49ers' Young elected into Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2022 originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
One of the most respected players in 49ers history earned the ultimate recognition from the rest of the football world on Thursday.
Bryant Young was announced as a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2022 during the annual NFL Honors show as part of the league’s Super Bowl LVI festivities.
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Young was part of a Hall of Fame class that was heavy on blockers and tacklers. Joining Young as modern-era inductees were defensive lineman Richard Seymour, linebacker Sam Mills, safety LeRoy Butler and offensive tackle Tony Boselli.
Former Raiders receiver Cliff Branch was elected from the seniors pool, while Dick Vermeil and Art McNally were chosen in the coach and contributor categories. McNally becomes the first on-field official to be enshrined.
Mills and Branch will be inducted posthumously. Mills passed away in 2005 at the 45, while Branch died in 2019 at 71.
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“Each member of this great class represents the values of the Pro Football Hall of Fame,” Hall of Fame president Jim Porter said. “We look forward to honoring them in August.”
The list of 15 modern-era finalists included former 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis. Willis was a seven-time Pro Bowl player in his eight-year career with the 49ers. He became a finalist this year for the first time in his third year of eligibility. Willis did not advance into the final 10.
Young was selected to the Hall of Fame in his 10th year of eligibility. It was his second time advancing to the final 15.
Young played his entire 14-year NFL career with the 49ers. He was a key member of the 49ers’ fifth Super Bowl champion as a rookie after being selected out of Notre Dame as the No. 7 overall pick in the 1994 NFL Draft.
His teammates voted him as an eight-time winner of the 49ers’ top team honor, the Len Eshmont Award, for courageous and inspirational play. Nobody else in franchise history has won the award more than twice.
What might have pushed Young over the top was the public support he received from players who lined up against him.
On Dec. 1, six former NFL offensive linemen held a video call with members of the Hall of Fame selection committee to share their thoughts on Young, an NFL All-Decade player of the 1990s and the 49ers’ all-time leader with 89.5 sacks.
Jerry Fontenot, who played 16 seasons as a center with Chicago and New Orleans, explained why he would publicly support a person he does not even know.
“There comes a point where you have to do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do,” Fontenot said.
Nobody played against Young more times than Adam Timmerman, an offensive guard for Green Bay and the St. Louis Rams during his 12-year NFL career.
“I was quite shocked when he didn’t make it on the first ballot really because he deserves it,” Timmerman said of Young.
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What distinguished Young was how he was equally dominant against the run and the pass. He registered 76 run stuffs — more than Warren Sapp, John Randle and Cortez Kennedy. Those three were defensive tackles from that era who already have been inducted into the Hall of Fame.
In 1993 the 49ers defense allowed 4.5 yards per rushing attempt. Young stepped in and immediately made the 49ers’ defense a force against the run. The opposition's average rush dropped to 3.6 yards as the 49ers went on to win the Super Bowl. The next season, the 49ers’ run defense allowed just 3.1 yards per rushing attempt.
“Bryant Young was a beast against the run,” said long-time offensive lineman Kevin Gogan, a teammate of Young’s for two seasons with the 49ers. “He could play both (pass and run) equally as well.
“In my 14 years, he was the best defensive tackle I’ve come across — bar none.”
Perhaps Young’s most amazing achievement was how he made a miraculous return from a career-threatening leg injury.
Young was having the best season of his career in 1998 before he sustained a gruesome fracture to his tibia and fibula. He underwent surgery to insert an 18-inch titanium rod in his tibia and incurred serious complications along the way. Young spent 17 days in the hospital. It appeared doubtful he would be able to resume his NFL career.
Not only did he play again, he excelled.
Young registered a career-best 11 sacks in 1999 and was named NFL Comeback Player of the Year.
“He was to our defense what Steve Young and Jerry Rice were to our defense, in regards of being a leader and showing the way," former 49ers coach Steve Mariucci said. "Bryant Young was the man.”
In November, Young was enshrined into the Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. 49ers Hall of Fame. He was also inducted last year into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame.
Young joins defensive tackle Leo Nomellini, offensive tackle Bob St. Clair, cornerback Jimmy Johnson and linebacker Dave Wilcox as the only members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame who played exclusively for the 49ers.
