Steve Young's passion for playing football has not waned.

This was last month, when the San Francisco 49ers were in town to play the Panthers. Young had been asked what it was like watching Steve Stenstrom and Jeff Garcia from the sidelines, where he has been a fixture since Sept. 27, when the Cardinals' Aeneas Williams knocked him senseless.

"It stinks," Young said. "Who'da thunk it? Actually, who'da thunk a lot of things this year? John Elway retired. Vinny Testaverde and Brett Favre got hurt. You're probably going to get six different guys in the Pro Bowl. It's really been a transitional year."

The $45 million question in San Francisco -- that's what his current deal with the 49ers is worth -- remains: Was 1999 a transition year for Steve Young? Was Monday night's meaningless game in Atlanta the last for the most accurate and efficient passer in NFL history? Will his first broadcast job -- he'll work for ABC on wild-card Saturday -- be the career path for the rest of his life?

Young, 38, is coy.

"If I don't know the answer to that yet, how can I tell you one way or the other? There are so many variables," he said.

"People want to know. I want to know. It takes a tremendous commitment and mental preparation to play a season in the NFL, but I don't want to cut myself short, either."

Young was forced to sit out the last 13 games of what was his 15th NFL season, largely on the diagnosis of his neurologist, Dr. Gary Steinberg. Young says he will sit down with Steinberg and the 49ers and render a retirement decision sometime in the next two months.

He says Steinberg's diagnosis was a conservative one and that he's feeling fine, with no permanent damage. Young insists that, all things being equal, he would like to play for another two or three seasons. All things, of course, are not equal. The concussion he suffered against the Cardinals officially was his fourth in three years. His unofficial career total could approach double figures.

"If I went back, would there be risks?" Young asked. "Sure there would. The thing is, would they be undue risks? I'm not stupid; I wouldn't go back if they were undue."

Young is anything but stupid. He already has earned his law degree from Brigham Young University, and he's one of the most articulate players in the league. Still, could his passion for football cloud his judgment?

Maybe.

One of his friends from Greenwich High School in Connecticut, Mike Gasparino, worries about that. "I really hope he retires," said Gasparino, a senior co-captain with Young in 1979. "There's nothing left for him to prove. His quality of life after football, that's what you're worried about. I would think that would become more important. I'd hate to see something terrible happen to him.

"I'd like him to play it safe."

Have you ever known Steve Young, Gasparino was asked, to play it safe?

"No," Gasparino conceded. "That's not his style. I can see him fighting to play another season. I'm hoping his family can talk him out of it."

Young's mother, Sherry, would like to see her oldest son walk away. Young's father, LeGrand, was a rough-and-tumble running back and linebacker at BYU. Like his son, he won't say which way he's leaning.

"I'm not sure he's ready to give it up," LeGrand said. "Like any athlete, he wants to go out on his own terms. I can tell you he hasn't made a decision yet."

The fear is that Young will turn into Chris Miller, who was forced to leave the game after the 1995 season after suffering numerous concussions. Miller returned to the league this season to play three games with the Broncos, but he announced his retirement Monday

Young has talked to Miller and learned of a horrifying array of side-effects, from memory loss to not being able to taste hot and colt.

"No thanks," Young said. "No thanks."

There are several prevailing factors that appear to be working against Young's return to San Francisco. First, the 49ers are a franchise in steep decline. They haven't been this far from contention since before Bill Walsh arrived in 1979. The team is roughly $20 million over the $57.39 million salary cap and Young's contract, the richest in the league when he signed it in 1997, would be a way to get $5 million closer with a single stroke.

By bringing Young and his long-time running mate, Jerry Rice, back, the 49ers would send a message to their fans that all hope is not lost. But that would merely postpone the inevitable. The 49ers, both publicly and privately, have suggested that they would like to see Young retire. It wouldn't be surprising to see team doctors take the position that Young is entering Chris Miller territory.

Why come back if the 49ers' reign is over and there is nothing personally left to prove?

"That's all true, but that's simplifying a very complex thing," Young said. "There are emotions there. It's easy for everybody else to say, 'He should do this or that.' Actually, I'm enjoying the nuances of the decision. It's not a simple thing.

"Once I know, everybody else will know, too."

Greg Garber is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.