Yippee Skippy

Skip Bayless has published enough stupid things that I've long since stopped reading him. However, my brother Craig supplied me this morning with such a ridiculously easy smackdown of a ridiculous point on a topic near and dear to my heart, that I had to comment on it.

Full disclosure: I still haven't actually read the column. But here is the relevant passage that Craig supplied for me (the column is about Michael Vick):

Why was another left-handed scatback of a quarterback recently inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame? Because Steve Young finally realized that the only way to the Super Bowl -- to lasting fame -- was through the air.

In 1992 and '93, the Dallas Cowboys viewed Young as by far the 49ers' best running back. Yet they also believed Young's happy feet would make the Cowboys happy in playoff games. In those years, Young's mentality was to run first, which made him frantic and impatient in the pocket, which meant he threw too many indecisive, out-of-rhythm interceptions.

But in '94, Young shocked the Cowboys by becoming a quarterback. Scrambling became an afterthought. Passing once again became a beautifully timed and often unstoppable weapon for the 49ers.

Young threw two touchdown passes as the 49ers beat Dallas in the NFC championship game. Young threw six touchdown passes as the 49ers demolished San Diego in the Super Bowl. Without those two performances, would Young already be in the Hall of Fame? No way.

This whole passage positively reeks of Conventional Wisdom, of the Lazy Reporter commenting on history where he hasn't bothered to actually look up the numbers. The whole "Steve Young used to just run for a living, then he figured out how to pass" fable is just way too convenient for the Lazy Reporter to be able to pass up.

Well, let's look at those games against the Cowboys, shall we? As we all know, the Niners played the Cowboys 3 straight years in the playoffs, 1992-94, losing the first two times and winning the third. Did Young suddenly discover how to stay in the pocket in 1994? Let's look at his rushing statistics for those 3 games:

1992: 8 attempts for 33 yards.
1993: 7/38
1994: 10/47.

Hm. He actually had more rushing attempts in 1994 than the other two years! And for more yards. Interesting.

In the meantime, what were his passing statistics for those games?

1992: 25/35 313 yds 1 TD 2 INT
1993: 27/45 287 yds 1 TD 1 INT
1994: 13/29 155 yds 2 TD 0 INT

If you take away the interceptions, Young clearly had his poorest passing game in the 1994 game. But according to Bayless, it was precisely that 1994 game which formed one of the two biggest arguments for his Hall of Fame case. Bayless seems to think that the 2 TDs makes up for an otherwise fairly subpar outing for Young, and also that the 2 INTs in 1992 completely overshadow what was otherwise an outstanding game.

By the way, the Niners lost those first two games by a score of 30-20 and 38-21. A loss is a loss, but 20 and 21 points is a respectable amount, and it's hard to win when your defense is giving up 30-plus points.

What about the bigger picture? Did Young suddenly learn how to pass in 1994? Well, I am tempted to start some long-winded story about Young's footwork and arm strength development over the years, but actually, why don't we just look at his stats? There's an idea!

In 1993, the year before Young's miraculous discovery of the virtues of staying in the pocket (according to Skip), Steve Young won his record third consecutive passing efficiency title, becoming the first QB in league history to have an efficiency rating of over 100 three straight years. He also was the first Forty-Niner QB in history to throw for over 4,000 yards in a season (okay, maybe that's not that impressive, given the franchise and its history). He also set a franchise record by throwing 183 consecutive passes without an interception. So much for all those bad passes that his happy feet were forcing him to throw.

Of course, it is true that he broke the NFL passing efficiency record during his supposed transformation year of 1994, but that's like saying that Wayne Gretzky stunk before his best season.

I'm sorry, Skip. It does make for a nice story. Particularly in light of Michael Vick's emerging story. But your story is simply not true. Not that that would ever stop the Lazy Reporter from making his case.