MIAMI -- The San Francisco 49ers finally passed their Super torch from Joe Montana to Steve Young last night.
Young, who has been the team's starting quarterback for the past four seasons but still was playing in Montana's shadow, finally eclipsed him.
Young threw six touchdown passes to break Montana's Super Bowl record of five while leading the 49ers to a 49-26 victory over the San Diego Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX before 74,107 fans at Joe Robbie Stadium.
Young's performance helped the 49ers become the first team to win five Super Bowls as the NFC collected its 11th straight victory.
But for Young and the 49ers, this was almost as emotional as their first one, back in 1982.
Young held the gleaming silver Vince Lombardi Trophy with both arms in the locker room and said, "I can't describe the feeling . . . it is unbelievable."
Owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr., whose father died a few weeks ago, was choked up as he accepted the trophy from commissioner Paul Tagliabue and said: "This is a very, very important victory. This one's for dad."
3 Young, who was unanimous choice as the MVP, shared the spotlight with wide receiver Jerry Rice and running back Ricky Watters, who each tied a Super Bowl record by scoring three touchdowns. It was the second time Rice had done it.
Rice, who was battling a bad cold and suffered a slightly separated shoulder in the first half, and Watters both endorsed the Young selection.
4 Rice, who had complained he didn't get enough attention when he won MVP honors in the 49ers' 20-16 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl XXIII, said of Young: "He's going to be placed up there with one of the best quarterbacks ever to play the game. He deserved to be the MVP today. I'm just happy for him."
Rice said that when he hugged Young at the end of the game, he told him: " 'Hey, man, I love you. You deserve this.' "
Coach George Seifert said: "Joe Montana was phenomenal and established the standard. And Steve Young is talented enough and works hard enough so that he can maintain the standard. Whatever critics he may have had . . . the way he has played, he has got to be one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time to play a game as he did tonight and to play the way he has this season."
Watters was asked whether he should have been the MVP and replied, "The man who won it is the guy who should have gotten it."
Watters added: "You couldn't have written a better script. Steve Young just played a flawless game. He was just unbelievable. After all the scrutiny and everything. How would you feel reading in the paper you're no Joe Montana?"
The 49ers also faced the pressure of being one of the two biggest favorites in Super Bowl history.
Oddsmakers made them an 18-point choice after they beat the Chargers, 38-15, on Dec. 11.
They were reminded all week about Super Bowl III, when the Baltimore Colts were 18-point favorites over the New York Jets and lost, 16-7.
But the Colts started quarterback Earl Morrall, who was intercepted three times before being yanked. The 49ers had Young, who played the best game of his career.
"Under the circumstances, with what it meant and everything else, it has to be [my best game]," Young said. "It was the kind of performance under the pressure of the Super Bowl that you have to feel very good about, so I'll always remember this."
Young noted that his critics "always had this game to fall back on," to point out that he had never won a Super Bowl. "It's nice to put that away because it's really the ultimate experience as a football player."
Flamboyant cornerback Deion Sanders, one of the many free agents the 49ers brought in to rebuild their defense, said there was never any doubt it was going to be a rout.
"Those guys didn't have a chance to beat us, man. Let's be realistic," he said. "We can't talk like that before a game. The real Super Bowl was against Dallas. Those guys were talking junk all week long. They were talking junk on the field. I'm just frustrated they didn't respect us enough. . . . We knew we were going to kick their butts."
Sanders, who intercepted a Gale Gilbert pass late after Stan Humphries was hurt, even got a chance to run a fourth-quarter pass pattern, but Chargers safety Stanley Richard knocked it away. It was one of the few plays the Chargers made all day.
Throwing touchdown passes of 44 yards to Rice, 51 yards to Watters, 5 yards to rookie William Floyd and 8 yards to Watters, Young was 17 of 23 for 239 yards going into the locker room at halftime.
Young wound up completing 24 of 36 passes for 325 yards, falling 32 yards short of the record of 357 passing yards Montana set in Super Bowl XXIII.
The four first-half touchdown passes tied a Super Bowl record set by Doug Williams of the Washington Redskins.
In Super Bowl XXII, Williams completed 13 of 21 for 306 yards in the first half when the Redskins scored five second-period touchdowns to take a 35-10 halftime lead en route to a 42-10 victory over the Denver Broncos.
The 49ers' 304-yard first-half explosion has been topped only by the 419-yard total Washington rang up in the first half of that Super Bowl.
It also was a satisfying victory for Seifert, whose job was supposed to be in jeopardy if the 49ers didn't win the Super Bowl this year.
"I'm elated to be part of this," said Seifert, who now has won two Super Bowls as a head coach. He's one behind his former boss, Bill Walsh.
The Chargers lost everything, including the coin toss.
The Chargers called heads. It came down tails.
The 49ers took the opening kickoff and took three plays to score their first touchdown. It took them just 1:24 and was the fastest touchdown in Super Bowl history.
"That had to be a dagger in their heart," Young said. "You can imagine how it hurt them."
The Chargers tried a new defense and Rice still split the safeties to catch a 44-yard touchdown pass.
"I think we made a statement," Rice said of that touchdown.
Team president Carmen Policy called the Super Bowl an "anticlimax" after the 49ers beat the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC title game two weeks ago.
It was.
The 49ers went on to set a Super Bowl record by scoring touchdowns on their first three possessions.
They were stopped on their next series when Rice went to the locker room to have his ailing shoulder treated.
They then added another touchdown on their next drive to take a 28-10 lead at halftime. When they added touchdowns on their first two possessions of the third period, they led 42-10.
Then San Diego's Andre Coleman tied Dolphin Fulton Walker's Super Bowl record by returning a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown.
It didn't help that the Chargers, who had to play a perfect game to stay with the 49ers, made a lot of mistakes.
Their two safeties, Richard and Darren Carrington, were beaten on the first two 49ers touchdown plays. On offense, Mark Seay couldn't hang on to the ball in the end zone when he tried to make a diving catch late in the second period and Humphries underthrew Tony Martin on what should have been a touchdown pass. The underthrow allowed Eric Davis to step in front of him and make the interception.
Those mistakes made it easier for the 49ers, but they were clearly the dominant team.
Chargers coach Bobby Ross said: "To stay in the football game, we had to play well. I don't mean to take anything away from them, but we played poorly."
The 49ers, meanwhile, are ready to take their place in the history of great NFL teams.
As Watters said: "We would like to think we rate right up there with the best of them and we hope that people will see us that way."
49ERS' DRIVES
San Francisco scored on four of its first five drives and seven of its 14 total possessions:
Qtr. .. Plays .. Yds .. Time .. Result
1st ... .. 3 .. . 59 .. 1:23 .. .. TD
1st ... .. 4 .. . 79 .. 2:05 .. .. TD
2nd ... . 10 .. . 67 .. 4:42 .. .. TD
2nd ... .. 3 .. .. 5 .. 1:00 ... Punt
2nd ... .. 9 .. . 49 .. 5:01 .. .. TD
2nd ... .. 6 .. . 48 .. 1:08 . Miss FG
2nd ... .. 1 .. . -1 ... :10 ... Half
3rd ... .. 8 .. . 62 .. 3:56 .. .. TD
3rd ... . 10 .. . 67 .. 5:33 .. .. TD
3rd ... .. 3 .. . -1 .. 1:30 ... Punt
4th ... .. 6 .. . 68 .. 1:29 .. .. TD
4th ... .. 5 .. .. 8 .. 2:54 ... Punt
4th ... .. 3 .. .. 3 .. 1:47 ... Punt
4th ... .. 3 .. .. 8 .. 1:42 ... Punt
RICE RECORDS
Jerry Rice established or tied eight Super Bowl records yesterday:
Most TDs career: 7
Most TDs, game: 3 (ties record set by himself and Roger Craig)
Most points career: 42
Most points, game: 18 (ties record set by himself and Roger Craig)
Most receptions, career: 28
Most yards receiving, career: 512
Most TDs receiving, career: 7
Most TDs receiving, game: 3 (ties his record)