For a three-time Super Bowl champion and Hall of Famer like Steve Young, few moments could be as special as watching his daughter achieve something she loves. The San Francisco 49ers legend couldn’t hold back his emotions as his younger daughter, Laila, celebrated a high school flag football championship with her team.

Young became visibly emotional as he spoke about his daughter’s championship win. “Life is hard,” the three-time Super Bowl champion said in a video shared by 49ers Cal-Hi Sports. “So when you get these moments, let it pour on you. It’s super cool. Let it be, enjoy it, way to go. Thank you.”

Laila, Young’s younger daughter, celebrated a flag football championship in her senior season as Menlo School successfully defended its CCS Open title. Young has long supported the growth of girls’ flag football, making the victory even more meaningful for him. Laila and her older sister, Summer, have both been playing the sport since childhood.

“I never thought one of my daughters would come to me and ask me to teach them how to throw a football. It was super important for them to play, and I love that they wanted to,” Young said back in September 2023, in an interview with ABC7 News.

Young also spoke highly of Laila’s on-field ability that year, comparing her to former 49ers wide receiver John Taylor, whom he called “the most underappreciated athlete in history.” At the time, Young was also an assistant coach at Menlo School, helping the girls’ flag football program grow. His support for the sport extended beyond his daughters, too.

In February 2024, he spoke about the NFL’s push to expand flag football and praised the progress girls were making in the game. He also shared a story about four women who approached him, highlighting what the opportunity to play football meant to them.

“The first game we had this season, four elderly women came to our game,” Young said. “I asked what they were doing there, and they said they heard girls were playing and they wanted to see it. … They said when they were young, their dream was to play football. The impact of girls playing flag football this year was profound.”

This story definitely made the three-time first-team All-Pro emotional and determined to find ways to create more opportunities for women, which led him to partner with the 49ers in October 2025 on the “Football is Made for Girls Initiative.”

“I’m excited about our efforts to get more girls playing, more girls and women coaching, more, you know, in schools in an area and just develop the game,” Young said last year. “Because as those four elderly women so rightfully said, we dreamed about 1950s and now here it is happening.”

The 49ers’ initiative towards flag football included bringing the sport to more than 100 schools across the Bay Area with the help of special P.E. programs. 49ers Foundation Executive Director Justin Prettyman said at the time that the initiative was to make sure “every girl who wanted to play flag football had the opportunity and removing those barriers.”

“Boys have played it for 100 years, but football, at its root was made for girls. When I said football is made for girls, like I really felt that, like it was in my heart,” Young said. “And then, because we’re 100 years behind in a way, we owe it to them.”

Fast forward to now, and Young has seen her daughter win a championship, bringing joy to his soul. As flag football continues to grow and is part of the 2028 Olympics, women become increasingly integral to the sport’s foundation. Young, for sure, would love to see her daughter continue her passion for flag football, but for now, the two can celebrate the achievement together.

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