The bards will sing

Following the Super Bowl Steve Young appeared on the Tolbert & Lund show on KNBR and explained the now-legendary fourth quarter - we present our own partial transcription here, in free verse:

Brutal
It was brutal
It was inspiring
and
brutal to watch

There are comebacks
that you just can't stop
But this one was self-inflicted in some ways

And that's what's so hard,
especially with so much on the line,
at the Super Bowl

Look, as you manage games
because you know
someone says
I'm a game manager, he's a game manager
they usually use that as a cut on a quarterback,
he's just a game manager
but
a lot of the job is game management

There's some other phenomenally important things
that really just extend the game, extend the ability of your team
to go score and win and all that stuff

but a lot of quarterbacking
is nuts and bolts

And when you get away from that,
especially with the Super Bowl on the line
I use the word criminal,
that's probably too strong
but it's just
it's how you lose
it's how you lose Super Bowls
it's how you lose any game to be honest with you

But on the other side -
the frenzy that they allowed

You know that it was twenty eight to three

They had a shot
They had a drive that went three and out,
and I'm like

oh, you've got to go end this

because otherwise you're going to get the flurry of all flurries
from one of the greatest players ever, whatever you wanna say

He's comin'

If you give him a shot he'll start calculating in his mind

and the whole team is built this way

and they know - they're very mature as a group -
they're not going to go away
they're not going to disappear and fall flat

They're comin'

But you can end it
by going, even 31
'cause you knew the score
how are they going to pull that off

They don't do it

They go twenty eight and nine
and miss the extra point

Ok, now you know you need a field goal
You need that extra field goal to get away from three scores
And so when they miss the extra point
oh, doesn't really matter, neither here nor there

Then they go to the onside kick
a little desperate in my mind
Bill, what're you doing?
It's a little desperate

And it doesn't work and
I'm like ok, now you've got the ball on the 40

Now, with your season, career, everything, on the line
Get five, ten, fifteen yards
and end this.

I know people say
it's fourteen minutes in the fourth quarter,
whatever it was:
end it right there.

Doesn't happen.
Punt

Now it goes
Now they get the field goal
so now it's twenty eight to twelve

Tolbert:  Remember, real quick, remember Steve - after that onside kick, they got nine yards on first down to go to the 31 yard line to get in field goal range, and then Matthews holds and outside of field goal range they go.

That's the second time that's going to come up, right,
because they were running the ball
very effectively
and every time they seemed to hand off
so....see, now you've frustrated me even more because
I'd forgotten about that one
I'd forgotten about that one

As a guy that's played a long time, you know
you're making the same calculation they are.

You know you're in trouble
because now he's two scores down

I get it, two point conversions,
I get it

But now everybody smells success for the first time
Now you've really got to end it
Now's the time
because you don't want to get into this flurry.

So they run the ball, remember,
and it's nine yards again
they try to throw incomplete or whatever
oh I remember, they run the middle and it goes nowhere

So that's third and one
He's in the shotgun
Full blitz is coming
I'm sitting there watching this
Here comes the blitz
Are you throwing?
What are you doing?

He takes the deep drop
the linebacker comes
the running back misses him
or misses the assignment
Here comes
the linebacker free

And he takes a - he's lookin' the other way -
he takes the big drop
and the big windup to throw the big sail route
you know, the classic 28 yard sail route
with the whole season on the line

and then he gets the strip sack
and you think to yourself

you know what?
you deserve it

you do

Whatever's comin',
you might pull this out
you might sneak this by
you might somehow -

but what's comin'
you deserve now

That was my reaction

Because I've been there
I've lived it
I'd made mistakes
I get it
When it happens, own it

Whatever's comin'
is now on you

So then that happened.
So they go down and make it twenty.

And then they make one of the great
throws and catches
in the history of Super Bowls
or any game.

Julio Jones makes that catch down at the 22
but Matt Ryan steps up
and off-balance
throws a laser down there
and it was beautiful

And then you say to yourself
ok, you lucky suckers
you moved this ball down

Now you can end it for good

You get a second chance to end it
'cause a field goal,
in my mind,
ended it.

And, so, you're at the 22
You remember
They ran, did nothing

And then, in your mind the thing that cannot happen is
what Tom, you didn't play football
but you know this, what cannot happen?

Tolbert:  Sack.  Sack.

It cannot happen
cannot happen

Honestly, if a pass is called
You just know, 101,
I cannot go down.

I've got to figure out a way to throw the ball near somebody
I have it in my mind this ball's coming out

And you see him go back
he gets pressured
he tries to go make a play
and down he goes

and I think to myself you guys deserve this twice now
now whatever's comin', I'm done with you guys
and so it ends any chance
and you say oh my gosh

and here comes Tom