Bryant Colby Young (born January 27, 1972) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 26 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

was selected by the 49ers in the first round of the

1994 NFL draft The 1994 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 1994, at the Marriott Ma ...

. Young was inducted into the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...

in 2022. His bust was sculpted by Scott Myers and unveiled at the enshrinement ceremony on August 6, 2022.

Early life

Young was born in

Chicago Heights, Illinois Chicago Heights is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 27,480 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A south suburb of Chicago, it is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. Its nicknames include "The Cro ...

. He attended Bloom High School in Chicago Heights, Illinois, where he excelled in football.

College career

Young was a three-year starter at Notre Dame, lettering all four years from 1990 to 1993. As a senior, he was an

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

selection, and had 6.5 sacks and 67 tackles. As a junior, he was an Honorable Mention All-American selection and garnered 7.5 sacks. He graduated from Notre Dame in 1994 with a major in marketing.

Professional career

He was selected by the 49ers in the first round (seventh overall) in the

. Young made Honorable Mention All-Pro by The Associated Press in 1995. Young had his finest statistical season in 1996 recording 84 tackles, 11.5 sacks, and two safeties, while earning his first trip to the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

. In 1997, although Young's sack total dropped to just four on the season, he was still a dominant presence on the interior line, helping San Francisco finish first overall in the NFL in total defense that season. Despite his drop in statistical production, he was still widely considered by many to be the best all-around DT in the NFL, despite teammate DT Dana Stubblefield being named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year that same season. Young was leading the entire NFL at the DT position in sacks with 9.5 prior to his season-ending injury suffered on a Monday Night match-up against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

in week 13 of the 1998 season. The injury to Young's leg was so severe that he needed a metal rod to be inserted in the broken leg. Despite Young's devastating injury coming late in the 1998 season, he came back fully recovered in time for the 1999 season and recorded over 70 tackles, 11 sacks and a safety which earned him his second Pro Bowl. Young also received the

NFL Comeback Player of the Year A number of NFL Comeback Player of the Year awards are given to National Football League (NFL) players who have demonstrated resilience in the face of adversity by overcoming illness, physical injury or other circumstances that led them to miss p ...

Award for his fantastic play that same season. Bryant Young had 89.5 career sacks in his 14-year career with the 49ers, ranking him at 6th all-time in the NFL in career sacks for a player at the DT position, trailing only Trevor Pryce,

Henry Thomas Henry Jackson Thomas (born September 9, 1971) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor and had the lead role of Elliott Taylor in the film '' E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (1982), for which he won a Young Artist Award and rece ...

, Aaron Donald, and Hall of Famers John Randle,

Steve McMichael Stephen Douglas McMichael (October 17, 1957 – April 23, 2025), nicknamed "Mongo", "Ming", and "Ming the Merciless", was an American professional football player and professional wrestler. He was a defensive tackle for 15 seasons in the Natio ...

, and Warren Sapp. He also ranks third on the team's all-time career sacks list placing him behind only DE Tommy Hart and DE Cedric Hardman. Bryant Young also owns the 49ers' franchise record for career safeties, with 3. Young retired after the

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

season, with the distinction of being the last active member of the

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

team. Young is a member of the NFL's All-Decade Team of the 1990s. Young became eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2013. Young advanced to the semi-finalist stage in Hall of Fame voting in 2020. He was eventually elected to the Hall in 2022. He is also an 8-time recipient of the 49ers' annual Len Eshmont Award, which is the team's most prestigious award and is given to the Niners player who best exemplifies the "inspirational and courageous play" of its namesake. No other recipient has won the award at least thrice.

NFL career statistics

Coaching career

On January 21, 2010, Young was hired as the defensive line coach at San Jose State University. On January 14, 2011, Young was hired as the defensive line coach at the University of Florida. He later re-joined defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, his former position coach with the 49ers, when he was hired as the defensive line coach for the Atlanta Falcons on February 8, 2017. He spent two seasons (2017–18) in that capacity before he resigned to spend more time with his family.

Personal life

Young is a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

. Young is married to Kristin M. Young. They have six children. His son Bryce, plays college football at Notre Dame.Notre Dame football's Bryce Young follows in his parents' impressive path
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References

External links

Atlanta Falcons bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Bryant 1972 births Living people 20th-century American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen African-American coaches of American football American football defensive ends American football defensive tackles Atlanta Falcons coaches Bloom High School alumni Coaches of American football from Illinois Florida Gators football coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish football coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players San Francisco 49ers players San Jose State Spartans football coaches National Conference Pro Bowl players Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from Chicago Heights, Illinois Players of American football from Cook County, Illinois University of Notre Dame alumni NFL Comeback Player of the Year winners