A couple of days before the California vote, the San Francisco Chronicle's John Wildermuth noticed a "No on Prop 8" sign on a front lawn. The lawn and the sign belonged to Steve Young, the football Hall of Famer and former 49er quarterback, and his wife, Barb. Steve Young is a graduate of Brigham Young University, which is named for his great-great-great-grandfather. The Youngs still belong to the Mormon Church. "We believe all families matter and we do not believe in discrimination," Barb Young said. "Therefore, our family will vote against Prop 8." It wasn't enough this time. But the time is coming.I swear that ending was written to be quoted on this blog. Damn I hated Steve Young. Now, that hate was born out of great respect for his skills, and the toughness he exhibited throughout his career. Still, one of the greatest moments of my life was watching the Cowboys in 93 and 94 drive a stake through his heart, thus avenging "The Catch." But still, this is bigger than football. I can't believe I just wrote that.
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I generally find weekly columns to be, uhm, unenlightening. I don't think that has much to do with the talent, it's just a really demanding thing to have to be interesting, in a set way, 52 times a year. You're going to fail. But this piece by Hendrik Hertzberg--who doesn't write every week--shows why he's king. The set-up is marvelous--Hertzberg recounts, in specific detail, how the Mormon Church helped push Prop 8. Then he goes through all the arguments over who's to blame. But instead of leaving it there, he circles back to the Mormon Church and gives us this incredible symbolism:
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You almost have to hate Steve Young, but at the same time, you can't not like him.
Wonderful to read this. It's refreshing to hear about a pro or former pro-athlete take the side of the gay marriage movement. How many Steve Youngs or Charles Barkleys do we hear from these days that support equal rights for gays and lesbians? All too often the athletes that have spoken most passionatley about the issue are the Tim Hardaways who think that gays shouldn't play on any sports teams at all, or players and coaches who don't think twice about calling their opponents "faggots."
It seems like to be an athlete means you have to be macho, masculine, or whatever, which naturally means that being gay is somehow wrong or like being a sissy. But hopefully that tide is turning.
But hopefully that tide is turning.
It is. Look at all the people who have been shamed by supporting Prop 8. Of course the time is coming, and I still say that it would be politically savvy (in addition to the Right Thing) for Obama to repeal DADT early in his first term. All of this goes away, Obama looks like a leader (for good reason), and oogedy boogedy Republicans are further marginalized.
"Bigger than football"?? Get a grip, young man.
One of the things I love about your blog is how often you are able to relate random current events, such as the Prop 8 battle, to something truly important,* the NFL.
(* Just quoting the PE speaking about football to Steve Kroft on 60 Minutes, "Now -- this is important.")
He was the best player analyst ESPN ever had. Their best set for NFL Sunday: Boomer, Tom Jackson, Parcells and Young
How long before "oogedy-boogedy" becomes as overused as "team of rivals" or "weak-sauce"??
i give it till the end of the year before people start vomiting into their mouths at the thought of the word...
The thing that solidified Steve Young's badassedness (a new word?) for me was the game when he lowered his shoulder on Junior Seau. For the record, I'm a Giants fan. Before you ban me for life TNC, please note that my mother is a die hard Cowboys fan (from Brooklyn) and made me one when I was younger (thankfully I came to my senses).
More on topic: Can someone please remind the religious opponents of gay marriage of two things? (1) The Bible says (somewhere): "judge not lest, ye be judged" and if telling people their relationships aren't valid isn't judging then the word is meaningless. (2) Churches opposed to gay marriage cannot be forced to marry gay people unless I missed some new First Amendment decision form SCOTUS.
Side bar: when did people start using the term "oogedy boogedy Republicans" as short hand for the batshit insane zealots?
The first I saw of oogedy boogedy was from Kathleen Parker a couple of weeks back. If she didn't coin it, she sure did popularize it.
Let us be clear on this. It is Barb Young who had put the sign out and Steve supported her. This story was big in the Bay Area.
Compare the Youngs to Jeff Kent, who dropped $15 large in support of Prop 8.
Also, Coates...
Still, one of the greatest moments of my life was watching the Cowboys in 93 and 94 drive a stake through his heart, thus avenging "The Catch."
Niners -- first to 5.
What's with all the hate for Steve Young as a football player here? The guy was one of the best QB of his generation! (Duck for cover).
The fact the Young is a Mormon was actually one of the first things I knew about him. During the time when he was languishing in the winds waiting for Joe Montana to retire, sports journalists had to resort to two things when writing about him - his law degree, and his Mormon faith.
I've always been curious about the relationship between football and religion - in terms of players public profession of faith, some players being ministers etc etc - which seems to be more prevalent compared to, say, basketball, baseball or hockey. I'm not saying it's a good or bad thing, just curious about the discrepancy.
On the subject of Rick Hertzberg, it amazes me that he used to edit The New Republic. From his writings, he strikes me as an old-fashioned liberal, one who is most definitely not ashamed at being called a liberal.
I'm not old enough to remember what TNR was like when Hertzberg was the editor, but I do remember TNR of the Clinton and Bush years - the magazine that published Charles Murray's bell curve "masterpiece", the magazine that published a deceitful takedown of Clinton's health care plan, the magazine that chearleaded Bush to the war, etc etc. Hertzberg as a former editor of this disgraceful publication seems so unlikely.
"Avenging the catch?" Surely you recall the first quarter of the '94 NFC Championship?
Peter,
Over on this side, hate is a sign of great respect. Mark Rypien was merely annoying. Ron Jaworski was, meh. But John Elway and Steve Young were hated. They so deserved it.
"He was the best player analyst ESPN ever had. Their best set for NFL Sunday: Boomer, Tom Jackson, Parcells and Young."
I think that distinction belongs to Ron Jaworski, right? He's not as good in the booth, but he breaks down tape like nobody's business.
"Jeff Kent, who dropped $15 large in support of Prop 8."
This is hilarious. I've always assumed Jeff Kent is a closet case. This only strengthens my belief.
I knew I hated Jeff Kent, I just didn't know all the reasons for it. When Barry went upside Kent's head, he stopped way too soon.
How was Prop 8 worded on the ballot exactly? I know here in Florida the way it was worded was so damn confusing, I wasnt even sure if I was voting to support gay marriage or not. And I got an Ivy League undergrad plus 2 Master degrees. I literally read it 4 times to make sure I could follow the double negatives all the way thru..
Somehow I suspect people who meant to vote it down actually ended up voting for it. Id bet the average person thought Prop 8 was asking to legalize gay marriage, instead of asking to repeal it, they vote yes in favor of legalizing it and wind up voting to repeal it.
I hated Steve Young too. But I hated Aikmen/Smith/Irvin way more. But in the grand scheme of rivalry hatred, for this Giants fan there is no more hated team/players than the Eagles.
I'm originally from NY & a Mets fan. I hate Jeff Kent & this only deepens my hate for him.
Also props to Quizman for that link. Steve Young did not take a stance on this. This is purely his wife. Maybe the only thing I hate more than crazy GOPers are apolitical people.
I hated Steve Young too. But I hated Aikman/Smith/Irvin way more. But in the grand scheme of rivalry hatred, for this Eagles fan there is no more hated team/players than the Giants.
Bay Area sports fan here.
TNC seems to have conveniently forgot when the 49ers beat Dallas in the NFC Championship in 1995. The sad part is, it's hard to talk football when your teams, the 49ers and Raiders, suck so much. You end up sounding like the old guy who keeps talking about his high school football and basketball days.
As for Jeff Kent. Man, that really depresses me. He was one of my favorite players on the Giants in the late 1990's early 2000's. He went to Cal, so I kinda have to support him there. He also donated money to womens' sports at Cal. It was only later that we found out that he was not very popular in the locker room. But man, just supporting Prop. 8 is just so wrong. Maybe that's what happens when you play for the Dodgers.
But I do have to say, the Bay Area sports teams really don't do a good job of reaching out to the gay community. I know the SF Giants did an AIDS awareness day, but other than that, it seems like they never really reach out.
Rick Hertzberg is the king -- best living political writer bar none. (Though Michael Kinsley's got game too).
PeterGuillam, a good point. I'm probably only a little older than you, but I recall a 1980s TNR that went down a little easier -- a bulwark against Reaganism which had yet to descend quite so far into the rabbit hole of liberal self-loathing.
Still, I think they refused to endorse Dukakis in 1988 (I may be wrong about that). And the following bylines could frequently be found in its 1980s pages -- Barnes, Kondracke (both Beltway Boys!), Kaus and Krauthammer. Mostly I think they relished their role as brave tellers of counterintuitive truths.
I actually think Hertzberg's New Yorker oeuvre has been much more loud-and-proud liberal than his work at TNR. So maybe he's moved left and wasn't as out-of-place with the names above, none of whom were as hackish then as they are now.
Oddly, TNR's sharp turn toward kneejerk criticism of all things liberal seemed to come in the early 90s under... Andrew Sullivan. And of course today, Andrew, bless his heart, is positively Kossackian in his contempt for the modern GOP. (Yes it's more tonal than ideological, sort of a jilted lover thing actually -- he sees Bush as having raped conservatism in the name of conservatism).
"Over on this side, hate is a sign of great respect."
Hah hah. Guess I still have some things to learn.
So ... no hate for Brett Favre around here? Please say no. Can we all agree that he was merely annoying?
Fighting Words,
The Giants have an "Until There's A Cure" Day every season since I can really remember (if I had to guess, it started late '80s/early '90s). But you might be right as to any further outreach (that internal Niners video, puke), though I think that having Omar Vizquel (strictly come dancing! art! a faaaabulous wardrobe!) for a handful of seasons goes pretty far in mitigating gay/metrosexual relations.
I can't help but think of the big photo on the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle of Steve Young and Jerry Rice looking at each other with big grins on their faces when Young's Niners dismantled San Diego in the Super Bowl. Now I ask you--maybe they're a bit too clean, but Steve Young and Jerry Rice or Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin?
I also remember once when Charles Haley threatened to take Steve Young's head off in a play off game and when it was repeated to Steve Young, he cracked up. The reason--he knew good and well the best offensive left tackle to ever play in January, Steve Wallace, was going to do what he did to so many great ones with bigger names and fatter resumes--LT, Chris Doleman, Haley--put em to sleep for 60 minutes.
There are a lot of athletes out there who are pretty conservative when it comes to these issues, and it made me happy to see Steve Young step up.
Happiness TN.
Barbara Young also gave something like $50,000 to the No on 8 campaign. This was in a little blurb in the Chronicle's sports page just before the election (the story got wider pub later), and as a lifelong Northern California resident, 49er fan and Steve Young worshipper, the whole thing brought tears to my eyes. (Side note: I take it as a compliment that Mr. Coates "hates" Steve Young.)
Ironically, there was always speculation that Young was, himself, gay because he was unmarried well into his 30's. And, I guess mormons who don't get married and start a huge family in their early 20's are always looked at as suspicious. Interesting, huh?
@Jim: Here is the full text of Prop 8 from the CA Voter's Guide:
This was the shortest prop on the ballot, as far as I can tell, and pretty clear and to the point. There was even a hullabaloo when CA State Attorney General Jerry Brown wrote the formal description of the initiative to read that it "eliminates (the) right of same-sex couples to marry." (that right having been recognized by the CA Supreme Court) The Yes on 8 crew challenged that description, and a judge rejected their challenge.
So in everyday conversation it was easy for people to get mixed up about whether they were for or against Prop 8. But it should have been very clear to anyone who actually read the thing. Can't say how many did that...
Side note: from the CA Supreme Court, to Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, to various judges etc. The one thing that has been truly encouraging throughout this mess is to see officials actually standing up for the law. Now the CA Supreme Court has agreed to hear at least 3 legal challenges to Prop 8. I don't know if they will have the balls to throw this abomination out, but it gives hope.
It mystifies me that people continue to argue that enforcing and standing up for our Constitution is "poor strategy". Meh.
"Jeff Kent, who dropped $15 large in support of Prop 8."
Jeff Kent frequently sports what my friend Dave calls a "Coors Light mustache." Perfect.
The sneaky thing about the Florida amendment was the wording "marriage or it's substantial equivalent" which I personally know tricked some people who support civil unions if not marriage per se into voting against their beleifs.