It's likely to be a big fall for Steve Young, who has a new $2-million contract and four games to start for the San Francisco 49ers before Joe Montana can come back from injured reserve because of elbow tendinitis.
But it's not starting out to be such a good year for a lot of Utah's former collegians. Last year, 28 ex-collegians from Utah schools started the season on active NFL rosters with four more on injured reserve. Two came off IR to play in 1990, and a couple more players caught on at mid-season.In 1991, only 23 who played their college ball in this state are on NFL active rosters, two are on injured reserve and two more are on practice squads, meaning they can only play if someone on the active roster is cut.
Weber State's Darryl Pollard, one of Young's teammates with San Francisco, will miss the whole season. He had surgery last week for a fibula that was broken just above the foot in the final preseason game. The starting left cornerback is on injured reserve.
And former BYU Cougar Mo Elewonibi again starts the season on injured reserve but is eligible to come back after the fourth game. He's in his second season with the Washington Redskins but hasn't played a regular-season down.
Two of the three players from this state who were drafted in June were waived last week, re-signed and put on development squads (offensive lineman Neal Fort with the Rams, defensive back Brian Mitchell with the Falcons). The other draftee (BYU tight end Chris Smith) was waived by Cincinnati.
Nobody from last season's graduating classes caught on as free agents.
The only other "newcomer" to the actual 47-man rosters is Utah State's Louie Aguiar, who'll punt for the Jets after a time in the WLAF. He played for the Aggies in 1987 and '88 and has one season of NFL experience.
Former BYU quarterback Marc Wilson retired, and many locals were waived or released including: Patrick Allen, USU, cornerback, Chiefs; Mike Babb, Weber, defensive back, Rams; Eric Bergeson, BYU, free safety, Oilers; Jason Buck, BYU, defensive end, Bengals; Bob Davis, BYU, linebacker, Cardinals; Alema Fitisemanu, BYU, linebacker, Chargers; Rich Kaufusi, BYU, defensive tackle, Chargers; Steve Kaufusi, BYU, defensive end, Eagles; Andy Katoa, BYU, linebacker, Chargers; Mike Keim, BYU, offensive lineman, Saints; Shawn Knight, BYU, defensive tackle, Chiefs.
Also: Mark Mraz, USU, defensive lineman, Chargers; Patrick Newman, USU, wide receivers, Saints; Mike Norseth, Snow, quarterback, Oilers; Brent Nyberg, BYU, wide receiver, Cardinals; Rodney Rice, BYU, cornerback, Buccaneers; Dennis Smith, Utah, H-back, Phoenix; Kendal Smith, USU, wide receiver, Bengals; and Brent Snyder, USU, quarterback, Bears.
There was speculation in Cincinnati that Buck might be re-signed after clearing waivers last week, but it didn't happen. The Bengals had only four returning defensive linemen after waiving Buck and another defensive end.
"The D-line has been the target of criticism for a long time," Buck told the wire services. "This still comes as a shock, but I won't say I didn't try to prepare myself for it." He was the Bengals' top draft choice in 1987.
On the positive side, seven Utahns are considered starters by their teams, and Vai Sikahema of BYU is the main kick returner for the Green Bay Packers after an impressive exhibition season. He was with the Cardinals last season and sweated out Plan B free agency in the off-season. The Packers finally took him April 1, hours before the deadline to do so, and he's moved from fifth on the running back depth chart to third.
Sikahema averaged 14.7 yards every time he touched the ball (21 times) in exhibition games. He had an 89-yard kickoff return for touchdown, averaged 11.5 yards per punt return and caught nine passes for 100 yards and a TD.
Sikahema is one of three Utahns to change teams. The others are quarterback Bob Gagliano of Utah State, who went from Detroit to San Diego, where he's listed behind young John Freisz of Idaho, and BYU cornerback Rodney Thomas, who caught on with the Rams after leaving the Dolphins.
Young's starting time may be affected by Montana's health, but there are indications out of San Francisco that Coach George Seifert is rooting for Young to make a real race of it.
The San Francisco Examiner reported that Seifert, asked about who'd start when Montana returns, said, "I just don't want to get into that aspect of it. Let's just let Steve play quarterback. When we get to that point, hopefully everybody will be saying, `They're both so great, what the hell are you going to do, George?' " Young led the 49ers to a 5-0 exhibition record, their best since 1954.