SUPER BOWL XLIV is only days away! On Sunday, February 7, an estimated 96 million viewers will tune into the most anticipated party of the year and it’s a sure bet that there will be a lot of armchair warriors with testosterone coursing through their veins who will be fantasizing about suiting up in the locker room, running onto the field amidst thunderous applause, calling the coin toss, strategizing in the huddle, and taking their place on the line of scrimmage. It’s heady just thinking about it! As well lots of female fans will be cheering their favorite teams to victory.
To add to your excitement, I got Up Close and Personal with three legendary NFL quarterbacks who have either played in the Super Bowl or earned a place in history in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Boomer Esiason, Warren Moon and Steve Young know what it’s like to turn fantasy into reality. They’ve brought pleasure to millions of viewers over the years as they called the plays, took the hits, drove the ball down the field, threw interceptions and scored touchdowns for a collective total of nine NFL teams. They know about the glory of winning and the disappointment of defeat. They’ve experienced adulation as well as criticism, the fickleness and prejudice of fans who both loved them and booed them.
I believe that the true measure of a man is much more than what he’s accomplished on the football field, it’s what he’s done after he’s taken off his helmet, retired his jersey, and hung up his cleats. You won’t find a lot of statistics here, instead you’ll find out what’s in the hearts of these three amazing athletes who represent the best of football and are champions both on and off the field.
Boomer Esiason
During his 14-year career Boomer Esiason became one of the most prolific left-handed quarterbacks in NFL history playing for the Cincinnati Bengals (1984-1992), New York Jets (1993-1995), Arizona Cardinals (1996) and returning to the Bengals for one more year (1997) before retiring.
The first pro-game of his career was on October 7, 1984 when the Cincinnati Bengals went up against the Houston Oilers, who had just signed Warren Moon.
Boomer went on to play in four Pro Bowls (1986, 1988, 1989, 1993) and in 1988 he was named the NFL’s “Most Valuable Player.” In 1989 he led the Cincinnati Bengals to Miami to face off against the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XXIII.
After the 1997 season, Boomer retired and headed straight for the broadcast booth where he has been ever since. He spent two years as a commentator on ABC’s NFL “Monday Night Football” and for the past eight years, he has called games for Westwood One/CBS Radio Sports’ “Monday Night Football” broadcasts with Marv Albert.
In 2002, Boomer became a studio analyst for CBS’ pre-game show “The NFL Today” along with James Brown, Dan Marino, Shannon Sharpe and Bill Cowher. In 2007 he debuted as host of WFAN’s weekday morning radio show “Boomer and Carton in the Morning.”
As much as Boomer loves football, his true calling is off the field where for the past 16 years he has devoted his life to finding a cure for cystic fibrosis. This is a man whose heart stretches from one goal post to the other.
Marsala Rypka: Describe yourself in three words.
Boomer Esiason: Passionate, focused and relentless.
MR: I have to ask how you got the name Boomer?
BE: I was kicking a lot in my mother’s tummy so my dad nicknamed me Boomer. If I’d been a girl I’d have been Boom-Boom. My mother wanted to name me after my father and her father, so my real name is Norman Julius. My father was mortified she did that to me because he grew up with the name Norman and he didn’t want to lay that on me. I did a Wheaties commercial once where I said, ‘You better not call me Norman,’ and everyone thought I didn’t like the name, but I have no problem with it. I have friends that still call me Norm.
MR: What would people be surprised to learn about you?
BE: I became an avid ice hockey player after I retired. It’s brutal, competitive, and frustrating but after playing pro, college and high school football for 25 years, I needed some physical competition in my life. I took it up because my son, who was six at the time, said, ‘Dad they have father-son games on Sundays.’ I’ve always loved hockey so I started playing at 37 years old and 11 years later I’m knee deep in it. I play with guys who are 40 or over and at my level. My son and I love the New York Rangers.
MR: What three people have most influenced your life?
BE: First my dad who raised me. From the day my mother died in 1968 from ovarian cancer until the day he passed away at 77, I never saw him with another woman. I’m not stupid to think he was never with anyone else, but he never brought another woman into his life. My parents were a modern day Romeo and Juliet, complete with the tragedy. The more I learned about my father as I got older, the more fascinated I became with who he was. He fought in World War II, used the GI bill to go to college, and bought a house for $17,000 on Long Island where we grew up. I came to understand how much he sacrificed for his family. On Friday nights I’d ask him for $5 and even if that’s all he had, he’d give it to me. He’d take the train into the city every day from Islip which was 2 ½ hours round trip and he never complained. I don’t know how he did it because as an unsupervised teenager, I put that man through a whole World War III of his own.
Second is my high school football coach, Sal Ciampi, who was there during those unsupervised years. Sal Ciampi was also my Home Room teacher which meant I had to be in school on time and he saw my report card before I brought it home. He was the one you tried most to impress. I’d come home and my dad would say, ‘How was practice?’ and I’d say, ‘Sal ran us into the ground and he beat the hell out of me.’ Dad would say, ‘You probably needed it, you guys are a bunch of slackers.’ Today it would be rare that a coach would get away with that, but our parents were Depression babies and World War II veterans and they understood what he was trying to get across to us. He gave us structure, values and foundation and there hasn’t been a time when I haven’t told him how thankful I am. When I get together with a couple of the other football players who went on to have small professional careers, and the guys who became plumbers, carpenters, or teachers, we’re all the same guys we were when we played for Sal. No one gives a shit that I’m on television. They still look at me like the idiot quarterback back in the day. It keeps you grounded.
Third would be my mom. Even though she died when I was seven, she’s had a profound effect on my life. People always told me what a great person she was. I am a product of two people and even though one only had me for seven years, she still made me who I am today. I remember her tying my shoes and telling me to be a good boy when I went to first grade. The other memory I have is of standing in the courtyard of the hospital where she died because they wouldn’t let me go up to her room. I remember her looking down from the window waving at me. The odd thing is that her mother died in the same hospital when I was playing in the NFL in 1985 and as I stood in my grandmother’s room I looked down into that same courtyard where I stood as a boy. It was a very somber moment.
MR: What are you most passionate about?
BE: Finding a cure for cystic fibrosis, which is what my son Gunnar has. I was a quarterback with the New York Jets in 1993 when he was diagnosed with the disease at the age of two. My wife Cheryl and I started the Boomer Esiason Foundation (BEF) which has raised over $70 million and brings together leaders in the medical and business communities as well as a core of volunteers to heighten awareness, education and quality of life for those affected by CF, while providing financial support for research.
I’ve gone to Capital Hill and various states to lobby lawmakers on behalf of CF families. It costs about $80,000 a year to take care of a child with cystic fibrosis and if families don’t have state assistance when their insurance runs out, many of them would have to file for bankruptcy. Some would even have to get divorced and go on Medicare or Medicaid. There are only about 30,000 CF families so it’s not like breast cancer, or erectile dysfunction. I don’t want to be insulated because of who I am so I visit CF centers and talk with families about the problems they face. I make no apologies for using my celebrity and the contacts I’ve made as a quarterback in the NFL for 14 years and as a sports commentator on national TV to make a difference in the lives of these people, including my son.
In 2007 BEF gave $7 million to Columbia University Medical Center to establish the Gunnar Esiason Adult Cystic Fibrosis and Lung Program. When Gunnar was diagnosed, the median age was 19, now it’s 37. Because of the money that’s been raised, we have a much better understanding of the disease. In the last 13 years three drugs have come from the test tube to the patient to help deal with the main symptom, which is chronic lung infection. We’re seeing the fruitfulness of our efforts and kids like Gunnar have been able to live a relatively normal life. He’s now 18 and 90% of his life is spent like a normal teenager. He plays baseball, hockey, lacrosse and soccer. He has treatments every day, but they don’t interfere with school or sports. I don’t expect he’ll play college football, but he loves following the NFL. He loves Brett Favre and Peyton Manning. It’s great for me to share these experiences with him. Being a father to him and my daughter, Sydney, is the most important job I have in life.
MR: What makes you angry?
BE: Complacency and clutter. I’m a Type-A personality who is always thinking about ways to raise money, so I want the people who work for me to be driven, creative, forward thinkers who aren’t stuck in neutral.
MR: What’s your most treasured material possession?
BE: A photo on my desk of my mom sitting on my dad’s lap at the beach. I don’t really remember her but people always said I have her personality. It’s unfair that a young mother died when she had the best part of her life ahead of her. It was hard for me as a young boy, but life goes on. You don’t realize the effect it will have on you for the rest of your life.
MR: What’s your greatest strength and your greatest weakness?
BE: My greatest strength is my resiliency to overcome adversities in life and my greatest weakness is that I tend to be impatient.
MR: Describe a perfect day?
BE: Have a cup of coffee, read several newspapers, and play golf with friends. I like golf and I’m good at it, but I’m not one of these psycho-passionate baseball pitchers like Greg Maddux who loves golf more than I think he does baseball. Then I’d go to the gym, have a great meal and take in a Rangers game with my kids.
MR: What is your greatest extravagance?
BE: My house is an endless money pit. It’s your typical ex-jock house in that it’s got TVs all over the place so you can watch any sporting event, any time, anywhere. It’s a beautiful, stately, 1950s stone, shingle and slate Cap Cod house with great curb appeal. I gutted the inside without touching the outside. It’s set back on an acre-and-a-half of land in an area where there’s not much land. It was a great challenge, but it’s a gem.
MR: Are you handy around the house?
BE: I’m left-handed so my dad used to keep the lawnmower, saws and tools away from me because he was afraid I’d cut my hands off. He was an engineer with an eye for building things, but that part of his genealogy did not pass on to me. He’d say, ‘Go work on your fast ball or your jump shot, just stay away from the machinery.’
MR: What do you do to relax?
BE: I enjoy sitting on the beach on Long Island in the summer. I also spend three weeks a year in Arizona. For the past ten years I’ve covered the Pro Bowl in Hawaii for 10 days. This year it’s in Miami. It’s my time to veg out after a long football season, because even though I’m not playing, my schedule is very intense from September to February.
I like covering the games because I’m not attached to who’s winning. Even though I was quarterback for the Bengals, the Jets and the Cardinals, also known as the “Bermuda Triangle of the NFL” (you could add a few others to that list) I don’t root for those teams. I’m not a GM, a coach or president of a team so I’m not caught up in who wins. I’ve been offered spots like that, but I’ve turned them down because it’s not where my passion lies. It would have a negative impact on my ultimate quest in life. I’ve got enough pressure being a dad and raising money for CF. I root for coaches and players that I think really get the job done, but not to the point where it affects my analysis of them.
MR: Any favorite football memory?
BE: When I was with the Arizona Cardinals I threw 523 yards in a game against the Redskins and we won. It was a Veterans Day celebration and a B52 Stealth Bomber flew over the stadium. Gunnar, who was five years old, was in the stadium. He loves airplanes and I can only imagine the look on his face. Also in 1989, when we beat the Buffalo Bills and headed to Super Bowl XXIII. When you’re a quarterback on a successful team it’s awesome going to work. You’re happy, you’re making all the right decisions, but when you’re on a bad team, which we’ve all been on, going to work and reading about your deteriorating skills in the newspaper is no fun.
MR: What three guests would you like to talk with on your radio show?
BE: Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad so I can grill the shit out of him. I’d like to ask Michael Jordan what he thinks of today’s athletes. And Gisele Bundchen, so I could get the real scoop on Tom Brady. My buddies would be impressed.
MR: What important lesson have you learned?
BE: Life changes on a dime. The Boomer Esiason Foundation was on the 101st floor of the first tower at the World Trade Center. One of my board members was an executive at Cantor Fitzgerald and they were underwriting the foundation so we shared offices with them. Cantor Fitzgerald lost over 650 people on 9/11. Thankfully we only had one employee in the building that day and she was in the basement getting coffee. I wasn’t there because the night before I was in Denver doing the national radio broadcast for “MNF.” I was on my way to the airport to fly back to New York when the attacks took place. If it had been another day I might have been there. We lost 100 or so supporters and one of my original board members. I was at a birthday party for one of the executives at Cantor Fitzgerald that July and three-quarters of the men at that party are gone. My point is that when you talk about setbacks, the way you respond to things, how you overcome the trial and tribulations of life, you have to appreciate each day.
Warren Moon
Hall-of-Fame quarterback Warren Moon proudly wore #1 on his football jersey during his 17 years in the NFL while playing for the Houston Oilers (1984-1993), the Minnesota Vikings (1994-1996), the Seattle Seahawks (1997-1998), and the Kansas City Chiefs (1999-2000).
In talking with Warren I found his raw honesty both impressive and inspiring as he opened up about his dad dying when he was seven and how he assumed the position as man of the house at such an early age. About how the NFL’s prejudice against black quarterbacks caused him to go to Canada and play for the Edmonton Eskimos where he won five consecutive Grey Cups, which are akin to the Super Bowl, before coming back home and signing the most lucrative contract in NFL history at the time with the Houston Oilers. And about the six concussions he’s had and the work he does to educate other players.
In his new book, “Never Give Up On Your Dream,” Warren shares every aspect of his life; nothing is off limits. He offers great lessons about courage, humility, persistence, and remaining true to yourself. After talking with this football legend, I know one thing, I am over the moon about Warren. You will be too.
Marsala Rypka: Describe yourself in three words.
Warren Moon: Laid-back, but intense, and loyal.
MR: What are you most passionate about?
WM: Making sure that when I leave this earth I didn’t just entertain people on the football field and take care of my family and friends. I did my best to make the world a better place.
MR: Name something people would be surprised to learn about you.
WM: I’m willing to act like a fool on the dance floor and do everything from the Cabbage Patch and the Running Man, dances from the late ’80s, to what is most current.
MR: Would you ever follow in the footsteps of Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin and appear on “Dancing with the Stars?”
WM: I was approached by “Dancing with the Stars” for their second season, but I turned it down because they wanted me to make a commitment for three months and I didn’t have that kind of time. It’s not my style of dancing, but if I were on the show I would adapt and the competitor would come out in me.
MR: What three people have had a great influence on your life?
WM: First are my parents. My father passed away when I was seven and my mother raised seven children, went back to school and became a nurse. She got me involved in sports. Growing up I never felt poor. Mom would take a little and stretch it into a lot and somehow she made it work. We always had food on the table and clean clothes. They weren’t new, but they were clean, ironed and laid out for us. My mother was determined to keep me on the right path. I learned a lot from her about fortitude. Being born smack in the middle of six sisters, one of my major goals was to get up before anyone else so I didn’t have to wait to use the bathroom.
My father was wise and instilled ideals in us that I didn’t appreciate until years later. We lived in L.A. and every Saturday night after we finished playing in the back yard, he made us listen to opera on the radio. My parents introduced us to all kinds of cultural experiences that were free like parks, museums and the beach. My dad was a great storyteller and he’d always carry a dictionary or a thesaurus to try and find more interesting words. My parents met at college in Atlanta and then moved to my dad’s hometown, Detroit. My father never got over the fact that he had an opportunity to invest $600 in a record company that his friend was starting, but he didn’t have the money. His friend was Berry Gordy and it was Motown Records. When my dad died, I didn’t allow myself to grieve. My seven-year-old self stepped into the man-sized hole he’d left and I took over as head of the family to the best of my ability. That’s the way I dealt with things. Instead of expressing my feelings, I forced
myself to have a stoic response. A lot of people relied on me and I knew emotions didn’t solve problems, actions did. I’m glad that years later I went to counseling and learned a better way.
Second is Jack Epstein, my high school varsity coach. When I was a sophomore, our B-team coach, Coach Klein, didn’t believe I could play quarterback. He benched me in favor of a white quarterback and I only played when my team was way behind or far out in front. Coach Epstein usually sat in the stands and took notes. He believed in me right away regardless of my skin color. He told me, ‘You’re going to be my varsity quarterback next year.’ True to his word, I was his starting quarterback when I was a junior. By the time I was a senior I was one of the top high school quarterbacks in L.A. With my background and where I came from, who knows what road I would have taken if he hadn’t. I’ve stayed in touch with him over the years.
Third is my coach at the University of Washington, Don James, who gave me the chance to play college football. I was always under pressure to play a position other than quarterback, but Don stuck with me through the tough days early in my career when the team was losing and I was getting the blame and he was taking the heat. He saw my level of talent and knew I was a hard worker. I was kind of withdrawn and shy, but I showed by example, rather than by talking, that I had the skills to be a leader.
MR: What is your greatest strength and weakness?
WM: Perseverance is my greatest strength. The ability to overcome obstacles and push for whatever it is I want to achieve. If people tell me I can’t do something, it only makes me more stubborn and determined. People kept telling me I couldn’t play the quarterback position because of the color of my skin but I proved them wrong. There were people before me, but I played a significant role in the development of the African-American quarterback.
As for a weakness, it would have to be sweets. I could eat a healthy, low-calorie meal, but when that dessert tray comes around, I’m in trouble. If it wasn’t for that, I’d have a body like a Greek God. At one time I owned five cookie stores in Seattle.
MR: Who would you trade places with for 24 hours?
WM: Barack Obama. I’d like to feel what it’s like to be the most powerful person in the free world. As an outsider looking in, I appreciate all that he has on his plate, but it would be amazing to experience it.
MR: What is your most treasured material possession?
WM: My Pro Bowl Hall of Fame ring. It’s in a glass case. The meaning of it is more important than its value. This ring represents where I came from and all that I went through to be considered one of the best to ever play. It reminds me that I earned it, nothing was given to me.
MR: Why were you so set on being a quarterback?
WM: It was a position I felt best suited for ever since I was eleven and played Pop Warner football. I wasn’t going to let anyone tell me I couldn’t until my skill level told me I couldn’t. A quarterback is a thinking man’s position and they didn’t think a black man could be a quarterback because he couldn’t lead, he couldn’t make quick decisions, and he couldn’t be the face of a franchise. ‘I climbed the mountain,’ as Martin Luther King said. I’m considered one of the best, so every stigma, every stereotype was broken and I’m here to talk about it.
MR: What five people would you invite to a dinner party?
WM: Abraham Lincoln because he was the president during slavery and the Civil War and he signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Martin Luther King Jr. Looking back, I now know what it was like to be in the middle of it all. I’d like to ask him where his passion came from. Nelson Mandela for the same reasons. He was so committed to trying to end apartheid that he went to prison for it. They tried to break him down and they couldn’t. He wasn’t bitter when he came out of prison after 27 years; he had the same mission as when he went in. I’d invite Muhammad Ali. You can see there’s a trend with the kind of people I want to talk to; people who have strong convictions. Ali didn’t believe in the Vietnam War. He took an unpopular stand by refusing to fight and he too went to prison. I can relate to people like that though not on the same scale. I stood up against race discrimination in sports.
MR: What makes you angry?
WM: When you rely on people and they don’t keep their word. If I say I’m going to do something, I do it. And if I can’t do it, I’ll tell you that too. But I’m not going to just not do it.
MR: What important life lesson have you learned?
WM: I’m really guarded. It’s not the easiest thing to talk about my feelings, but as reluctant as I am to answer some of these questions, I’ll answer them honestly. I learned that you have to fend for yourself, take care of yourself, and do for yourself like my mom did it. When you rely on others, you get let down, sometimes even by those closest to you.
MR: If you were granted one wish what would it be?
WM: Only one? For my children to live long, healthy lives. I’d also love to be one of the first black owners of a franchise, preferably in L.A. As much fun as it is to watch talented, young, African-American quarterbacks have a place in professional football, one area of the game that has not moved forward is team ownership. There are no NFL teams owned primarily by African-Americans. I’d love to either own or manage a team or be vice-president of football operations. Even though I am with the Seahawks in a broadcast role, I am always picking the brains of management and scouts about how they do things.
Doug Williams, Randall Cunningham, James Harris, Marlin Briscoe and myself started the Field Generals, an organization founded by and consisting of NFL African-American quarterbacks dedicated to teaching and preserving the history of the African-American quarterback. All of us did what we had to do to make the game a little bit better for guys coming after us and we want to be a sounding board for the upcoming players.
MR: You broadcast the Seattle Seahawks games for the ESPN affiliate KIRO on 710 and you cover MNF for Westwood One Radio, which is the NFL’s national radio station. What else are you involved with?
WM: For the past seven years, I’ve been a partner with Leigh Steinberg of Leigh Steinberg Sports and Entertainment handling business development, consulting and sports marketing. One of our initiatives is the Sporting Green Alliance. The concept is to take sustainable technologies and integrate them into stadiums and arenas throughout the sports world. These innovative technologies will lower the carbon emissions and reduce energy costs. They will turn stadiums and arenas into educational platforms, where the billions of fans that come to games can see a waterless urinal or solar panels for the first time and hopefully think about how to use these concepts in their own homes and businesses. We are going to ‘green’ up sports franchises with green forests and Saturday morning cartoon shows featuring ‘green’ sports super-heroes fighting polluters. We consider the environment and fighting global warming key to not being the first generation in America to hand down a degraded quality of life to our kids.
For a number of years I’ve also been involved with many philanthropic causes like Ronald McDonald House, American Heart Association, Urban League, Cerebral Palsy Foundation, United Negro College Fund, Special Olympics, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Juvenile Diabetes, the United Way and March of Dimes. In 1989 I started the Crescent Moon Foundation whose main focus is funding college scholarships for underprivileged high school students who have the grades and the desire to go to college, but not the financial means. Everybody can’t be a football player or an entertainer, but if you’re educated you’ll always have a chance to compete. For the last ten years I’ve held a Bowl-a-thon in Las Vegas. We sell lanes to corporations and they play with a celebrity and fund the scholarships. Eva Longoria-Parker and Tony Parker have helped make it a success. The Palazzo is sponsoring the next one at Sunset Station on June 12.
I’m also the national spokesman for the Sports Concussion Institute in Los Angeles where top neurologists from all over the country come and talk to orthopedic surgeons, trainers, team physicians, equipment companies, and turf and helmet manufacturers about the research they’ve compiled on head trauma. SCI, Leigh and I put this brain trust together to encourage conversation, share ideas and keep this important research progressing.
MR: Last words of wisdom?
WM: You can accomplish anything you want to do if you’re willing to go through adversity and keep your eye on the prize. There’s no substitute for hard work. I’m the perfect example of that. It’s been a long journey for me, and not an easy one, but I am now a complete man, something I was concerned about as a boy.
Steve Young
Late in the fourth quarter with only 3:14 minutes on the clock the 49ers are trailing the Vikings 21-17. Young moves back to throw. He’s in trouble and gonna be sacked! No he gets away! He runs, gets away again, goes to the 40, gets away again to the 35, touchback at the 30, to the 20, the 15, the 10, he dives. Touchdown!
That brilliant piece of athletic prowess describes one of the greatest runs by a quarterback ever in the game and is posted on YouTube as “Steve Young’s Great Escape.”
It’s not surprising that as far back as 1986 while playing with Tampa Bay, Steve Young became known as the kind of guy who would run through a wall if it would produce victory. It took a lot for Steve to step into Joe Montana’s shoes as the quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers in 1991, but he played the game with reckless abandon and won the fans’ hearts.
Steve was part of the 49ers winning team at Super Bowl XXIII (1989) and XXIV (1990). He led his team to the Super Bowl championship in XXIX (1995) and earned the title of MVP of Super Bowl XXIX. He also was named the NFL’s MVP in 1992 and 1994.
Steve retired in 1999 and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2005, the first left-handed quarterback to be so honored. The San Francisco 49ers retired his #8 jersey during a halftime ceremony against the New England Patriots on October 5, 2008 making him the 11th player in team history to receive this honor.
Enjoy getting Up Close and Personal with Steve Young as he shares his thoughts about his family, life after football, his predictions for this year’s Super Bowl, his secret fantasy and lots more. This is the nicest sports hero you’ll ever meet.
Marsala Rypka: Describe yourself in three words.
Steve Young: I’ve spent my whole life trying not to be put into a box and now you want me to pick three words. (Laugh). Okay I’ll give you three just for fun, but don’t hold me only to those. I’m going to say hard-working, spiritual and balanced. Or I should say balancing, because balanced is too final. I’m not quite balanced yet (Laugh).
MR:What would people be surprised to learn about you?
SY: That after retiring from football, my wife Barb and I had four children—Braden, Jackson, Summer and Laila, who’s one—and I became a professional diaper changer and a lactation expert. Although I have many interests and I’m involved with a lot of things, I still have lots of time to dedicate to my family which I didn’t have when I played football and had the pressure of having to perform in front of 80,000 people.
MR:What are you most passionate about?
SY: That’s hard. Take my competitive spirit for example. I like to think my passion for football was unmatched when I was playing, but I don’t really have that competitive drive anymore except for the passion I have for a successful marriage and my family. Anything else I’m passionate about would be with a little P instead of a capital P. I have a mini-passion for golf, but nothing of any substance.
MR: Is football still a passion for you?
SY: No. I believe you have to leave football behind to be successful at anything else. You can’t maintain the same kind of passion you had when you played without being able to replicate that adrenalin rush you felt. There are so many other interesting and sublime things you can do in life if you can leave that passion behind. You need to move on. It’s difficult to do because you’ve become very good at it. When I retired I realized that I was one of the best in football but that I wasn’t good at anything else. You’re so used to that feeling of being accomplished, of being one of the best, and then it’s gone. You want to have it again, but you have to start from scratch and develop another sense of place. It’s unfortunate you can’t be a professional football player for the rest of your life. We would all dream of doing that, but it’s a young man’s game.
I will say though that football has opened me up to serving others in a larger way than if I hadn’t played. In fact I’d like to change my third word “balance” to “service” because that is a real battle cry for me going forward. The place where I get balanced is service.
MR: What three people have had the greatest influence in your life?
SY: There’s no question my parents. My father for all the leadership capabilities, workman-like nature, stick-to-it-iveness, and respect he shows. My mother for her service and relentless desire for people to be happy. She dedicated her life to her children’s success which had a real impact on my life. I find myself role-modeling my parents in whatever I do.
Another person was Truman Madsen, who was a real mentor of mine. He passed away last year. He was a religious scholar and author who had a huge impact on me personally, professionally, and spiritually, He taught me about perspective. One thing you can do as a professional athlete is lose perspective. Fame is a stealer of perspective. Money is a stealer of balance. Fame and money are so common in professional sports and they can rob you of perspective. I know it’s hard for some people to make sense of because they’re like, ‘Let me try that. Rob me.’ But you have to be careful. Truman constantly gave me practical ways to deal with problems and stay grounded.
My college football coach, LaVell Edwards. You never have any idea who you can become. Your parents and those close to you always tell you that you can be great but who knows the potential inside you? LaVell was someone in charge of giving people the opportunity to play sports and he saw something in me as a senior in high school that I had no idea about. He gave me the opportunity to play football in college. I don’t know why he saw what he did. My uncle is the only other one who had an inkling that I could be a successful football player. There’s not many human beings you run into who have that special heaven-sent capability to be able to see people not for what they are today, but for what they could be tomorrow.
LaVell forced me to believe in myself. He gave me the confidence to see myself as someone who could achieve great things. He’s a good man.
MR: What is your greatest strength and your greatest weakness?
SY: A strength is my work ethic. I don’t know where I’m going, but I’m walking. I don’t know what mountain we’re climbing, but we’re climbing. My weaknesses are many fold. I’d say trying to do too many things at once. I have to be careful of the old saying: Jack of all trades, master of none.
MR: Who would you trade places for 24 hours?
SY: I’d say Abraham in the Old Testament. He was the father of much of civilization and because of his impact on the world I’d like to see things through his eyes for a day.
MR: What is your most treasured material possession?
SY: Over the last few weeks I’ve been in the midst of moving to a different house and I literally almost want to leave everything behind. We’ve video-taped the kids over the years and I bet there’s a plastic bin full of 20 tapes that would be the record of our children’s lives. They would be irreplaceable if that little bin was lost so if I had to run into a burning house for something other than a human being that’s what it would be for.
MR: What are you most proud of?
SY: I’m trying to avoid the word pride, but if I have to answer the question I’d say it would be winning the Super Bowl the same year that I graduated from law school. The culmination of those two events was significant as far as what it took to get there. My dad always told me that football wouldn’t last forever and that I’d have to get a real job one day. There is a lot of time in the offseason from February to July so it is fathomable to go to law school while you’re playing. In fact Brady Quinn (quarterback for the Cleveland Browns) called me recently and said he wanted to go to law school and he asked how to do it. I love that another football player recognizes that while it’s a great challenge, it can be done; although my dad’s still mad at me because I haven’t taken the bar.
MR: What five people would you invite to a dinner party?
SY: The problem is that I’d want to have four or five dinner parties with different groups. Geez, you’re making me think hard. George Washington is someone I’d want to be there. He’s the father of our country but when you say that, it’s almost like he’s become a caricature of himself, like he’s just a name. Reading about him and the struggles, the trials and challenges he faced reminds me that no one gets anywhere easily. He had amazing fortitude. I’d invite Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals in track and field at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany. I always wished I was an Olympian. I was among the contingent in Salt Lake City to receive the Olympic flag after the Winter Olympics closed in Nagano, Japan. I also carried the placard for Great Britain during the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. I’d also invite Prophet Joseph Smith, Mother Teresa and Winston Churchill.
MR: What makes you angry?
SY: People who don’t know how to merge when they drive. You gotta merge. You know how I like to keep things moving. Just merge, you don’t need to stop. You can do it.
MR: What’s your greatest fear?
SY: Now days I have less fear than I did before. I wouldn’t even go to second grade unless my mom sat with me, so I understand children with anxiety and fears. But every time I’m fearful I walk through it and over time I overcome whatever it is.
MR: What one thing would you change about yourself?
SY: I would get more organized and I’d get all my hair back.
MR: What fantasy do you have?
SY: My golf game was really good until I had kids and then it got really bad. My fantasy is to become a professional golfer and win the Masters. I play all the great courses in my head every night and that’s what puts me to sleep.
MR: Is there a quarterback playing today who reminds you of yourself?
SY: Definitely Drew Brees. He’s about my size and he tries to take advantage of every possible angle and opportunity. I think a lot of Drew.
MR: Who do you think will go to the Super Bowl?
SY: The Saints are good enough. It would be awesome for them and New Orleans. I think they’ll probably play the Colts.
MR: How do you like being an analyst on ESPN’s “Monday Night Football”?
SY: I love being around the game. “Monday Night Football” is the big game of the week and it’s very exciting. I get to be up close and personal and watch a little bit of football which is just perfect for me.
MR: How do you pay it forward?
SY: I started the Forever Young Foundation in 1993. I was going to a lot of inefficient fundraisers. Wonderful charities, wonderful people, wonderful programs, lousy fundraisers. I thought I could do better and help them get funding so they could do what they do well. We built from there.
We love to affect children’s lives in a positive way. The foundation has teamed up with people all over the world and specifically in Ghana, West Africa to help children who are facing significant physical, emotional, and financial challenges by providing efficient academic, athletic and therapeutic programs. In 2008 we had many life changing experiences in our work at Forever Young Foundation. It is often said that when you give, you receive far more in return. We experienced the full impact of those words as Barb and I assembled our Forever Young staff, Board of Directors and many of our Forever Young friends to make the journey from the states to Ghana to witness first-hand the remarkable work being done there. We marveled at the people and country that will forever touch our hearts. We completed the expansion of the Golden Sunbeam School and artificial turf field and board member Bob Gay re-ignited his quest to provide more cherished Ghanaian youth with educational opportunities. On April 14 we’re hosting our annual Steve Young Desert Golf Classic with friends from the NFL, the NBA and Major League Baseball to raise funds to build another school.
MR: You and Jerry Rice were the NFL’s all-time top scoring duo. Do you stay in touch?
SY: Jerry and I have joined forces to build the “8 to 80 Zone” multimedia center at the 49ers Academy. The goal of the center is to create an environment that will put industry standard equipment and software into the hands of eager, creative youth who live in underserved communities and give them the skills to pursue careers in the fields of journalism, musical composition and performance, audio recording and engineering, live sound, creative writing, poetry, drama, film, TV and radio broadcasting, video editing, graphic design and photography. The uniqueness of the “8 to 80 Zone” also provides additional fundraising opportunities for the center. Jerry and I are looking forward to building more “8 to 80 Zones” in the upcoming year.
MR: What other ventures are you involved with?
SY: I’m a partner in Huntsman Gay Global Capital, a middle-market, private equity firm. We look to buy growing companies and give them the value-added services to make them even more successful. It’s quite a challenge, but it’s a lot of fun working with owners and operators of great family businesses.
MR: Last words of wisdom?
SY: Act as if everyone important to you is watching.
