An Army of Normal Folks - The Plane Ride That Turned Steve Young Into an MVP (And Can Change Your Life)

Episode Date: May 8, 2026

In this episode of Shop Talk, we unpack the unexpected plane ride conversation that transformed Steve Young from being stuck in victim mode into an NFL MVP — and why Stephen Covey’s challenge to “find out how good you can get” applies far beyond football. It’s a powerful story about ownership, mindset, and the moment you stop making excuses and start becoming who you’re capable of being.Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/#joinSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey, everybody. I'm Bill Courtney with an army of normal folks. Welcome into the shop. Hey, Alex. Hello, Bill. Shop Talk 103. I got a number. Oh, what are you got? Well, it's only for Memphisans. Oh, really? Coming up, Rock 103 was the best radio station. The music was great, and the drive time morning radio show had three shot jocks called Tim, Bev, and Mad Dog, and they were absolutely hilarious. And anybody in Memphis that's over age of 35 will remember them. And they used to do crank calls on people. Oh, yeah.

Oh, my gosh, it was so funny. Mad Dog could do anybody's voice. He would get people so upset and exercise. You'd hear them cussing and throwing stuff. It was hilarious. People, it was so funny, you could be driving to work on the interstate, and you'd know the people next year, they were listening to Rockwater 3 because people in the car by themselves

bawling laughing. So it was Rock 103 for Memphis. That's a good call out. If you got stories of morning drive radio shows like that in your childhood, you got good stories sent us to us. Those are great stories. It's another 103. You got anything else?

I do. What? It's a lot more serious than that. Pan Am 103. Oh, wow. The Locker Bee bombing. The Locker Bee bombing. Yeah.

Wow. Any others? No, that's it. Well, why didn't we start with that one? And then Rockin 101. You just went right into it. Gosh. From now on, don't bring up planes that went down as shop talk numbers.

Good Lord. What kind of producer do we have over here? Okay, everybody, shop talk number 103, the plane ride. And it's a plane. Well, I don't even think about that. Alex, this is horrible. That was not on purpose. I didn't pick the number of them.

I need to tell the shop talk stalker to talk to you about this one. I really should have made this episode 101. I should have flipped the orders. You absolutely should. this is the plane ride that turns Steve Young into an MBP, and it will change your life right after these brief messages with your generous sponsors. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days I'd put on 10 pounds, I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people.

I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack.

I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack, so I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now, so. Thank you for finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah.

For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy. see far, far away, such as the biology of taun tons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to bowl your mind

on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Saigon, the story of my family and of the country that shaped us. The United States will not stand by and allow any power, however great, take over another country. From IHeart podcast. Saigon. Please allow me to introduce Joseph Sherman. You don't think I'm serious about a free Vietnam? I should stop talking so much. I like hearing you talk.

One city, a divided country, and the war that tore America apart. This is for Vietnam. I've taken a hit from Japanese ground fire. Do you rate me? They're pouring petrol all over him. He's holding matches. I'm on a landmine! For free time!

Let's get out! Freedom for Vietnam! Run! Saigon, starring Kelly Marie Tran and Rob Benedict. Sting, here's madness. The world should hear about this. There's a fire coming to this country, and it's going to burn out everything. Listen to Saigon on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Everybody, welcome back to Shop Talk. Shop Talk No. 3, the plane ride that turns Steve Young into an MVP, and it can change your life, too. I'm going to tell you a story about a conversation that happened on a plane, as the title would suggest. Because sometimes your whole life can pivot in a single seat. Steve Young, before the MVP, before the Hall of Fame, is struggling. He's a quarterback of the 49ers, but he's living in Joe Montana's shadow. And that's a long shadow. And when he finally gets a shot, it doesn't go well.

He said, no matter what happened, I was like, yeah, Steve Young sucks. That's Steve Young's problem. He's depressed. He's spiraling. He can't even sleep. Then comes the breaking point. They lose to the Raiders. 100,000 people in the stadium.

Game is on the line. Jerry Rice is wide open and in the zone, waving his arms frantically. Young, never sees him. Game over. It was just the epitome of everything that could go bad. So he gets on a plane, and by pure chance, sitting next to them is Stephen Covey. That's right, the author who wrote a great book,

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. As a side note, if you've never read it, read it. It's a classic and it's appropriate regardless of age or where you are in life. This thing sold over 40 million copies worldwide, and I have one of them. I may have two. Anyway, a guy who spent his life studying what makes people effective happens to plop down next to Steve Young, and he looks at Steve and he asks a simple question, how are you doing? And Steve, he unloads for 25, 30 minutes. Everything is wrong.

Nothing's working. It's everyone else's fault, but also it's his fault, too. Covey listens intently. And then he says, man, I can feel that. The expectations. It's tough. And then he says, can I ask you a couple of questions? He starts simple.

Your owner, Eddie DeBardo, tell me about him. Steve lights up. Oh, my gosh. He's the only owner in football that sees players as partners. He's awesome. Covey nods. Then he says, what about your coach? Bill Wash.

Steve goes off again. He's talking about hydration, nutrition, sleep, mental health. No one's doing what he's doing. His system, it's the best of the NFL. He's incredible. Covey pauses, then asks one more. Is Joe Montana still on the team? Of course, knowing the answer.

And Steve says, yeah, he's hurt. That's kind of the problem. Covin leans in. If you wanted mentorship, could you go ask them? And Steve says, yeah, I could. And then Covey drops the line, the one line that changes everything. He says, I travel the world looking for platforms, places where people can see how good they can get. and then, Steve, from my perspective, the platform you're on might be the greatest I've ever seen.

Steve, sitting there thinking, what are you talking about? This is miserable. But then he said it hit him. It stung me. It went through my heart because for the first time someone reframed everything, not as a burden, but as an opportunity. Then Covey asked one final question. Always wonder if people are willing to take the chance to find a chance to find a problem. out how good they are. Steve doesn't hesitate. Yeah, of course. And Covey looks at him, points his finger and says, then be about it. Steve said in that moment, everything flipped. I realized the hole I was in, I had dug it, not the media, not the pressure, not Montana, not the organization, him. I thought everyone pushed me in and I didn't realize that I jumped in. That's the shift from victim to owner.

what's wild. Nothing around him changed. Same team, same pressure, same expectations, same talent level. But he changed how he showed up. He said it was like something that's universally true. It doesn't waver. No more excuses. None. Just. I'm going to find out how good I can get. So we'll fast forward a year. He's warming up against the Cowboys, the best team of the league. He walks up to Troy Aitman and says, Troy, it's so, great that you're here, man, because I'm on the quest to see how good I can get, and I can only find out against the best. So I'm so glad that you're here.

Aitman looked at him like, uh, dude, you're a weirdo. What's wrong with you? But Steve's different now. And at the end of the season, Steve, not Aitman, is the MVP of the National Football League, but here's the part that matters, because this isn't a football story. It's a story about something everyone of us deals with, victim and talent. Steve calls it mitigation. You mess up and immediately start explaining, well, that really wasn't my fault. Here's what actually happened. Let me give you context. And again, some of that is probably true, maybe even most of it, but he said the truth to the mitigation, it's not useful because the truest truth is this. The ball was in my hand, and now it's in theirs. That ownership, and when he started living like that, everything changed. Everyone's like, oh, yeah, let's go fix it.

Ownership spreads, just like blame does. And here's the line that stuck with me most. Victimization feels almost rational, but it is a kind of death because it feels justified. It feels real, but it quietly kills your ability to grow. So what do you do with this? Steve said it best. The quest is really to just be honest with yourself, not perfect. Not impressive, just honest.

And maybe the most freing line of all, I might suck, but it has to be okay, because if you can accept that, then you're finally free to get better. So here's the deal. You, listener, you, Bill, you Alex, you us, we. We're on a platform too. It's not the NFL, but your family's a platform, your business is a platform, your community's a platform. And the question is not whether or not it's hard, because always it is.

But the question is, are you willing to find out how good you can be with your family and your company, in your community? And if the answer is yes, then you already know what to do. Do what Steve did. Be about it. Okay. That is awesome. and I have often talked with my own employees and definitely my kids and myself about

nothing is more disgusting than allowing yourself to be a victim. Certainly, there's truth to all of the things that make you feel like a victim. Rarely does someone just conjure up all of the things that happened in a day or some circumstances or your family or some dynamic that puts you in a place to be a victim. But it's your mentality that makes you decide whether or not

you're going to be crushed by victimhood or be a rock that whatever that dysfunction is that's making you feel like a victim, be a rock that that dysfunction breaks itself on. And if you decide it's about you, And if you decide that ultimately, as Steve said, be about it, that means be about the solution, be about going about not being a victim, be about the work. And you drop any victimhood or justification mentality. That is honestly when your life gets to be the best version of a can and thusly the lives of those around you. Well said. Yeah, I really like his point about mitigation with that too.

Like it's, yes, those things are true as you're saying, but does it actually serve us and help us and make our lives better? And I would say often think about this with the divorce too. I mean, the Robert Beeson episode probably won't be out. That's a sole parent one we did the other day. We were talking about in that conversation too, right? You can blame your acts for somebody all day long, but is that actually helpful? It's much more helpful to reflect on what did I do wrong that I could do better in the future. And what if more than 50% of a divorce or a firing or something when you look at the mirror and you know you better than anybody, what if more than that is actually your fault? Well, you can be a victim of your own actions or decide, nope, I'm going to be better. I mean, it's not just a victim of someone else. It can be a victim of your own self.

Either way, it doesn't work. You got to be about the work of not being a victim to any of it. So it's very true. I know this, and before anybody thinks I'm put myself on a pedestal, I allowed myself to be a victim of fatherlessness until my 30s. And it hurt me, and it hurt people around me. And it caused me to take actions that I wish, I'd have never taken. And when I finally dropped that and I wanted to be about the wonderful

life that was in front of me and quit being a victim of stuff other people did, that's when my life became enriched. And as a side note, I want to sit down on an airplane next to Steve Covey and have him captive for two and a half years. What a lucky guy. That's pretty cool. Some of this also reminds me of the whole reframing thing, the opportunity to see all. like how good can I get? Yeah. It's super interesting. And Jocko Willink has a similar thing when he was a former Navy SEAL, or he was part

of SEAL Team 6. He might have even been the leader of it. Anyway, whatever he was. That's a guy in Montana? No, it's another guy. Okay. But Jocko's thing with every adversity you face, he's got a one-word response. Good.

It makes me better. Yeah. Bring it on. Bring it on today. You about it. This is an opportunity to get better. Good. Let's roll.

I love that. But, I mean, but that's it, right? I mean, it's just that can we convince ourselves to do that stuff? And an interesting part that I think was stressed well enough in there, even though I put that together, is he says, like, I also put myself in the situation. Like, I decided to play football. I decided to play in the NFL. Like, who am I blaming?

Like, I'm the one who decided to do this. Well, and the other thing is he's surrounded by what he sees, is the greatest coach of the greatest owner in the NFL, and he decided to be there, which means what he wanted out of life, he got the very best of, and was still pissed off.

I mean, come on. That's what happens when you allow yourself to be a victim. So it was a plane ride that changed Steve Young into an MVP, but the lessons of it can change your life too,

if you're willing to listen to them. Amen. That is Shop Talk number 103. and if you enjoyed this episode, please share it with friends on social, rate it, review it. Make sure you give it however many stars with five good or ten good.

I think five. Five. Yeah, give us five stars. What else? Subscribe to the podcast. Join the Army at normalfolks. We'll find a service club in your area. Join that, join the Giving Circle.

Do any and all of these things that help us scroll an Army of Normal Folks. I'm Bill Courtney. Until next week, do what you can. Bring in the bell. Oh, goodbye. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam Jay. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it.

With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to Look Back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two.

Listen to Stuff to Blow Your Mind on the IHeart Radio, app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. There are times when the mind becomes a difficult place to live. This is David Eagleman with the Inner Cosmos podcast, and for Mental Health Awareness Month, we'll talk with singer-songwriter Jewel about anxiety. I started living in my car, and then my car got stolen. I was having panic attacks. I was agoraphobic.

This is a month of deeply personal and honest conversations about what happens when the brain goes off course. Listen to Inner Cosmos on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.