Monday Morning Quarterback #50 Steve Young 1998 Upper Deck

In this ongoing series of posts I am going to feature cards from my fantasy football player collection, specifically the 117 quarterbacks I've had on my team's roster since 1980. I have one selected card for each player in my All-Time Flyers binder. Through the years I've tried to use as many different card varieties as possible while holding on to my preference which is: a card issued in a year I owned the player showing him in the proper team uni in a vertical format. Card availability and my whims have had a big impact on that standard. 

NFL Info: A lot of people think of Steve Young as a quarterback for the 49ers. They forget (or never knew) that after his days at Brigham Young he played in the USFL and for the Tampa Bay Bucs and a couple of seasons backing up Joe Montana before his 'glory days' in San Francisco.

Wikipedia lists his career records and awards:

NCAA

• Davey O'Brien Award (1983)
• Consensus first-team All-American (1983)
• College Football Hall of Fame inductee (2001)
• NCAA Silver Anniversary Award (2009)
• BYU Cougars #8 retired

NFL

• 7× Pro Bowl selection (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998)
• 3× AP First-Team All-Pro (1992, 1993, 1994)
• 3× AP Second-Team All-Pro (1995, 1997, 1998)
• UPI Second-Team All-NFC (1996)
• 3× Super Bowl Champion (XXIII, XXIV, XXIX)
• Super Bowl XXIX MVP
• 3× NFC Champion (1988-1989 1994)
• 1992 NFL MVP (AP, PFWA, SN, MX)
• 1994 NFL MVP (AP, PFWA, NEA, SN, MX)
• AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year (1992)
• 2× UPI NFC Player of the Year (1992, 1994)
• 2× Kansas City Committee of 101 NFC
• Offensive Player of the Year (1992, 1994)
• San Francisco 49ers #8 retired
• Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee (2005)

His post-football playing career includes work in philanthropy, private industry and as a talking head on ESPN NFL shows.

Fantasy Impact: I had Young rostered in 1988 (bench, no starts), 1989 (bench, one start and a playoff start which I won) and then again a decade later in 1998. That year he started the maximum number of games for me and helped me make the playoffs. He was outstanding that year, averaging just about three TDs a game.

The Card: Upper Deck had some really nice cards back in the day. I like this one a lot. May be a bit busy design wise but the grey side borders, the clear pictures and full stat section all are good. I don't know if the 'Game Dated' designation marks a subset, a separate set or what. Who knows if the photo is really from the stated date but in any case I like the card.