By RUSTY PAYN
Kids grabbed their pens, ticket stubs and programs and hustled down the aisles towards press row of the Marriott Center Saturday night during the BYU-Hawaii basketball game.
“Steve! Steve! Over here!”
Steve Young, probably the most popular BYU athlete ever, attended the game, attracting autograph seekers from every direction. He talked, in an interview with The Daily Universe, about his unauthorized biography, “Staying in the Pocket,” by Dick Harmon of the Provo Daily Herald. He talked about the direction of the 49ers, and his relationship with Jerry Rice and other coaches. He even talked about his job sweeping floors at the Marriott Center as a college freshman just to get a chance to see the BYU basketball team up close. Devin Durrant was his favorite player.
Young said he wants to help the BYU football team, but said “I’ve never even gotten a phone call.”
His book didn’t please him.
“I tried to stop it from being written,” Young said. “I tried to sue him. If someone is going to write a story of my life, I want it to be me.”
Young said, however, that he knows he can’t stop someone from writing a book.
He also had interesting words about the 49ers, his relationship with Jerry Rice and the team’s needs this offseason. Are Rice and he tight friends these days?
“Yeah, now. It took a long time, though,” he said. “I worked really hard at it (getting close to Rice).”
Young also said the 49ers need to pick up two offensive tackles, two defensive ends and a running back. He said he wishes he had the line of the Cowboys. “Have you ever seen Troy Aikman get sacked?” Young asked.
He said he likes politics, but doesn’t know what the future holds.
“I don’t want to (get into politics), but I know I will,” he said.
When fans stood up to catch mini-basketballs from the cheerleaders during a timeout, Young pointed out one with a 49ers jersey with a number 8 on it. He smiled.
The subject changed to more important things, like women.
Said Young, “I need to find a wife.” With that statement, he seems to fit right in at BYU.
