Steve Young is heading back to Provo this weekend, and he’ll be front and center for one of BYU’s biggest stages.
The former Cougar quarterback and Pro Football Hall of Famer has been named the guest picker for “College GameDay,” which is coming to town for Saturday’s No. 8 BYU-No. 2 Notre Dame matchup.
Young spent four seasons at BYU from 1980 to 1983 and left behind a résumé that still pops: 7,723 passing yards, 74 total touchdowns and another 1,084 yards on the ground. He won WAC Offensive Player of the Year twice and finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1983.
His place in BYU lore was cemented long ago. Young was inducted into the BYU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 2005.
After college, Young’s path took a different turn than most. He wasn’t selected in the NFL Draft, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took him in the 1984 supplemental draft.
He was later traded to the San Francisco 49ers in 1987, and that move launched the rest of his career. Young went on to throw for 32,124 yards and 232 touchdowns in the NFL and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2005.
There’s also some irony in the setup: Young was a longtime ESPN analyst before being let go by the network in 2023, so there doesn’t appear to be any lingering issue with his old employer.
As for a possible cameo from Joe Montana, Young’s old rival and a famed Notre Dame quarterback? There’s no word on that one.
This will be the first time “College GameDay” has returned to Provo since 2009, when former BYU coach LaVell Edwards served as the guest picker.
Saturday’s game kicks off at 5:30 p.m. The “College GameDay” set will be on the lawns of Heritage Halls on BYU’s campus, with fans able to start lining up at 3 p.m. on Friday. The show airs from 7 to 10 a.m.
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