Steve Young was not Joe Montana. He was however, Steve Young.
Below I have attempted to compile some favourite memories of Steve Young sent to me by fans. To have your memory added, please E-mail me your memory. Be sure to specify if you want your name included.

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"Steve young is one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play professional football and definetly the most entertaining. I've been watching Steve play for so many years and a 49ers game will never be the same. Since the day i started watching the 49ers play on fox 2 in 1992 I have followed the career of steve young and the 49ers and I will always remember the great moments that you gave us. Thank you for the many years of excellence."

"I have been a 49er fan since I started watching football in 1981. Obviously I began to follow the team just as Joe Montana was about to lead them to greatness. So one would think he would be my favorite player. Not so. For some reason, I have always identified with Steve Young. From the time the team acquired him, I hoped he would find his way on to the field. It isn't that I didn't appreciate Montana. He was an incredible player and a great man who obviously led the team to a great deal of success. But something about Young resonated with me. I had watched him play at BYU, but I had lost track of him after that as I didn't follow the USFL. Just the same, I knew he had talent, despite the way Tampa Bay dragged him down the way they have so many great quarterbacks. But I think the reason I so wanted to see Steve Young take the field is that he wanted it so much. Much has been made of the hostility between Montana and Young, but I think few people realize the difficulty of the situation. These were two proud men. One had proved his worth on the field while the other was still waiting for his chance. The fact that Steve wanted his shot is both understandable and admirable. As much as it pained many fans, I believe the 49ers made the right choice in making Young the starter in 1991. To wait any longer would have risked the team's future. A future that saw their unprecedented streak of success continue. And although San Francisco only captured one Super Bowl title with Young at the helm, there is no doubt in my mind the team was often just as good as they were in the 80s. The rise of the Dallas Cowboys was the main obstacle in the early 90s, and Young managed to conquer that task too. In Super Bowl XXIX, he removed all doubts about his ability to achieve success at the highest level and his six touchdown passes may be a record that stands for decades. But Steve Young's most memorable moment to me didn't occur in that game. It didn't even occur in a victory. It came against the Philadelphia Eagles in 1994, the same season as Young's Super Bowl triumph. But the game against Philadelphia was a disaster. The 49ers had fallen behind early and George Seifert decided to take Young out of the game. It really did make sense. In every other game it appeared the 49ers were something special and Young was obviously the key to their success. It wasn't worth risking an injury in a game that was clearly over. Young had other ideas though and he was furious that Seifert had pulled him. He immediately rushed over to question his coach and they even ended up shouting at one another. This was somewhat shocking because Steve is such an amicable person. But anyone who has watched Steve Young play know the word "quit" isn't in his vocabulary. Young didn't want to leave a game that wasn't finished. To him, as long as there was time on the clock, his team had a chance. Well, as it appears that the clock has finally run out on the career of Steve Young now. But he needn't worry or plead with the coach to put him back in. This career was a runaway victory. And Young was the MVP."
--Dan Jens

"Steve Young is the toughest player in the NFL. I remember in 1999 after getting knocked down twenty some times in Jacksonville, he got up after every hit. He got knocked down twenty-three time against New Orleans, including a concussion on Chris Hewitt's helmet to helmet hit. He got up after every hit, more woozy after every one. Then when he got knocked out at Arizona, he got up and walked off without help, and tried to return to the game in the second half. The is the ultimate display of toughness. Steve has proved to us his toughness, and I'm glad he's walking away healthy and wearing red and gold."
--Chris Lau

"The run against the Vikings (I was in the stands for that one) And the pass he threw that was deflected and he caught his own pass for a TD! Also in the stands for that one. Oh how I miss living in Cali and being a season ticket holder!!!"

"Steve said, "Retirement at 38 sucks!" and I'll have to agree with that. Being a dyed-in-the wool Jerry Rice fan, my favorite memories of Steve Young are all the long passes pulled in by Jerry and resulting in a TD. However, I also enjoyed watching Steve scramble for yardage. It was that running that often got him in trouble, but it was still pretty impressive."
--M. Janet Allen (you may use my name)
Albany, CA

"I'll have lots of memories that I'll always remember with Steve. Two that leap to mind are his run (49 yards, I can't remember) against the Vikings, where he broke about a million tackles and ran out of gas at about the 10 yard line, stumbled and flopped into the end zone. Another one is where (can't remember which game) he threw a pass, it deflected off of a lineman, and he caught it himself. There's so many more, of course. His leadership and class will surely be missed..."

"Steve Young has been my favorite player just over Jerry Rice since I became a major niner fan in 1993. My first great memory was the Super Bowl. I taped the game and will always have that to treasure. Steve Young's six was amazing and it showed all the non-believers to start believing. After that I only missed two games in the 95 and 96 seasons. I haven't missed a game from 97 and on. When Steve went down against the Bucs that crushed me more than the two concussions in 96 because it looked so bad, but he came bck and led them to the NFC title game. My second memory and perhaps my greatest is the 98 playoff game against the Packers. I also have that game on tape and that last drive was when they beat the Packers was so great because I hate the Packers. Then, sitting in my 49ers blow up chair(I'm only 15) watching Steve go down in Arizona, I had a feeling that might be it for him and saddly it was. Steve will always be tops for me and I hope he has luck with whatever he does after football."
Big 49er FAN Jeff