Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Steve Young says a ref once urged him to date his daughter in the middle of a game

Published Nov. 15, 2016 2:03 p.m. ET

Brett Smiley

We've heard of fathers urging young bachelors to date their daughters before, but never anything like this.

Back in 1985, after graduating from BYU (and making a stop in the USFL), eventual Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young was playing for the creamsicle-colored Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Apparently a head referee identified Young as a smart, good-looking and athletic man with a bright future ahead of him and decided to try to set up Young with his daughter. During a game.

Here's how Young tells it in his upcoming book, as excerpted in Peter King's latest Monday Morning Quarterback column:

Even on the field, I can’t escape the craziness. We play the Colts at home. Partway through the second quarter I’m in the huddle when the head referee taps me on the shoulder. “Can I talk to you for a second?” he says. I step away from the huddle. “Hey, listen, my daughter’s going to BYU,” he whispers. Next thing I know he starts trying to convince me that I should meet his daughter. “I'd like you to take her out,” he says.

I cannot believe this. We’re in the middle of a game! “Oh, okay,” I said. “What's her name?’’ He tells me and I return to the huddle ... Late in the game we’re down 31-23 and I'm trying to mount a comeback. I scramble out of the pocket and take a brutal hit. It causes me to fumble just before the whistle blows to stop the play. I am lying on the ground when the defense recovers the loose ball, all but sealing our defeat. Suddenly out of nowhere a yellow flag lands next to me. The referee whose daughter is headed to BYU calls a personal foul on the defense. First down, Tampa Bay. I get up and brush myself off. Then the ref walks past me and whispers she likes Italian food.

And that, kids, is how I met your mother.

Not quite, but what an incredible story.