Former Tampa Bay/USFL QBs Saving Best for Super Bowl
After spending twenty seasons with the New England Patriots, Bay Area native Tom Brady signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers four years ago. The man
he replaced as the Buccaneers' starting quarterback was Jameis Winston. Winston was selected #1 overall in the 2015 NFL Draft by the Bucs eight years
ago, yet was released by them after the Brady signing. Hopefully, Winston can win a Super Bowl MVP award with another team in the same way former
Tampa Bay first-round draft picks QBs Steve Young and Doug Williams did.
Steve Young was selected #1 overall by the Buccaneers in the
1984 NFL supplemental draft. Prior to actually playing with the
Buccaneers, Young played two seasons with the Los Angeles Express of the USFL. He also played two seasons with the Buccaneers. He was later traded to
the San Francisco 49ers.
Young had many great games with the 49ers, but his best game came in Super Bowl XXIX.
In that game, Young threw six touchdown passes (a Super Bowl record). He also led all players in the game with 49 rushing yards. For his efforts, he
was named the game's MVP. Aside from Super Bowl XXIX, Young played in 190 games and the most number of touchdown passes he had in a game was four!
Super Bowl XXIX was the only Super Bowl that Young started in his career. (In Super Bowl XXIV, Young came on in relief for Joe Montana.
Montana threw a then record five touchdown passes in that Super Bowl.) Young won three less Super Bowls as a starter than Montana did.
Montana had one thorn in his side (New York Giants), but
Young had two (Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers).
Montana never avenged his three playoff losses to the Giants, but Young avenged two NFC Championship Game losses to the Cowboys in the game preceeding Super Bowl XXIX and avenged three playoff losses to the
Packers with "The Catch II".
Aside from Young, there was only one other man in history who served as the starting quarterback for the Buccaneers for multiple seasons and played in
the USFL: Doug Williams. Williams was selected #17 overall by the Buccanneers in the 1978 NFL Draft. Like
his mentee Winston, he served as their starting quarterback for
five seasons. He then signed with the Oklahoma Outlaws of the USFL. After two seasons with the Outlaws, Williams signed with the Washington Redskins.
The best game of his NFL career came with the Redskins in Super Bowl XXII (1987 season).
He led them to a 42-10 victory over the Denver Broncos and was named the game's MVP. (Like Young, Williams only started one Super Bowl.) Williams threw four touchdown passes (tying a career-high) and had a
127.9 passer rating (also tying a career-high). In 1987, Williams "saved his best for the last" game of
the season. Vanessa Williams (no relation) would be proud.