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Young to get more opinions Decision on his future could come this week
Posted: Monday October 25, 1999 08:53 PM
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) -- Steve Young plans to seek at least one more medical opinion about his concussion problems this week amid more signs that his season and possibly his career are over. "He's looking for as much information as he can gain and Steve and every doctor involved is going to weigh the pros and cons, the whole thing," San Francisco 49ers coach Steve Mariucci said Monday. "Certainly, he'd love to have a lot of guys say, `Fine,' but I don't know that he's gotten that yet. "I can't give you the exact evaluation. That's confidential. But Steve, he wasn't completely excited about what he's learned so far. He wasn't optimistic about playing in the near future." On his radio show on KNBR earlier Monday, Young conceded the evaluation he received from his primary neurologist was "discouraging" but continued to seek other opinions to gain some perspective. "I want to have a wealth of knowledge about it," he said. "I haven't been cleared and in the nearterm, it's probably pretty discouraging. But I think patience and time are my two allies right now." Young, 38, who has missed four games since sustaining his fourth concussion in three years Sept. 27 against Arizona, has failed to gain medical clearance to resume his career. The two-time NFL MVP who led San Francisco to its fifth Super Bowl win in 1994 remains sidelined indefinitely due to post-concussion symptoms. Though he has said he wants to play again, Mariucci said the 49ers do not expect to see him back on the field any time soon and would have serious reservations about doing so even if he gained clearance at some point this year. Mariucci said Young is still having trouble with the notion that he might not be able to help the 49ers (3-4) on the field any more, especially now that they're struggling without him. "He feels a responsibility and I think that comes from being the quarterback for a long period of time," Mariucci said. "A lot of responsibility has been placed on his shoulders for us to succeed. "And so, he finds it hard to change that, even though he has a health issue. There's a time I know when he'll realize that his health is more important than his responsibility to this team. But that's what makes him tick." There is a possibility that Young, who doesn't want to retire in the middle of the season, could be placed on injured reserve. Such a move could come by the end of this week and would finish Young for the year, giving him a prolonged period away from football to recover. "I guess a lot of that will depend on some of the information that's found out," Mariucci said. He added there was no timetable for Young or the club to make a decision on his future, though it would probably be beneficial to both to have a resolution. "We talked about patience and having some time here but obviously, to drag it out, I don't know that it's in the team's best interest," Mariucci said. Young's chief neurologist, Stanford's Dr. Gary Steinberg, has already made a longterm recommendation to Young and the team about whether Young should play again. Steinberg's recommendation hasn't been made public, though indications are that Young was told he should quit or stay away from football indefinitely because of the risk of permanent brain damage from another head blow. For Young's own peace of mind, general manager Bill Walsh, Mariucci, and the team's chief executive, John York, who is a non-practicing physician, urged him to get additional opinions. Last week, Young flew to Provo, Utah, to seek the opinion of another neurologist and this week he's expected to see at least one more specialist. A club source said once Young completes his round of visits with other specialists, he's expected to meet again with Steinberg, perhaps by the end of this week.
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