Bryant Young is a Hall of Famer.
Young was named to the 2022 Hall of Fame class during the NFL Honors ceremony on Thursday evening.
Young was the 49ers’ first-round pick in 1994 and immediately had an impact for the eventual Super Bowl champions with 6.0 sacks during his rookie season. He finished third in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting.
That was just the start of a remarkable career that spanned 14 seasons and 208 games. He started every one of those 208 games for the 49ers and racked up 627 tackles, 89.5 sacks, 20 pass breakups, 12 forced fumbles and seven fumble recoveries. Young was a Super Bowl champion, four-time Pro Bowler, and a First-Team All-Pro in 1996. He was thrice a Second-Team All-Pro.
A bad broken leg cut his season to just 12 games in 1998, but he battled back to play all 16 games in a terrific 1999 campaign that earned him the Comeback Player of the Year award. He put up 11.0 sacks and 19 tackles for loss that year.
49ers ownership released a statement following Thursday’s announcement:
Congratulations to Bryant Young for receiving the ultimate honor of being elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. B.Y.’s tenacity, dedication and leadership throughout his illustrious 14-year career earned him respect from his teammates and the 49ers Faithful alike, helping him garner numerous career accolades highlighted by a Super Bowl championship. While he inspired us all through his courageous play, his legacy derives from the integrity, class and character he exemplified to all of us at the 49ers and in the community. B.Y. and his wife, Kristin, will forever be family and we’re beyond excited as this next step of his football journey lands in Canton.
Young will go in alongside Tony Boselli, Cliff Branch, Leroy Butler, Art McNally, Sam Mills, Richard Seymour and Dick Vermeil. His fellow 49er Patrick Willis was not a member of the ’22 class and will have to wait another year.