HoF QB Steven Young Reveals He Almost Joined Mike Shanahan's Broncos

How would this have shaped Denver Broncos history in the early 2000s?

Dec 29, 1996; San Francisco, CA, USA; FILE PHOTO; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young (8) in action against the Philadelphia Eagles during the 1996 NFC Wild Card game at 3Com Park. / Peter Brouillet-Imagn Images

After John Elway retired from the Denver Broncos following Super Bowl XXXIII, the team struggled in 1999, between losing running back Terrell Davis to a torn ACL and MCL. Broncos quarterback Brian Griese struggled in his first year as an NFL starter.

Following the 1999 season, the Broncos almost had a new starting quarterback — one whom then-head coach Mike Shanahan knew all too well: former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young.

Shanahan served as offensive coordinator for the Niners from 1992 to 1994. When Young took over as the starting quarterback for San Francisco in 1994, the Niners won Super Bowl XXIX. After that season, Shanahan was named the new head coach of the Broncos and would ultimately lead Denver to back-to-back Super Bowl wins to cap the 1997 and 1998 seasons.

During an episode of the Pardon My Take podcast, Young remarked that he was close to joining the Broncos for the 2000 season but ultimately decided against it.

Steve Young was almost a Bronco after John Elway retired pic.twitter.com/iOEuuAI94a

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“I spent some time in Denver and we were… we were ready to… we were thinking about it,” Young said. “(Shanahan) was all in, he was all in and I just… I don’t know. My wife says that’s one of the things… She regrets not pushing me harder to do it.”

Young noted he was newly married at the time and was “emotionally cooked.” The Hall-of-Fame quarterback was also coming off the 1999 season, in which he had played just three games.

Young suffered a concussion in a Monday Night Football game against the Arizona Cardinals — the second one he received that season. Young reportedly had at least seven concussions in his NFL career.

At the time, the Niners told him to retire or he would be released. Even after meeting with Shanahan about coming to the Broncos, Young decided to call it a career.

It's fun to think about what might have been if Young had come back for the 2000 season and joined the Broncos. However, there was no guarantee that the Broncos would have returned to the Super Bowl.

The unfortunate truth was that Davis was the player who made the Broncos’ offense go and he never got back to form after his injuries in 1999. He was sidelined most of the 2000 season because of a stress reaction injury in his lower leg and arthroscopic surgery in both knees in 2001. While the Broncos still had plenty of playmakers, having a dominant back like Davis made the difference.

Also, if Young had joined the Broncos, they would have had a 39-year-old quarterback under center. As we have seen many times with older quarterbacks, particularly those with injury histories, even the best QBs don’t play well once they approach 40 years old. QBs like Tom Brady are the exception, not the rule.

Still, it can be fun to think about what might have been had Young decided to come to Denver for a reunion with Shanahan and how things might have unfolded from there.

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