"We read to the kids, we tag team everything. I go to the grocery store, I pick the kids up from school. It's life. It's sublime. I did miss football at first. But I look back and it's not third and 10; it's richer. You know, being in the ER yesterday, holding Braedon down while he's crying, that's good stuff.

"Things are good. Life is good. It's great to be fully engaged in my kids. Forty-million-dollar deals are great, but I'd rather put my kids to bed. It's kind of my favorite moment."

Just then, another foursome arrives and Young climbs out of his cart to greet them. The banter begins again. One of the golfers jokes with Young, "There were five 20-year-old girls asking for your (hotel) room last night." Young doesn't miss a beat: "Where were they 15 years ago? I was available for a long time."

Young moves easily among people. It's hard not to be impressed as he makes his way through new and old acquaintances, remembering names and tidbits of their lives — where they live, children, church callings, mutual acquaintances. He's charming and affectionate, slapping people on the back or putting his arm around them.

"He has a gift," says Sterling Tanner, executive director and president of Forever Young. "He has a unique ability to connect with people and to convey his sincerity. He's also blessed with a great mind. I've been in settings where he is conversing with (LDS Church) general authorities and billionaires, and he's driving the conversation. He didn't waste all those years being single. When you're single till you're 38, and you're not out partying, and you're Steve Young, you want to make good use of your time, and he did. He did a lot of reading. He still does."

Young jokes about his role as The Gimmick, but he takes it seriously, having recognized early the power of celebrity and the opportunity to use it for good. The Forever Young Foundation has grown on his name value and its small infrastructure (three employees, donated office space and equipment). It builds Forever Young Zones either in hospitals or inner-city areas — 14 so far. The former are interactive playrooms where kids with extensive hospital stays can go for a break (no doctors and nurses allowed), and the latter are technology centers for inner-city kids. And the foundation provides grants for small, selected, well-run children's charities in Utah, Arizona and northern California.

In 1993, FYF's first year, the foundation doled out $50,000 in grants; last year it was $960,000. The foundation raises money through donations and golf and ski events, which is when The Gimmick is sent into the game.