In town for Monday Night Football between the Broncos and Texans, Hall of Fame quarterback and current ESPN analyst Steve Young stopped by Denver’s Tattered Cover bookstore to share his new biography, “QB: My Life Behind the Spiral,” and talk football. In a conversation with The Denver Post, Young opened up about why he wanted to publish a book nearly 16 years after retiring, how he almost became a Bronco before retiring, his memories of playing for Gary Kubiak and Mike Shanahan and, why “it’s really hard” watching the 49ers now.

On why he wanted to write a book about his playing days:

“When I retired, all of my four kids were born after and my oldest would start to come home from school and say, ‘Hey, dad, I heard some story about you when you were playing.’ And I’m like, ‘That’s not right.’ It happened a few times and I started to panic, like my kids are not going to know what my truth is, what happened.

“I got started on this around 2010 and never intended to publish a book. It scared me to death to think that I would actually publish something. But I wrote it, with the help of Jeff (Benedict), and we spent four years at it, just getting all the people we talked to — players, teammates, friends, family and me — and just trying to get everything together. Then finally around 2014 I was done and I gave it to my kids. One of my friends had seen it and said you have to publish it. So two years later, here we are.”

On playing for Gary Kubiak (quarterbacks coach in 1994) and Mike Shanahan (offensive coordinator from 1992-94) in San Francisco:

“Mike was the king and Gary was learning. Gary and Mike and I had a relationship that is unrivaled. I don’t care which quarterback-coach relationship is famous. When Mike took the job (in Denver) after the 1994 season, I begged him to leave Gary behind. Like, ‘Just please let Gary stay.’ And they both left me. I still have abandonment issues (laughs).”

On watching Kubiak coach the Broncos now:

“I love it. I love Gary. I love what he’s done. I know what (general manager) John (Elway) got from Gary, too. The same way I feel about Gary — and Mike — John feels as well.”

On how close he was to becoming a Bronco after the 1999 season. (Young chose to retire instead of succeeding Elway in Denver.):

“Very close. I flew in, Mike and I met and I just had this weird thing where I wanted to retire a 49er. It was just in my mind. My wife, still to this day, is mad at me because she loved Mike, and it was very close. Mike and I, we were all set to do it and he wanted to do it. I felt like I had plenty of football left. It’s one of those questions that has a loaded answer for me.”

On if he regrets not signing with the Broncos:

“I’m not going to use the word ‘regret,’ because I loved what I did. Now that I’m on the other side so far away, playing a couple more years with Mike in Denver would have been great.”

On Broncos quarterbacks Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch:

“Paxton is a dynamic guy. My gosh, you just look and you go, ‘Holy cow, if he could ever figure it out, he’d be pretty dangerous.’ Trevor is different in that he’s always going to be the cerebral player that can have a long career and do great things. And Denver is a place where you can find out. There are a lot of places you can play quarterback and you won’t know. You won’t know if you’re good or bad because there’s just not a chance to find out. Here, with the coaching both of them have, they’ll have the luxury of finding out how good they are. To me, that’s the best thing you can tell a young quarterback: ‘You might not be great or you might be great, but at least here you can find out (with Kubiak and Elway).’ That’s a blessing, and we’ll watch it unfold. And the truth is, they don’t know, we don’t know. As you play, you run into hurdles, inevitably, and if you can get over them, then you go on. A lot of guys get stuck. It’s hard to clear all the hurdles, like the great John Elway did.”

On watching the 49ers now:

“It’s really hard because I’m not seeing the building, the — when you’re going to be good, you can see it coming from a distance because the locker room is led by a handful of guys that, even though you’re not winning, there’s a group of guys you can see are starting to form that are going to run the team. They’re going to make you winners. And I don’t see that group. That tells me they’re really far away, which is scary.

“Obviously, quarterback is a huge piece of the puzzle, but I’m really looking for those young leaders to emerge. And that could happen. But today, if you ask me right now, who’s that group, I don’t see them.”