LAS VEGAS — The first Super Bowl Chase Young recalls, a game that still resonates with him, took place when he was 8 years old growing up in Maryland.
“The one that I remember was, I think, the Patriots when they were undefeated that season with Tom Brady and they were playing a 12-5 Giants [team] with Eli and, I think his name is David Tyree, he caught the ball on his helmet,’’ Young said. “I think that is probably the most memorable.’’
Pretty darn good memory.
The Giants were 13-6 when they faced the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII after the 2007 season but that is a minor and understandable error.
Young checked off the Eli Manning to David Tyree helmet catch highlight.
He was then reminded how the Giants actually won that game — with pass rushers Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck terrorizing Tom Brady, limiting the prolific Patriots to a mere 14 points.
Young nodded.
“D-linemen in general, we do definitely have the ability to change the game,’’ he said. “That’s definitely what we’re looking forward to doing.’’
It is the goal of every pass rusher when bracing for the impact that is Patrick Mahomes.
The best quarterback in the NFL is gunning for his third Super Bowl victory and it is always about harassing him to have any chance at all to beat him.
There was a time when Young was considered the next big thing as a terrorizer of quarterbacks.
That time is not now.
A linear career path was not to be for him.
Put it this way: No team is supposed to have a Young and a Nick Bosa anchoring the same defensive line.
Both were premier players at Ohio State and entered the NFL as monster prospects.
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Bosa went No. 2 overall to the 49ers in the 2019 NFL Draft and Young went No. 2 overall to Washington in the 2020 draft.
These sorts of top edge rushers get scattered across the league.
They do not join forces.
That both Bosa and Young are together, gearing up for Super Bowl 2024 against Mahomes and the Chiefs, is an anomaly.
“From Ohio State to here, it’s crazy. This is something that would not have happened a long time ago,’’ Young said. “Definitely a good feeling, having one of my close friends playing out there with me. Definitely exciting.’’
Bosa is the enforcer the 49ers needed, with 53.5 sacks in five seasons — 44.5 sacks in his last 50 games.
Young, initially, was the same sort of alpha player in Washington, earning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors after a 7.5-sack first season.
Not much went right for Young after that.
He was not tearing it up on the field in 2021 before suffering a devastating injury in Week 10, tearing not only his ACL in his right knee but also his patellar tendon.
A graft of part of the patellar tendon in his left knee was needed to reconstruct his right knee.
The recovery was rough.
Young played in only three games in 2022.
In April 2023, the Commanders did not pick up his fifth-year option, an unthinkable turn of events.
“I felt like no one ever envisions themselves getting hurt or bad things happening in their life but we all know it’s a part of life and things are gonna happen,’’ Young said. “It’s all a matter of how you respond to adversity.’’
The grand plan in Washington to build around Young, Montez Sweat, Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne — four first-round picks on the defensive line — was not working.
At the NFL trade deadline, Sweat was dealt to the Bears for a second-round draft pick.
Young was traded to the 49ers for a third-round pick, quite a meager return for a player whom teams were salivating over — remember how the Giants in 2019-20 were thought to have lost the “Chase Young sweepstakes’’ after beating the Commanders in overtime in a meaningless Week 16 game?
The Giants dropped to No. 4 in that draft and selected Andrew Thomas, their franchise left tackle.
As it turned out, the Giants were fortunate to miss out on Young.
After the Bengals took quarterback Joe Burrow with the No. 1 overall pick, the Commanders eagerly scooped up what was supposed to be a premier pass rusher.
The trade was quite a shock to the system for Young, who instantly skyrocketed into playoff contention, joining the 49ers, a Super Bowl-ready team.
The change of scenery, though, has not catapulted Young back to his pre-injury form. In nine regular-season games — no starts — he had 2.5 sacks.
Young moved into the starting lineup in the playoffs, but in victories over the Packers and Lions, did not have a sack or quarterback hit in 101 snaps.
“I didn’t know much about him,’’ safety Tashaun Gipson told The Post. “Personally, just seeing him, obviously he’s a freak of nature. He was a high pick, defensive rookie of the year. Injuries are a part of the game.
“I wouldn’t trade him for the world, man, no matter what. He’s a heckuva player and he still is that guy who was drafted second overall.’’
Young does not have a contract for the 2024 season.
He has not done enough to guarantee him a return to the 49ers.
Free agency awaits him.
Finding a way to drop Mahomes a few times to help the Niners bring a Lombardi Trophy back to Santa Clara would certainly not hurt his case to stay.
“Pat Mahomes, one of the best in the business,’’ Young said. “Year in and year out, he always ends up at this game and it’s for a reason. All praise to Patrick. We’re gonna do our best to stop him.’’