SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame team captain and 1993 All-American at defensive tackle, Bryant Young, was announced as a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2022 during the annual NFL Honors show.
A four-year monogram winner and three-year starter for the Irish, the Chicago Heights, Illinois native was selected to the Hall of Fame in his 10th year of eligibility. It was his second time advancing to the final 15.
Young becomes Notre Dame’s 14th player to be tabbed for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, tying the Irish with the most selections of any school in the country. He joins Jerome Bettis, Tim Brown, Nick Buoniconti, Dave Casper, George Connor, Edward DeBartolo Jr., Paul Hornung, Earl Lambeau, John McNally, Wayne Millner, Joe Montana, Alan Page and George Trafton.
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. Young concluded his NFL career with 89.5 career sacks.
Young was named NFL Comeback Player of the Year in 1999 after returning to play following a broken leg. He finished the 1999 campaign with 42 tackles, three passes defensed, 20 QB pressures and team-leading 11 sacks, 15 tackles for a loss and one safety.
During his 49ers career, Young started in two NFC Championship Games and one Super Bowl, recording three tackles, two assisted tackles and one pass defensed in San Francisco’s win over the Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX. Additionally, he was named First-team All-Pro twice (1996, 1998), voted to four Pro Bowls and was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1990s.
He was voted as an eight-time winner of the 49ers’ top team honor, the Len Eshmont Award, for courageous and inspirational play, an honor no other player in 49ers history has won more than twice. In November, Young was enshrined into the Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. 49ers Hall of Fame.
The Class of 2022 will be enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday, Aug. 6 at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton.