The memory remains with me. I cannot tell you what year it was or what teams were playing. All I remember was watching Ken Norton Jr., slam at full speed with his helmet into the leg of Bryant Young. It is something you do not forget.
Still I also remember reading about how much pain he was in and at one point the ambulance needed to stop en route to the hospital. Even worse was the possibility that Young suffered a career-ending injury. Somehow he managed to rehab his broken leg and played in all 16 games the following year after the brutal injury.
He ended up winning Comeback Player of the Year Award in 1999. Young recorded 41 tackles including 19 for loss, 11 sacks, five passes defended, and even forced a safety.
Yet that does not even begin to cover who Young was as a player and teammate. He earned the respect of his teammates by his work ethic from day one. More importantly his opponents respected him as well, which is why several former offensive linemen went to bat for him according to a tweet from Matt Maiocco in December of 2021.
Now he will get immortalized in Canton, Ohio as a member of the 2022 Pro Football Hall Of Fame class.
In my mind, Young is one of those people who leads by doing and when he speaks you listen. What I admire the most about him is that he remained with the San Francisco 49ers organization for his entire career.
He easily got the opportunity to ask for a trade to a team that was competing for a ring especially after Mike Nolan botched drafting Aaron Rodgers in 2005. Yet that was not him and I am incredibly thankful that he stayed.
Overall Young finished with 627 tackles, 89.5 sacks, 12 forced fumbles, seven fumble recoveries, 20 passes defended, and forced three safeties. I am also sure it felt great to hear that a then rookie linebacker (Patrick Willis) say “I hope someday I can just have half the career he’s had.”
Still it is nice to see an unsung hero like Young get recognized for being the great player he was even if he was not flashy. So congratulations to Bryant Young for being elected to the hall of fame, 49ers fans already knew you belonged, it is even better now that it is official.
Now I am looking forward to his induction speech.