game already decided.
Young finished the season with 3,465 passing yards and 537 rushing yards, along with an NFL-best 25 touchdown passes and 107.0 passer rating, earning him the NFL Most Valuable Player Award and his first selection to the Pro Bowl. Young was the first quarterback ever to record a triple-digit rating in consecutive seasons. Many credit his turnaround to the mentoring of the 49ers' new offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan, who worked with Young on combining his running skill with on-the-move passing decisions.
Before the start of the 1993 season, team owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. announced that he wanted Montana to resume his role as starting quarterback for the 49ers. However, a rift in the locker room had developed, with players split on whom they wanted at quarterback. In the spring of 1993, at Montana's request, San Francisco traded Montana to the Kansas City Chiefs. Young was now the 49ers' undisputed starter, and would remain so for the rest of his career. But once again, Young had a rough start to the season. Over the first four games of 1993, Young, who was hindered by a swollen thumb on his throwing hand, threw eight interceptions, more than he had thrown during the entire 1992 season. But after his thumb healed, Young went on an incredible streak over a span of seven games, throwing 16 touchdown passes with only two interceptions and a 122.2 passer rating. By the end of the year, Young set franchise records for most passing yards (4,023), and consecutive passes thrown without an interception (189, later eclipsed by Alex Smith in 2012), while leading the NFL in touchdown passes (29) and passer rating (101.5). The team slipped to a 10–6 record, but advanced to the NFC championship game again by blowing out the New York Giants 44–3 in the Divisional Round. However, they were again defeated by the Dallas Cowboys, this time 38–21.
After several key free agent signings (including All-Pro cornerback Deion Sanders) and NFL draft selections, the 49ers looked to win their first Super Bowl since 1989. They started fast, beating the Los Angeles Raiders 44–14 on the strength of four touchdown passes from Young, one of four games during the regular season in which he had at least four. After a loss in a much-anticipated game to Joe Montana and the Kansas City Chiefs, the 49ers won their next two games before losing to the Philadelphia Eagles 40–8 at Candlestick Park, a game in which Young was eventually benched in the middle of an offensive series. Although head coach George Seifert later said he only pulled Young because he was getting manhandled by the Eagles' defense, Young had had enough of being scapegoated for 49er shortfalls and loudly (and visibly) lambasted Seifert over his decision while standing on the sideline during the game.
But the game was considered a turning point in the season; from there, Young led the team to 10 consecutive wins, by an average of 20 points, before losing the meaningless finale against the Vikings in which Young completed his first 12 of 13 attempts before going to the sidelines. They finished an NFL best 13–3, securing home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. The 49ers had the number-one offense in the NFL, and were so dominant that Seifert often took Young out of games early if he felt that the 49ers had an insurmountable lead at the time.
After an easy 44–15 victory over the Chicago Bears in the Divisional Round, the 49ers jumped out to a 31–14 halftime lead over the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship Game, holding on to win 38–28. Young threw for two touchdowns, while adding 47 yards and another touchdown on the ground. As a result, he went to his first Super Bowl as a starting quarterback. The 49ers were heavy favorites to become the first team with five Super Bowl victories.
On the strength of a six-touchdown performance that surpassed the previous Super Bowl record of five, owned by the man Young replaced, Joe Montana, Young was named the MVP of Super Bowl XXIX, as the 49ers defeated the San Diego Chargers, 49–26. Young also threw for 325 yards and rushed for 49 yards, making him the first player ever to finish a Super Bowl as the game's leader in both rushing and passing yards.
The victory capped off an incredible year for Young, who had one of the best seasons by a quarterback in NFL history. He threw for 3,969 yards, a then-franchise record 35 touchdown passes with only 10 interceptions, completed 70.3 percent of his passes – the highest completion percentage of the 1990s, third all-time, and at the time, the best completion percentage by any quarterback with more than 400 attempts (later eclipsed by Drew Brees in 2009). Additionally, Young broke Joe Montana's single-season mark with a then-record 112.8 passer rating, and also once again demonstrated his great scrambling ability, accumulating another 289 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground. For his record-breaking season performances, Young was awarded his second AP NFL MVP award, becoming the seventh player in NFL history to win both league and Super Bowl MVP honors in the same season.
In the three years following Super Bowl XXIX, the 49ers were eliminated in the playoffs each year by Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers, twice in San Francisco. In addition to the early playoff exits, Young suffered a series of injuries that forced him to miss several games from 1995 to 1997. Young entered the 1998 season at age 37 and some began to wonder if his skills would diminish because of his history of injuries and a general decline in his game due to age. However, Young silenced all critics once again, putting up career numbers in passing yards (4,170) and passing touchdowns (36). The 49ers finally beat Favre and the Packers in the NFC Wild Card Round that year, as Young threw the winning touchdown to wide receiver Terrell Owens with three seconds remaining to win the game 30–27. In reference to Dwight Clark's legendary catch against the Dallas Cowboys in the 1981 NFC Championship Game, Owens's grab was called "The Catch II". A week later, however, Garrison Hearst broke his ankle on the 49ers' first play from scrimmage. Without the threat of a running game, Young threw three interceptions (the last one a Hail Mary pass with under 30 seconds remaining in the game) and the 49ers were defeated by the Atlanta Falcons 20–18. Over that span of seasons from 1995 to 1998, Young led the NFL in passer rating twice (in 1996 and 1997), and led the NFL with 36 touchdown passes in 1998.
The 1999 season turned out to be Young's last in the NFL. Young was plagued by concussions throughout his career. During a Week 3 Monday Night Football game against the Arizona Cardinals, Young was violently sacked by Cardinals cornerback Aeneas Williams on a blitz. Running back Lawrence Phillips was supposed to pick up Williams, but missed. Young was knocked out of the game with a concussion, and did not return again for the rest of the season due to symptoms of post-concussion syndrome. The concussion he suffered against the Cardinals was reportedly his second in a season that was only three weeks old, and the seventh (at least) of his career. Following the season, the 49ers told him that he would be released if he did not retire. Although Young was offered a job as the starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos (where his former offensive coordinator, Mike Shanahan, was the head coach), he retired because of his repeated concussions. In a 2013 Frontline interview, Young said that, partially based upon their own experiences, he and many retired players are increasingly concerned about repeated concussions and subconcussive hits. Young is particularly concerned about certain positions that take frequent hits, such as running backs and linemen.
Although Young did not become the 49ers' first-string quarterback until his seventh NFL season, and he played a full season only thrice (all consecutively) during his 15-year career, Young had a significant impact on the NFL. A two-time league MVP, he completed 2,667 of 4,149 passes for 33,124 yards and 232 touchdowns, with 107 interceptions, and 43 rushing touchdowns. Young's 96.8 career passer rating is the twelfth highest in NFL history and fourth highest among retired players, behind Tony Romo, Tom Brady, and Drew Brees. Young's 4,239 rushing yards are the sixth most ever gained by a quarterback, behind Michael Vick, Cam Newton, Russell Wilson, Lamar Jackson, and Randall Cunningham. At the time of his retirement, Young had the highest career passer rating ever, and only trailed Cunningham in rushing yards for a quarterback. He was the NFL's top rated passer in six different seasons and led the league in touchdown passes four times. In 20 postseason games, Young threw 20 touchdown passes with only 13 interceptions, and scored eight touchdowns on the ground. During his stint with the 49ers, Young passed for 29,907 yards, 221 touchdowns, and 86 interceptions, with a passer rating of 101.4, highest in franchise history. He was also sacked 290 times, also most in franchise history. From October 20, 1991, to October 1, 2023, Young held the franchise's highest single game completion rate of 90%, which he set against the Detroit Lions, until it was bested by Brock Purdy's 95.2% against the Arizona Cardinals.
Young has both performed dramatic roles and appeared as himself in a limited acting career. He appeared in one episode of Frasier and one episode of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (cast as Lois' former high school football quarterback boyfriend, Joe Maloy). He also made a guest appearance as himself in the Dharma & Greg episode "Are You Ready for Some Football?" encouraging Dharma, the team's Number One Fan. In 1995, Young appeared as himself in the Season 6, Episode 12 episode of Beverly Hills, 90210. He also made cameo appearances in the LDS comedy The Singles Ward (2002) and in a season 5 episode of BYUtv's Studio C (2014). Young also made a guest appearance as himself in season 8 of the NBC comedy series Wings in the episode "Just Call Me Angel".
Young was originally offered a part in the 1998 movie There's Something About Mary, but turned the role down; the role ultimately went to Brett Favre.
Young was laid off by ESPN on June 30, 2023, after being a fixture on ESPN's NFL studio shows, including “NFL Countdown,” for more than two decades. He was part of a round of layoffs that included many notable on-air personalities.
Young serves as a National Advisor to ASCEND: A Humanitarian Alliance. This non-profit organization plans expeditions to African and South American countries to provide life skills mentoring with sustainable solutions in education, enterprise, health and simple technology.
In 1993, Young founded a charitable foundation known as the Forever Young Foundation, which serves children facing significant physical, emotional, and financial challenges by providing academic, athletic, and therapeutic opportunities otherwise unavailable to them.
Young also serves as the national spokesman for an organization founded by former Save Darfur Coalition executive director and founder, David Rubenstein. Young began his affiliation with the organization in 2009, when he became the honorary league commissioner for their charitable dodgeball tournaments held on college campuses nationwide.
Young is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS Church). He is a great-great-great-grandson of Brigham Young, second president of the LDS Church, for whom BYU is named.
Young has been married to Barbara Graham since 2000. They have two sons and two daughters. According to A Football Life, as his playing career ended before his eldest child was born, Young wrote his autobiography QB: My Life Behind the Spiral initially as a private memoir for his children. The book was published in 2016, with writer Jeff Benedict as coauthor.
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