Instead, he's missed three games now, and the unrelated Steinbergs, agent Leigh and Dr. Gary, seem to want him to retire. The agent is outspoken; the doctor is guarded.

In his stead, Jeff Garcia has done decently.

But he's not Steve Young.

Nor can Huard be Marino.

In this year of declining and emerging quarterbacks, only Kurt Warner has looked like a superstar.

And he's had only five games. Give him time.

End of the gold rush
It finally looks as if San Francisco's fabulous run is near an end. Not because Young has been replaced by Garcia at quarterback, but because the rest of the parts aren't there.

The Niners lost 31-29 to Carolina Sunday, ending a 19-game regular-season home winning streak in a strangely symmetrical fashion.

Their last regular-season loss at home was 30-24 to the Panthers on Dec. 8, 1996. George Seifert was San Francisco's coach in that game.

Seifert, eased out as Niners' coach after that '96 season despite a career winning percentage of .766, was the Panthers coach Sunday. He returned as the enemy for the first time to the city where he was born, raised and spent most of his coaching career.

"I'm as excited as I can be," he said after the game, about as strong a statement as the laid-back Seifert ever makes.

As for the 49ers, they're 3-3 with a bad secondary and questionable offensive and defensive lines. In a league where parity reigns, they might not win 10 games this season, ending a run of 16 consecutive seasons with double-figure wins.

Breeding Bulldogs
With Terrell Davis and Derek Loville injured, Denver turned to rookie Olandis Gary on Sunday. He responded with a heavy-duty 124 yards on 37 carries. That was a major reason why the Broncos had the ball for an astounding 45 minutes, 14 seconds in their 31-10 victory over the Packers.

There's a connection here.

Gary was a fourth-round pick from Georgia. That's the same school from which the Broncos plucked Davis, who won Super Bowl MVP and league MVP awards the last two years, in the sixth round in 1995.

There's another connection.

Davis transferred to Georgia from Long Beach State after it dropped football. He got hurt, then got caught in a pass-happy offense led by Eric Zeier.

Gary came from Marshall with Jim Donnan, who moved from there to Georgia to replace Ray Goff in 1996, the year after Zeier and Davis left. He was a backup to the injured Robert Edwards of the New England Patriots before becoming a starter last season.

Maybe that's Denver's secret: Draft Georgia running backs late.