Forward Progress with Steve Young: Staubach’s Advice & Hall of Fame Moment

0:01Hey, it's Thursday, which means we're coming at you with a short feel good story from a past guest. Hope you enjoyed the clip. This week, Steve Young. So I actually wanted to start by talking about what Roger Staubach once told you about what to do once you retire. Well, you know, funny, when I was growing up in the mean streets of Greenwich, Connecticut, on my wall was a poster of Roger Staubach, and he was going to throw, I go lefty, but he was righty. and he had his hand around the ball so I could see it. And you could see his fingers on the ball. And so I remember looking at it and grabbing the ball and kind of putting my fingers exactly like him.

0:44And my dad, grit young, he told me when I was growing up, I told him I wanted to be Roger. He goes, what do you want to do when you grow up? And I was like, I want to be quarterback in the NFL. And he said, you know, that's a dream. Dreams are less than 1 % chance. But dreams are good. But it's just really rare that dreams come true. So I want you to hold that dream, but I also want you to have a plan. What's your plan? 80 % chance. What's the plan? And I'd like, I'll go to college and then I'll go to law school like you. That'll be my plan. And he's like, good. Dream and a plan. Always important.

1:24Hold them both. Take them with you your whole life. So then I go pro and I call my dad. I was like, the dream is now less than 100 % chance. And he said, yeah, what's the average career? Three years? And I'm like, oh, yeah, so what's your plan? Can you stay the same? Okay, this plan's the same. So about five, six years into my career, I said, dad, I think we're good. And he goes, yeah, but then let's say you play 15 years in the league and you're 35 years old. What do you do the rest of your life? And I was like, you know, and that's when I went to law school, started law school the next year.

2:01And that ends with Roger Staubach and the advice. I'd gone to law school, tried to prepare for it was my dad talked about the plan rather than the dream. And it was always in my head. And so when I was getting close to it, I asked Roger, which, you know, what's the advice? And he said, run. Just like that, run. I'm like, run. What do you mean run? Like, he said, you got to run. You got to run away. what you did on the field will never leave. You'll never, you don't have to worry about it ever leaving you, but you need to run away because otherwise you'll hang around and that's all you'll ever think about.

2:39And I thought that was great advice. And that's what I did. I took my law degree, finished the game and just started running. And now you're in my office. You remember the first time you met him? Yeah. Oh, I just threw up in my mouth. Not because I met him, but because of the situation. So we're in 1992 championship game at Candlestick Park. We're playing the new upstart Cowboys. And I need to win this game, like in the worst way. And the Cowboys come out for the coin flip. And I walk out there and out walks Roger Staubach to represent the Cowboys as an honorary captain. And I'm thinking to myself, I just described to you the impact he's had in my life.

3:28I've never met him. And if you can think about that moment for anybody, anyone, any of you that have a hero, someone you look up to that you'd like, if you met him, you'd kind of want to faint for all the impact they've had in your life. That was me. And so there was Roger Stalbeck. And then after we could do the coin flip, I'm like, Mr. Stalbeck, Steve Young, I had my poster up and I was just babbling, you know, and you've been a real hero of mine. And he turns to me and he goes, Steve, you got to go play. And I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah, right. Sorry. We'll talk later. But we ended up losing that game and probably the most painful loss I've ever had in my life.

4:10Really? Yeah. Yeah. I think there's no question that that was particularly painful. But over the years, we got to know each other and he was always loved the conversation, loved the interaction, loved being associated with me, and I really appreciate that. And so just to close the story out, we're in Canton. I'm going into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the induction ceremony. Dan Marino and I are going into the 2005 vintage, and they have a Ray Nitschke luncheon where all of the Hall of Famers are in the room, and no one else can be in the room. No handlers, no secretary, nothing, no assistants, no nothing.

4:49Just the Hall of Famers. And they're all sitting there waiting for you, and then you walk in, and it's like every face you see, it's like surreal. Every face you see is the most famous person in football history through the years, all the way back. And I mean, as much as you're used to it by now, you're like shocked. Yeah. And then I could see every seat was kind of full. I wasn't sure where to go to, you know, where do I sit? And then I look across the room and there's Roger stands up and goes, and he has a spot next to him. And so that was, I get goosey on thinking about right now, just, just the impact, the hero stuff, what he's given to me.

5:29And then I asked him to finish your story. By the way, what about recalling that makes you a little emotional? I think more than just, it's just everything. Just what, you know, you climb a mountain, when people are throwing rocks at you the whole time, both on the field and off, right? And every time you make a step, it gets tested, and every time you take another step, I'm using the metaphor, works in my mind at least, to get to the top of the mountain, and there's your hero that you really admired and loved the way he played and loved how the person he was, and then you're at that ultimate moment, sitting with all the Hall of Famers going into this group of 300 guys, and there's that person that represents, remember I was eight years old.

6:21All of that feels, it just feels very emotional. Thanks for listening. We'll be back next week and every week sharing long-form interviews on Mondays and shorter, uplifting stories on Thursdays and then trending clips on Fridays. We'd love to hear from you with ratings and reviews. Do you prefer the longer podcast episodes or our shorter ones? I'm excited to get your take. Thanks again.