Before Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young was one of the best signal-callers of his or any generation, he was a fringe starter and occasional backup struggling to find his way in the football world. He languished with the USFL's Los Angeles Express, the Buccaneers and the 49ers before finally breaking out with San Francisco at the age of 31.
He is, in short, one of the few legends who can empathize with the plight of 49ers-turned-Cowboys quarterback Trey Lance. However, that wasn't the reason Young was so put off by San Francisco's trade on Friday.
“I have PTSD,” Young told the San Francisco Chronicle Tuesday. “I feel like we should never trade anything to the Dallas Cowboys ever again after the Charles Haley disastrous mistake. You can easily say we traded away some Super Bowls when we did that. That’s an overstatement. But I felt that way.”
The 49ers traded Haley, a future Hall of Famer, to Dallas on Aug. 26, 1992. He went on to win three Super Bowls with the Cowboys, and is a member of both teams' Halls of Fame.
Dallas and San Francisco have renewed their rivalry in recent years, meeting in the playoffs in both 2021 and ’22. The two traditional powers are scheduled to meet once again on Sunday Night Football on Oct. 8.
