Truckload Authority - April/May 2019

“If you look at Washington, D.C., today, politics in general,
everything is binary, everything is a winner-loser,
zero-sum game,” Young said, and if you notice, very little
gets resolved.
Bill Walsh’s legacy, on the other hand, not only includes
his own accomplishments, but because of his generosity
of spirit there are 32 current and former NFL head coaches
who can trace their coaching lineage directly back to
Walsh.
You can make everything a fight, treat everyone as an
adversary, clutch everything that’s yours, Young said, “or
you can look at things with a spirit of abundance, cooperation,
collaboration.”
Of all the lessons he’s distilled from his football days,
Young said, these two elements of human nature are
among the most important. In business and in everyday
life, watch for moments that infuse accountability and
watch for moments where you can choose a spirit of abundance
instead of a zero-sum game.
Time to throw the footballs? Actually, he said, he had
one more insight to share.
Of mouse and man
Back in 1995, the night before Super Bowl XXIX, Young
said, the team’s public relations chief came to him and
said: “Steve! I have a contract here from the Disney Corporation!”
It was the familiar deal that if he was named Super
Bowl MVP, he’d agree to shout, “I’m going to Disneyland!”
“I thought that’d be cool” Young said, “So, being the
lawyer that I am, I didn’t read anything, I just signed it.”
The 49ers did win, and Young was named MVP and he
was immediately reminded, OK, time to fulfill your contract.
The camera was aimed and on cue he yelled, “I’m
going to Disneyland!”
Several hours later, he was still celebrating, he said,
when he was informed, “Oh, by the way, Steve, it isn’t a
metaphor. You gotta to go to Disneyland.” No problem, he
thought, until they told him, “Yeah, but, like, tomorrow.
Oh wait, it’s 2 a.m., I’m sorry — today.”
The day after the Super Bowl, he flew cross-country
from Miami to San Francisco for a victory parade, then
hopped another flight to Anaheim for a second parade. As
he rode on a float with Mickey Mouse, he said, it all caught
up with him.
“All these people are cheering, shouting ‘you’re the
king, Steve!’” he said. “I started thinking, ‘Yeah, they’re
right. I AM the king’. This was it, I had scaled my personal
Mount Everest.”
Then, as they reached the end of the parade route,
they rounded a corner. There were two little boys sitting
on the curb. The boys looked up and their eyes widened,
Young assuming it was because of him.
Then the younger boy yelled, “Mickey Mouse!” and
started toward the float. His brother held him back and
said, “You can’t get near him, the big guy won’t let you.”
It was the crowning moment of Young’s career, and
he’d just been mistaken for Mickey Mouse’s bodyguard.
He realized it was time to climb back down Everest and
find the next mountain.
We’ve all heard that life is about the journey, not the
destination, Young said, but those Everest moments are
something to be savored. They don’t come too often, he
said, and they don’t last long, “but they’re worth it.”
28 TRUCKLOAD AUTHORITY | www.Truckload.org TCA 2019