Taysom Hill To Steve Young: New Phone, Who Dis?

NEW ORLEANS, La. – For several games as the starting quarterback at BYU, after Taysom Hill would have a great game or a great performance, he’d get a random text from an unknown number telling him, “Good job.” Turned out, it was a Hall of Fame quarterback.

After a recent New Orleans’ Saints practice, Hill said he had an unknown supporter during his college days, but didn’t know who had gotten hold of his private number.

“I got a text from ‘unknown number,'” said Hill. “I (didn’t) really know what to say to this ’cause I don’t know who it is.”

A few weeks later he got another message from the same number, this time identifying who was on the other end.

“It signed off as, ‘Steve,'” he said.

That’s when he realized the person texting him was former BYU legend and NFL Hall of Famer, Steve Young.

When asked about his relationship with Young, Hill described him as a guy that he “really looks up to.”

Hill has been preparing for his third season in the NFL. Through fall camp and the preseason, he has been competing with Teddy Bridgewater for the backup spot behind franchise QB Drew Brees.

Young played 15 seasons in the NFL and had a legendary career. Young was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 2005.

Taysom Hill on his relationship with fellow @BYUfootball alum Steve Young pic.twitter.com/QTjejGYMKE

— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) August 22, 2019

Hill has drawn comparisons to Young since arriving in Provo in 2012. Young was known for his agility and ability to run the ball during his playing days. Likewise, Hill had multiple performances in a Cougar uniform where the main highlights were him running the football.

Young was known for his ground game toting the rock 278 times while at BYU. He averaged 3.98 yards per carry for a total of 1,107 yards. He also scored 18 rushing touchdowns as a Cougar.

Hill surpassed Young’s numbers during his time in a Cougar uniform. He finished his BYU career as the fifth leading rusher in program history, as a quarterback. From 2012-16, Hill ran the ball 534 times for 2,815 yards and 32 touchdowns.

One thing that has separated the two in comparisons has been the difference in throwing accuracy.

Thus far, Hill has only attempted seven passes in the NFL. He completed three of those throws for an accuracy of 42.9 percent. During his time at BYU, he completed 58 percent of this attempts.

Young, however, was more accurate in college football than Hill, throwing a completion rate of 64.8 percent. Later, during his professional career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and San Francisco 49ers, he maintained similar performance at 64.3 percent.

Young joined WWL Radio on August 20 to discuss the comparisons between himself and Hill.

Young said Hill’s accuracy as a passer is that “we don’t know” about quite yet. Hill has received a lot of praise for his performance in this year’s preseason but hasn’t been able to showcase his skills in any meaningful regular snaps quite yet.

“He’s spending the time, but is he going to get the opportunity?” Young continued, “And, then when he does it, can he develop into a frontline quarterback? That’s the real question.”

Hill continues to keep in contact with Young, taking the hall of famers’ advice saying, “I really appreciate his mentorship.”