Steve Young simply wanted to get out from under the shadow of Joe Montana.
He did more than that Sunday, obliterating it with six touchdown passes as the San Francisco 49ers overwhelmed San Diego 49-26 to become the first team ever to win five Super Bowls.Young's six TD passes broke the Super Bowl record of five set five years ago by Montana, who led San Francisco to its first four titles. Jerry Rice caught three of them and Ricky Watters caught two more and ran 9 yards for a third score.
"We wanted to come here and do something special," coach George Seifert said. "We wanted to make history."
This Super Bowl was everything it was supposed to be - a rout. The 49ers, 18-point favorites, became the 11th straight NFC team to win the NFL title.
Young, the unanimous MVP, finished 24-for-36 for 325 yards without an interception. He also was the game's leading rusher with 49 yards on five carries before leaving with 5:39 left.
It took exactly 4 minutes and 55 seconds for San Francisco to demoralize the Chargers, playing in the Super Bowl for the first time. Touchdown passes by Young of 44 yards to Rice and 51 yards to Watters did the trick.
But more important to Young, it was a smashing certification in his exorcism of Montana's ghost. More important to the 49ers, it completed their single-minded mission of winning the Super Bowl after losing NFC title game three of the last four years.
It also gave Seifert a Super Bowl title he can call all his own - his first, in 1990, was with a team handed him by Bill Walsh.
Young demonstrated his elation after his fifth TD, a 15-yarder to Rice. He celebrated, lying on the ground with his arms signaling touchdown, as Rice trotted into the end zone.
The three TDs by Rice and Watters were another reminder of San Francisco's offensive efficiency over the last 15 years. The only other players to score three touchdowns in a Super Bowl were both 49ers - Rice in 1990 and Roger Craig in 1985.
And the 131 points scored by San Francisco in its three playoff games broke yet another record held by the 1990 team, which scored 126 in its three post-season victories.
Rice, who twice received intravenous fluids before the game for flu-like symptoms, caught 10 passes for 149 yards and administered the quick shock - splitting the San Diego secondary for the first TD just 1:24 into the game. He also caught second-half TD passes of 15 and 7 yards.
But it was the quick TD that probably squelched any thoughts the Chargers, 18-point underdogs, might have had of an upset.
Like most teams in their first Super Bowl, they clearly had the jitters.
They dropped passes, took silly penalties, missed tackles and generally did what most AFC teams have done over the past 11 years - lose big. Only two of the 11 straight NFC wins have been close, with the average margin over the first 10 was 38-15. Coincidentally, that was the score by which the 49ers beat the Chargers on Dec. 11 in a regular-season game.
The highlight for the Chargers came when they were down 42-10 - Andre Coleman's 98-yard kickoff return for a score with 3:01 left in the third period after Young connected with Rice for their second TD.
Then they set a record of their own when Stan Humphries threw to Mark Seay for a two-point conversion, the first ever in the Super Bowl in this first season the NFL has gone to the two-pointer.
But by the end, it was more a sideshow than anything else. Even Deion Sanders, who accomplished his goal of an NFL title, got in on offense and nearly caught a long pass. Then, with two minutes left, third string quarterback Bill Musgrave got in and completed a short pass to backup tight end Ted Popson.
Young finished the first half with 17 completions in 23 attempts for 239 yards and four touchdowns - a game in itself for most quarterbacks.