Why Steve Young slept on the floor the night before his historic Super Bowl win
On Sunday, the San Francisco 49ers fell short of winning their first Super Bowl since 1995, when Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young led the team to victory.
In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, the former BYU Cougar revealed a strange fact about that big win, sharing that he spent the night before the game sleeping on the floor of his teammate’s room.
Young explained that the Super Bowl was the first time that he and other players had their own hotel rooms. Ahead of other games that season and in previous seasons, he had roomed with tight end Brent Jones and gotten used to his snoring.
The night before the Super Bowl, Young found himself missing that noise, he told Sports Illustrated.
“When it was time to go to sleep, I was like, ‘I need (to hear him) snoring.’ I literally took my mattress, dragged it down the hall, banged on his door and woke him up. He goes, ‘What are you doing?’” Young said. “I’m like, ‘Shut up!’ I brought my mattress in and laid down.”
Thanks to that decision, Young got the familiar white noise he was looking for.
“He started snoring. I’m like, ‘I’m good,’” Young said. “I had a great night sleep.”
The sleeping arrangement paid off.
The next day, Young threw for six touchdown passes and completed 24 of 36 passes for 325 yards and no interceptions, according to ESPN. His performance earned him Super Bowl MVP — he was also named the NFL’s MVP that season — and his six touchdowns broke the record for most touchdown passes by a single quarterback in the Super Bowl.
“I mean, I haven’t thrown six touchdown passes in a game in my life. Then I throw six in the Super Bowl! Unbelievable,” Young said after the game, according to Sports Illustrated.
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How many Super Bowls did Steve Young win?
Young won three Super Bowls in his 15-year NFL career. He won the first two as a backup to Joe Montana.
The Super Bowl victory in 1995 was the only one Young won as a starting quarterback.
What is Steve Young up to now?
Even though he isn’t playing in the NFL, football is still a major part of Young’s life.
He is an assistant coach for his daughters’ high school varsity flag football team, as the Deseret News previously reported.
“I never thought one of my daughters would come to me and ask me to teach them how to throw a football. It was super important for them to play, and I love that they wanted to,” Young said.
When he isn’t coaching his daughters, Young is defending 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy from critics and talking with Purdy about faith.
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