|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |  |
Young at heart 49ers quarterback remains undecided about future
Posted: Monday May 01, 2000 11:17 AM
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) -- Although quarterback Steve Young still wants to play football, he's going to take more time before making a final decision on whether to resume his career. Young, 38 and a two-time NFL MVP, was at the San Francisco 49ers' headquarters, where the team was finishing the final day of its three-day minicamp Sunday. Young, who sustained a concussion Sept. 27 that sidelined him for the last 13 games of the season, spoke publicly for the first time since returning from a six-week around-the-world honeymoon that followed his March 14 wedding. His decision on returning to football, will be based on a number of factors. "I think the juices flow," Young said. "But I've got to decide. It's a complex issue." Coach Steve Mariucci said Young called him Saturday night and told him he planned to stop by team headquarters for a visit. "It was great to see him. I think he enjoyed being out there, too," Mariucci said. "Players were like, 'Should I ask for his autograph or not?' They had never seen Steve Young before." Though he hasn't been formally cleared by team doctors, Young, who sustained at least four concussions in three years, said he has examined by independent doctors and passed a clinical test showing his brain patterns are normal. "They've done some very extensive testing outside of just imaging. I wanted to do everything I could to make sure. Clinically, it's been fantastic," Young said. Young said he wanted to come to camp to see some of his teammates, meet new players and get reacquainted with everyone. "I haven't talked to hardly anybody since I got married," he said. Young said he had a conversation with general manager Bill Walsh on Thursday and in the coming days, the two plan to meet again, along with Mariucci and Young's agent, Leigh Steinberg. "I think the team is in a different place and needs leadership," Young said, trying to make a case for retaining a veteran influence. "Just being out there for half an hour, you can see the team is devoid of veteran leadership, save a couple guys." About half of the 106 players attending the team's minicamp were rookies. Walsh has indicated the club needs a full-scale rebuilding and that the 49ers must be prepared to go on without Young and possibly receiver Jerry Rice, who has balked at the salary-cap pressed team's demands that he take a pay cut. However, Rice said on the first day of camp that he's optimistic a deal can be worked out that's satisfactory to both sides. "I think Bill, of all people, has the opinion that he doesn't want Jerry and I flopping around the last few years of our careers, you know what I mean?" Young said. But Young said one of the things he talked to Walsh about was the ability of Rice and himself to help educate the team's new players on the so-called "49ers way." Young declined to address the possibility of playing elsewhere -- Denver and Seattle both have been mentioned as possible destinations should he and the 49ers go separate ways.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
