When you’re the greatest quarterback in the history of your franchise, you may have some opinions or advice for the team’s current signal caller. In the case of Steve Young, however, the three-time Super Bowl champion wasn’t content with keeping those opinions to himself.
The San Francisco legend recently voiced his concerns about the 49ers’ premier passer to date, Brock Purdy, and his lack of mobility on game days. The self-titled host of The Rich Eisen Show took it upon himself to remind Purdy of Young’s assertion that his legs are an underutilized ‘weapon,’ but it’s pretty clear that the 25-year-old has had his fill of the discussion.
“I’ve answered this before and I get what he’s saying, I totally do,” Purdy prefaced, before explaining that it’s simply not his style.
“I think for me, playing quarterback, I’m a point guard. I like to dish it out to the guys that are open, move the ball, and get our offense to be a machine and move it forward, and do my job and do it well. Then, obviously, there’s time where it’s football man… The pocket is going to break down. Yea, use your legs. Tuck it… But, am I a dual threat guy? No.”
A self-proclaimed pocket passer, Purdy appears to be more than content with his decision-making process on the field. “If the time is right,” then he is more than willing to pull the ball down and attempt to go get it himself, but when you’re surrounded by some of the most talented veterans in the league, there’s simply no need to try and be a hero.
Speaking of point guards, the seven-time Sports Emmy award nominee also made sure to take the time to ask Purdy about his relationship with the star of the Indiana Pacers, Tyrese Haliburton. Eisen questioned if he had spoken to the standout PG since his unfortunate injury in Game 7 of the NBA Finals this past June, to which Purdy smiled and noted,
“I have. It was more so just, ‘Congrats on a good season,’ and praying for him after his injury in Game 7, man. That was tough to watch, but I’m so proud of him. Just the playoff run that he had and all of us Iowa State guys we’ve known that Tyrese had the ‘it factor’ going back to college. To see him doing this on a national level at the highest level in the NBA, it’s pretty remarkable.”
While the two of them have certainly helped to add a bit of prestige to Iowa State’s alumni gatherings, Purdy will have to wait a while before he has the pleasure of watching his former classmate compete again, as Haliburton has already been officially ruled out for the entirety of the upcoming 2025 season as a result of his torn Achilles tendon. Suffice to say, fans shouldn’t be surprised to see the Pacers’ premier passer sitting in the stands at Levi’s Stadium at some point this season.
