Steve Young has not played in the NFL since 1999, but his dislike of the Dallas Cowboys has not waned.
Young spoke with the San Francisco Chronicle last week from the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship Tournament in Lake Tahoe. Young spoke about the San Francisco 49ers’ outlook and couldn’t resist taking a jab at the Cowboys while praising Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan.
“The 49ers have a head coach who is as innovative as anybody in the league, at a time when the Cowboys last year are running 2015 plays and don’t have a chance,” Young told the Chronicle. “Kyle [Shanahan] leans in and figures out ways to make it better for quarterbacks. So we’re ahead of the game already right there. And then we have as good a roster as anybody — it’s not perfect, but it’s as good as anybody.”
Young does not think Brock Purdy will be ready for Week 1 of the regular season. The 2022 7th-round pick is recovering from elbow surgery to address an injury sustained during the NFC Championship Game earlier this year. But Young believes the other quarterbacks on the 49ers roster — Sam Darnold and Trey Lance — can “thrive” if either of them start.
The focus of Young’s comments weren’t about the Cowboys, but he slipped in something against the team he competed against throughout the 1990s. He was likely talking about the offense Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy was running. The Cowboys fired offensive coordinator Kellen Moore after the season. McCarthy and Moore had a philosophical difference that seemed to be at the heart of their issues.
