QB

My Life Behind the Spiral

Written by: Steve Young
Narrated by: Steve Young, George Newbern
Originally Reviewed: 08-05-17 on audible.com
Rating: 2 – For Sports Fans, and Any Else Who Cheer For the Underdog

Could’ve Been the Greatest Ever…

… I don’t think anyone disputes the potential Steve Young had to be the Greatest of All Time. But the dichotomy is that he wasn’t because he was behind Joe Montana for so long but wouldn’t have been as good as he was had he not been behind Joe Montana for so long. The takeaway from this book is that Steve felt the same.

I thoroughly enjoyed this entire book and it endeared me to Steve even more than I was before. Although I was too young to watch him at BYU, his was a household name throughout Utah even as a backup in San Francisco. Because Utah doesn’t have a professional football team, local fans are split between geographically closer Denver, but Steve Young following San Fran (we also, like everyone else, have our pocket of dumb Cowboys fans).

Steve’s description of his anxiety was most compelling about his career, but mostly how he overcame it. There are other anecdotes you’ll love and cry over, but I’ll let you discover them on your own. This, by no means, is a great auto-biography in regard to writing style. Jim Abbott’s auto-biography is still tops for me as his overriding theme was his perfect game with the rest of his personal history scattered throughout. Steve could’ve done the same by building up to his Super Bowl MVP performance, because after that, one already knows that he and the 49ers didn’t win another Super Bowl. In this book, his religious faith and anxiety are the overall theme.

The narrator was fine, but Steve narrates the opening and epilogue; he could have done the whole book which is what I expect from an auto-biography… I want to hear from him, emphasizing what he thought was important. Bruce Springsteen narrating his auto-biography is my favorite of all time.

I usually listen at 3x speed and had no issues with this book.

Other works for consideration:
1. Imperfect, by Jim Abbott
2. The Arm, by Jeff Passan
3. Born to Run, by Bruce Springsteen