Express Quarterback Steve Young Explores Possibility of Leaving USFL, Agent Says

Steve Young, whose National Football League rights are owned by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is exploring the possibility of leaving the United States Football League, his agent says.

The St. Petersburg Times reported Wednesday that Leigh Steinberg, the Berkeley attorney who represents the Los Angeles Express quarterback, may have found a loophole in Young’s USFL contract, which is worth about $40 million.

The loophole, the newspaper said, could be that the financially strapped Express was supported by other teams and operated by the USFL during the 1985 season.

“The transference of the team to the league is strictly prohibited in (Young’s) contract,” Steinberg told the newspaper. “There was no way for him to protest during the season, other than walking off the field. Steve wouldn’t do that.”

USFL officials insist that Young is the property of the league as long as the terms of his contract are being fulfilled.