September 5, 2024 • 27 mins
Ron welcomes former San Francisco 49er DT Bryant Young to the show.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Ron Barr, and this is today's edition of
Ron Barr's Sports Byline USA podcast on the eight Side Network.
Bryan Young joins US on Sports Byline. He's been elected
to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He played defensive
tackle in the NFL for fourteen seasons with the forty
nine Ers after an outstanding All America career at Notre Dame.
(00:20):
He had nearly ninety career sacks, and he won a
Super Bowl championship and beating the Chargers forty nine twenty
six in Super Bowl twenty nine. First of all, having
been here in San Francisco during your playing career and
having watched you, congratulations. But take me back and tell
me a little bit about growing up in Chicago.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Yeah, Chicago, small blue collar town south of Chicago, about
thirty minutes twenty five to thirty minutes outside of the
city and the south suburbs. And grew up with both
my parents and two older brothers. Mam and dad were
mary for a while. They ended up getting the bores
after I graduated from college and Dad wanted to remarry
(01:04):
and my mom didn't remarry, but just humble beginning, blue
collar town. My dad was a great provider for us,
supplied everything we needed. Didn't always get what we wanted,
but we had our needs mat and he was a
long time Ford employee. Retired from there after almost forty years,
(01:25):
and then he started driving school buses in retirement to
keep him himself busy. So from there I went to
high school, played at Bloom High School in Chicago Heights
and then went to Notre Dame in nineteen ninety graduated
there in nineteen ninety four. But just a diverse city
in Chicago Heights had a huge Mexican, African, American, and
(01:51):
Italian population there.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Let me ask you, Brian, about the fact that growing
up in a two parent home. You know, we see
a lot of things, you hear a lot of things,
But what about that stability for you? What did that
provide you that maybe you wouldn't have gotten if you
hadn't had two parents.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
You know what I think it? You know, for some
it would have been different. I think sometimes we grew
up in a single parent home where to be a
mom or dad most the most pictures we see a
lot is just a single parent mom. And you get
that father figure from a mentor a teacher or a coach.
The lucky I had, you know, my dad and my mom.
(02:29):
And my mom worked a little bit, she didn't. I
worked my entire upbringing, and my dad was the soul
breadwinner most of my growing up. And just seeing that example,
having this presence, having a firm hand, always being fair,
firm but fair, and just having a love and the
(02:50):
nurturing there with both mom and dad there, I think
just seeing you know, what it's supposed to look like
from a leadership standpoint, a provider and just serving in
the community. So all those things and examples of hard work, perseverance,
and just being humble. I got those examples from I've
(03:11):
seen my dad do those things and living them out
and then also having my mom there as well.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Growing up.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
You mentioned about going to Notre Dame. I'm sure you
had lots of opportunities to go a lot of different places.
What was the magic What was the draw of Notre
Dame to you?
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Yeah? The big draw. There was a big Notre Dame
following in Chicago, of course, had a huge network of
Notre Dame alumni there, but just being in close park Semi,
I think you're just going to get a lot of
that in your place. But I had an opportunity to
go to Notre Dame on my way back from a
trip we took to DC and there was my eighth
(03:49):
grade trip. On our way back, we stopped on campus,
had a chance to walk around campus. It just kind
of an awe went to the bookstore and never thinking
that years later would end up going to school there.
But you know, for me, when I had a chance
to go back and just understand what was there in
terms of opportunity, there was a great education. For me.
(04:10):
It was really getting the chance to be around the team,
the campus, the faculty, and just the student population. It
just it felt really special. It felt like a family,
and it felt like it was the best place for me.
And really Notre Dame could have been in Timbuctoo, I
still would have went, you know, there just been an
hour and a half away, made it really convenient. Just
(04:33):
a great school. Talk about the community of the campus
and just what what Notre Dames stood for, you know,
it's missions and this service to people and things. Just
being able to go there as a young man and
being able to grow mature coming out in nineteen ninety
four a very very special place. And I'm glad I
(04:54):
had a chance to go there and be a part
of something very very special.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
One of the things Bryant I will always remember I
broadcast Sports Byline USA from the campus during one football season,
and it was the first time I had ever been there.
Under those circumstances, I had broadcast games from there. But
the one thing that struck me with the athletes is
that they were prepared in many many different ways. I
know at Notre Dame, the athletes are taught how to
(05:20):
deal with the media, how to deal with interviews and everything.
I really got a feeling that that campus and the
athlete there, and probably all the students, but the athlete
in particular, they got a well rounded education in everything,
just not what was in the classroom. Am I correct
in that observation, Ye?
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Absolutely, I think you know, for us it was we
had a chance to go there and we just didn't
live with the other student. Athletes for us were with
the student population. Mine as every one of my class
and before me. We all had opportunities to room and
care with those that didn't play sports, and I think
(06:00):
that was the most unique thing about Notre Dame that
we got a chance to be a part of the
student body, and it's good to get outside of the
things that you're accustomed to in your group outside of sports.
So we got a chance to meet great people students
that went there. My roommate, I'm still great friends with
Dave Ranki and Michael Meyer who's a pediactor surgeon orthopedic
(06:26):
surgeon in Texas, and just a special place to just
grow and meet other people that are from different backgrounds
and that develop those relationships.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
I've also always felt that the football tradition at Notre
Dame is something unique. I know every school has a tradition,
but there's something about that Notre Dame football mistake. Help
me out with did better understand it?
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Yeah? Just understanding the history of all who have been
there before, the many championships, Air Part season, New Rodney,
just incredible coaches and the administration Moose Krause, who you know,
was a ad there for a long time. Just that
there are many wins and years of of winning championships.
(07:14):
You know, you look at all the Heisman Trophy winners
over the years. It's just the place where you're just
accustomed to winning, get you're accustomed to plan at a
high standard and playing some of the very best schools
in the country, and the expectations there were, Hey, we're
here to win a championship. We're not just looking that
(07:35):
we didn't belong to a conference, you know my time
there and and still that way today, but just understanding
that we are here to play at a certain standard
and we're playing for a championship every year. That was
just the way it was. And you're involved in a
culture and everybody's there to understand that, and I think
(07:56):
it's you know, in terms of just having an opportunity
to really pay it forward like those that were there
before me, like you understand the legacy that the left.
So when I got there, other teammates that got there,
we understood that, hey, it was important for us to
continue to take the batime and leave it better than
(08:18):
we even found it. So that was just the standard.
That was the culture there, just a very very unique
place to be a part of and grow and develop
as a young student athlete.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
We've got about two minutes before we have to break here.
You know, every athlete that plays at a school, and
especially at the level that you played, it has a
moment that's kind of ingrained in their mind during their
college career. What was it for you, Brian?
Speaker 2 (08:45):
You know, just for me, I think I really learned
a lot about just you know, you think about being
responsible and accountable to not only just the school and
the institution, but you have a chance to play at
a high level and you represent all those guys that
(09:06):
you're playing with, and to really, you know, take that
on and be responsible for that. You know, that was
one of the things that stood out for me. I
didn't want to let my brother down, so it was
important for me just to continue to hold up my
end of the bargain and do the very best that
I can because I knew that my teammate was counting
(09:26):
on me as well as I was counting on them.
But there are a lot of great memories in terms
of bowl games that we played in big games, the
Game of the Century Florida State versus Notre Dame. So
there are a lot of moments that stand out. But
it was awesome to be able to go there and
(09:48):
then get a degree there from the University of Notre
Dame in the business school and marketing.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
And about forty seconds before we break here, you know,
there are traditions in college sports and certainly rival games.
When it comes to rivalries, I guess maybe you can
help me out here. Notre Dame and who finishes that statement.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Wow, Notre Dame in Michigan Notre Dame and Michigan State
Notre Dame and USC. So when you think about rivalry games,
those three games come up. There are some history, you know.
I'm sure back in the earlier years, the Michigan State
Notre Dame game used to be really something special, but
(10:29):
then it became the Miston Notre Dame. For me, you know,
the Notre Dame and USC games were always special and
always look forward to playing that game every year.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Bryant Young is with us. He's been elected to the
Pro Football Hall of Fame. Fourteen year career in the NFL,
all of those in a forty nine ers uniform. And
when we come back on the other side, we're going
to talk to him about that outstanding NFL career. As
we continue across the country and around the world with
you on Sports Byline.
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Speaker 1 (11:59):
You're listening to Ron Barr's Sports Byline USA podcast. Brian
Young has joined us on the Sports Byline USA network.
As I mentioned before, he's been elected to the Pro
Football Hall of Fame. He went to four Pro Bowls
fourteen seasons all with the forty nine ers, and of
course an outstanding All America career at Notre Dame. You know,
I know when you got the knock on the door
(12:19):
and they told you, Bryant Young, you're going to be
enshrined in the National Football League Hall of Fame. A
lot of people have different appreciations for that in your
particular case, because you were the not only a well
rounded athlete, but a well rounded person as well. What
went through your mind immediately upon hearing that.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Well, just the journey. You know, you look at your
time as a young athlete in high school and the
development that happened there, and then having a chance to
play in college in the development that happened there, and
the people that were part of that, and then I
go to the Niners, and then it continues to makes
(13:00):
the coaches, the ownership, and just being a part of
such an iconic brand enfranchise it. Really all those things
come up, and just along the way, just the friendships,
the mentorship that you meet and have, the people that
develop you in a very special way. So all those
(13:22):
things kind of come up when I think about just
having the opportunity to be a part of this unique brotherhood.
But then when I look at almost thirty something thousand
people that played this game. Of that many people, three
hundred and sixty two have been enshrined in the national
(13:43):
and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. And when I
think of that, that is so so humbling. You know
that I had a chance to go along the journey
and be one of those three hundred and sixty two
people to be enshrined. That's just not athlete, it's coaches,
its administrators, as ownership, and I'm a part of that.
(14:05):
That's a wild moment for me. It's a very very
humble moment when you think about in totality all that,
all the people that have been part of the game
and helped develop and transform the game into where it
is today. To be three hundred and sixty two, a
sixty second member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame,
that to me is very humbling. And then I want
(14:28):
to to also be able to play with just one franchise.
Just just unique opportunity to do that and be in
the same place and just be a part of brand.
It was a great marriage and I'm glad it worked
out by the way it did, and I maybe to
represent the San Francisco forty nine Ers.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
When I came to San Francisco to do sports on television.
It was the same year. Matter of fact, it was
the first NFL owners meeting in which a young thirty
plus something, he was just over thirty year old owner
Eddie de Barbeloa Junior, had taken over the team. And
so I had a chance to watch Camelot from the beginning,
through your career and everything, and I'm just wondering, what
(15:05):
was your first impression of him, Eddie.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Well, well, my first impression it goes back to when
I was growing up in Chicago. Like i'd heard about
through the Bears, you know, I grew up a Bear fan,
and so through my love with the Bears and then
the Niners basically beating them in the playoffs and knocking
them out and having some tough battles, that's when I
(15:31):
kind of started to follow and track the forty nine ers.
And then as time goes by, here about this incredible
owner and Eddie the Barlow. And then I had a
chance to go to Notre Dame and I'm kind of
being a part of the legacy, taking classes into the
Barlow Center of the Barlow Hall building one of the
newest buildings toward the my junior and senior year on campus,
(15:55):
and they's just understanding who they were as a family,
just their commitment to community and family and their philanthropic work.
But not only that, you think about ownership and their
top down approach in terms of how you run it,
it's no wonder like the people play as hard coaches
(16:17):
hard manage is hard because you have ownership that's done
an incredible job over the years. Just there's a lot
that he's done this compassionate hard, you know, not only
just for his team, but just for other different causes.
So much respect and regard for ownership in that way.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Let me also ask you about Dana Stubblefield. I had
a as I ever thought back on your career, and
I remember watching you and Dana work together. People don't
realize the teamwork and it can come down to two
players like you and Dana can be significant in the
end result. How did you guys blend your talents to
get the result that the forty nine or is the
(17:00):
team needed the organization needed in the success it got.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Yeah, So then I was coming in my first year
as a second year had just come up a really
big year and won the defensive rookie other year. And
you know, for for us, it was right off the bat,
it was understanding the standard and what was at stake.
We we really pushed each other without saying a whole lot,
(17:28):
you know, how we how we practiced, how we competed
in the off season, how we practiced during the week,
and then to go out on Sundays or Monday nights
or sometimes Thursdays and play the way we were capable of.
We really pushed each other and just understanding that, you know,
(17:49):
we had something special and unique in terms of UH
being able to take advantage of when the double team
was coming my way and he has a chance to
work one on one with the guard and vice versa.
You know, when he had double teams with the protection
turned his way, I had a chance to work one
on ones in the inside. And so just just a
(18:10):
great worker relationship and had a lot of success in
doing that, planning against the run, effecting the quarterback. And
you know, we really pushed each other. You know, we
didn't we didn't say a whole lot in terms of, hey,
you got to get it going. We just understood we
crossed the line to go out the practice. Man, it
was it was go time, and it was just fun
(18:33):
to do it in that way.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
It's called chemistry, by the way, as we both know,
and the chemistry between the two of you was just unbelievable.
Let me take you to Super Bowl number twenty nine,
played in South Florida down on the Miami area. It
was a mismatch in a sense as you guys immediately
came out, you scored fourteen points in the first three quarters.
You won the game forty nine twenty six. What stands
(18:55):
out the most to you about that game?
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Wow?
Speaker 3 (19:01):
A lot.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
It goes from even before we get to the game.
It was a week or just great practice. The focus
was there, how we practiced. When we got to practice,
everybody was locked in. By the time we got to
the game and all the festivities that was going on,
the fanfare, the the fireworks and all that, it became
(19:28):
for me us. I think the general feeling was, well,
we we have prepared, we are ready, We're gonna win
this game. Not in an over confident or cocky way,
but we just felt confident in what we had did
in terms of preparations that we're gonna win, and it
was just a matter of how many points were gonna
win by. But but I remember just when that when
(19:51):
that when everything settled, the smoke cleared. They probably took
a few minutes in the first course of smoke clear,
but it was another game and you were just locked
in and you're trying to affect the game as best
you can. Everybody was teamed in and it was just
a great It was also great to see not only
(20:13):
how we performed on defense, but the watcher offense were
on the sideline do something incredible and put up forty
nine points. Just an incredible opportunity to do that in
the first year. It was special then to see all
the excitement after the game and post game conference, just
(20:36):
an incredible experience and glad I get a chance to
be a part of that with my teammates.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
Many times we hear announcers say about an athlete, particularly
in football, being a warrior. I want to take you
back to nineteen ninety eight. You are having a great
season nine and a half sacks, and then you had
a season ending injury suffered in the Monday night matchup
against the New York Giants, and that ninety eight season,
but that injury to you was so severe that you
(21:05):
needed a metal rod be inserted in the broken leg.
And despite your devastating injury, you came back late in
the that came late in the nineteen ninety eight season,
you came back fully recovered in time for the ninety
nine season and recorded over seventy tackles and eleven sacks.
That is a lot of fortitude, It's a lot of
positive thinking, it's a lot of hard work. What was
(21:27):
the most challenging thing for you as a person and
as an athlete?
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Wow, you know, I think that injury challenged me in
every facet of a comeback and the rehab it challenged
me mentally. It challenged me physically, of course, but I
didn't know, if you know, I knew how severe it was,
and it was going to be a huge challenge for
(21:54):
me to work back and get to back where I was.
I didn't. I didn't feel like myself until midway through
the season. But I would say the most challenging part
was to stay positive and to stay committed to the process.
As hard as it was. There was a lot of
adversity that I faced when this seemed like there was
(22:17):
no hope and things weren't getting better. There was just
a little glimmer of light that really motivated me and
inspired me to keep moving forward and stay stay on
the track on track, you know. But and it happened
just a little bit at a time, day by day.
But I'll tell you what it was not so much
(22:39):
of all the work that I did, but it was
a lot of people that were around me that helped
me through that whole process, through the medical staff, the
athletic trainers, our strength conditioning staff, and Jerry Hadaway and
Terrell Jones. It was just just a village of people.
(23:00):
But in terms of the fortitude and the will, it
really did test my love for the game, like how
bad did I want it? And to be able to
come back and really play up to a level that
a lot of people didn't expect, you know, it's it's
also a testament to you know, guys just really looking
(23:20):
over me and giving me grace and mercy and allowing
me to strength and wire me the way that he
has u to work through that. So I was very
very grateful to be able to come back from that.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
Do you remember the particular moment, Briant when you said
to yourself, I did it.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
No, I never It's funny, I never think about I.
You know, although I don't think about I did it,
I think about we did it, you know. And I
never had the aha my moment I made it. You know,
for me, it's always been about we made it. We
(24:04):
got to this point because I've never been a me
guy in that since. And for me to say I
did it and not acknowledging all the people that have
been a huge part of this journey, it would be
a discredit to them for all the work and the
things that they did to inspire to sharpen, to help
(24:26):
develop me, to operate on me, to develop a workout
plan for me. So the coach and you know, give
me different technique things in the defensive game planned to
allow me to play the way I did. We made it,
And so to say that I made it would do
a disservice to the people that have been important in
(24:49):
my journey.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
In ninety seconds, when you think about your pro football career,
what is that one moment indelible in your mind that
you'll never forget.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
That's a great question. Well, I'll just say the some
of the just to be a part of such an
iconic brand and the ownership and Nadie, the Barlow and
Denise and then the New York family, the coaches and
(25:26):
my teammates that when I think about the brand and
the marriage and all that and all that it encompasses.
Would one championships that's you know, that's obvious, the comeback award,
But but the some of the brand and what it
stood for to be able to wear that with with
(25:47):
pride and honor, that that really stands out for me.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
Well, Brian, I watched your entire career joyfully, I might say,
and I just smiled when I saw your name had
been released as being a member of the Pro Football
Hall of Fame. It is so well deserved, but not
only for your athletic capabilities, but for the man that
you are and the things that you've done in other
ways in your life. Thank you very much for spending
time with us here. You're welcome anytime on Sports Byline.
(26:15):
Thank you so much again. Brian Young elected to the
Pro Football Hall of Fame. Defensive tackle played in the
Lake for fourteen seasons with the forty nine ers after
an outstanding All America career at Notre Dame, and he
is a member of the NFL's All Decade Team of
the nineteen nineties at eighty nine and a half sacks
in his fourteen year career with the forty nine Ers,
(26:35):
ranking him at sixth all time in the NFL in
career sacks for a player in the defensive tackle position,
and he also owns this was a stat that I
wasn't aware of. Also owns the forty nine Ers franchise
record for career safeties with three. Brian Young with us
as we continue across the country and around the world.
Good to have you with us on America's sports talk show.
(26:57):
You have been listening to Ron Bars Sports byline yousa
podcast on the eight Side Network.
Hi, I'm Ron Barr, and this is today's edition of
Ron Barr's Sports Byline USA podcast on the eight Side Network.
Bryan Young joins US on Sports Byline. He's been elected
to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He played defensive
tackle in the NFL for fourteen seasons with the forty
nine Ers after an outstanding All America career at Notre Dame.
(00:20):
He had nearly ninety career sacks, and he won a
Super Bowl championship and beating the Chargers forty nine twenty
six in Super Bowl twenty nine. First of all, having
been here in San Francisco during your playing career and
having watched you, congratulations. But take me back and tell
me a little bit about growing up in Chicago.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Yeah, Chicago, small blue collar town south of Chicago, about
thirty minutes twenty five to thirty minutes outside of the
city and the south suburbs. And grew up with both
my parents and two older brothers. Mam and dad were
mary for a while. They ended up getting the bores
after I graduated from college and Dad wanted to remarry
(01:04):
and my mom didn't remarry, but just humble beginning, blue
collar town. My dad was a great provider for us,
supplied everything we needed. Didn't always get what we wanted,
but we had our needs mat and he was a
long time Ford employee. Retired from there after almost forty years,
(01:25):
and then he started driving school buses in retirement to
keep him himself busy. So from there I went to
high school, played at Bloom High School in Chicago Heights
and then went to Notre Dame in nineteen ninety graduated
there in nineteen ninety four. But just a diverse city
in Chicago Heights had a huge Mexican, African, American, and
(01:51):
Italian population there.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Let me ask you, Brian, about the fact that growing
up in a two parent home. You know, we see
a lot of things, you hear a lot of things,
But what about that stability for you? What did that
provide you that maybe you wouldn't have gotten if you
hadn't had two parents.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
You know what I think it? You know, for some
it would have been different. I think sometimes we grew
up in a single parent home where to be a
mom or dad most the most pictures we see a
lot is just a single parent mom. And you get
that father figure from a mentor a teacher or a coach.
The lucky I had, you know, my dad and my mom.
(02:29):
And my mom worked a little bit, she didn't. I
worked my entire upbringing, and my dad was the soul
breadwinner most of my growing up. And just seeing that example,
having this presence, having a firm hand, always being fair,
firm but fair, and just having a love and the
(02:50):
nurturing there with both mom and dad there, I think
just seeing you know, what it's supposed to look like
from a leadership standpoint, a provider and just serving in
the community. So all those things and examples of hard work, perseverance,
and just being humble. I got those examples from I've
(03:11):
seen my dad do those things and living them out
and then also having my mom there as well.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Growing up.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
You mentioned about going to Notre Dame. I'm sure you
had lots of opportunities to go a lot of different places.
What was the magic What was the draw of Notre
Dame to you?
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Yeah? The big draw. There was a big Notre Dame
following in Chicago, of course, had a huge network of
Notre Dame alumni there, but just being in close park Semi,
I think you're just going to get a lot of
that in your place. But I had an opportunity to
go to Notre Dame on my way back from a
trip we took to DC and there was my eighth
(03:49):
grade trip. On our way back, we stopped on campus,
had a chance to walk around campus. It just kind
of an awe went to the bookstore and never thinking
that years later would end up going to school there.
But you know, for me, when I had a chance
to go back and just understand what was there in
terms of opportunity, there was a great education. For me.
(04:10):
It was really getting the chance to be around the team,
the campus, the faculty, and just the student population. It
just it felt really special. It felt like a family,
and it felt like it was the best place for me.
And really Notre Dame could have been in Timbuctoo, I
still would have went, you know, there just been an
hour and a half away, made it really convenient. Just
(04:33):
a great school. Talk about the community of the campus
and just what what Notre Dames stood for, you know,
it's missions and this service to people and things. Just
being able to go there as a young man and
being able to grow mature coming out in nineteen ninety
four a very very special place. And I'm glad I
(04:54):
had a chance to go there and be a part
of something very very special.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
One of the things Bryant I will always remember I
broadcast Sports Byline USA from the campus during one football season,
and it was the first time I had ever been there.
Under those circumstances, I had broadcast games from there. But
the one thing that struck me with the athletes is
that they were prepared in many many different ways. I
know at Notre Dame, the athletes are taught how to
(05:20):
deal with the media, how to deal with interviews and everything.
I really got a feeling that that campus and the
athlete there, and probably all the students, but the athlete
in particular, they got a well rounded education in everything,
just not what was in the classroom. Am I correct
in that observation, Ye?
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Absolutely, I think you know, for us it was we
had a chance to go there and we just didn't
live with the other student. Athletes for us were with
the student population. Mine as every one of my class
and before me. We all had opportunities to room and
care with those that didn't play sports, and I think
(06:00):
that was the most unique thing about Notre Dame that
we got a chance to be a part of the
student body, and it's good to get outside of the
things that you're accustomed to in your group outside of sports.
So we got a chance to meet great people students
that went there. My roommate, I'm still great friends with
Dave Ranki and Michael Meyer who's a pediactor surgeon orthopedic
(06:26):
surgeon in Texas, and just a special place to just
grow and meet other people that are from different backgrounds
and that develop those relationships.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
I've also always felt that the football tradition at Notre
Dame is something unique. I know every school has a tradition,
but there's something about that Notre Dame football mistake. Help
me out with did better understand it?
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Yeah? Just understanding the history of all who have been
there before, the many championships, Air Part season, New Rodney,
just incredible coaches and the administration Moose Krause, who you know,
was a ad there for a long time. Just that
there are many wins and years of of winning championships.
(07:14):
You know, you look at all the Heisman Trophy winners
over the years. It's just the place where you're just
accustomed to winning, get you're accustomed to plan at a
high standard and playing some of the very best schools
in the country, and the expectations there were, Hey, we're
here to win a championship. We're not just looking that
(07:35):
we didn't belong to a conference, you know my time
there and and still that way today, but just understanding
that we are here to play at a certain standard
and we're playing for a championship every year. That was
just the way it was. And you're involved in a
culture and everybody's there to understand that, and I think
(07:56):
it's you know, in terms of just having an opportunity
to really pay it forward like those that were there
before me, like you understand the legacy that the left.
So when I got there, other teammates that got there,
we understood that, hey, it was important for us to
continue to take the batime and leave it better than
(08:18):
we even found it. So that was just the standard.
That was the culture there, just a very very unique
place to be a part of and grow and develop
as a young student athlete.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
We've got about two minutes before we have to break here.
You know, every athlete that plays at a school, and
especially at the level that you played, it has a
moment that's kind of ingrained in their mind during their
college career. What was it for you, Brian?
Speaker 2 (08:45):
You know, just for me, I think I really learned
a lot about just you know, you think about being
responsible and accountable to not only just the school and
the institution, but you have a chance to play at
a high level and you represent all those guys that
(09:06):
you're playing with, and to really, you know, take that
on and be responsible for that. You know, that was
one of the things that stood out for me. I
didn't want to let my brother down, so it was
important for me just to continue to hold up my
end of the bargain and do the very best that
I can because I knew that my teammate was counting
(09:26):
on me as well as I was counting on them.
But there are a lot of great memories in terms
of bowl games that we played in big games, the
Game of the Century Florida State versus Notre Dame. So
there are a lot of moments that stand out. But
it was awesome to be able to go there and
(09:48):
then get a degree there from the University of Notre
Dame in the business school and marketing.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
And about forty seconds before we break here, you know,
there are traditions in college sports and certainly rival games.
When it comes to rivalries, I guess maybe you can
help me out here. Notre Dame and who finishes that statement.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Wow, Notre Dame in Michigan Notre Dame and Michigan State
Notre Dame and USC. So when you think about rivalry games,
those three games come up. There are some history, you know.
I'm sure back in the earlier years, the Michigan State
Notre Dame game used to be really something special, but
(10:29):
then it became the Miston Notre Dame. For me, you know,
the Notre Dame and USC games were always special and
always look forward to playing that game every year.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Bryant Young is with us. He's been elected to the
Pro Football Hall of Fame. Fourteen year career in the NFL,
all of those in a forty nine ers uniform. And
when we come back on the other side, we're going
to talk to him about that outstanding NFL career. As
we continue across the country and around the world with
you on Sports Byline.
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Speaker 1 (11:59):
You're listening to Ron Barr's Sports Byline USA podcast. Brian
Young has joined us on the Sports Byline USA network.
As I mentioned before, he's been elected to the Pro
Football Hall of Fame. He went to four Pro Bowls
fourteen seasons all with the forty nine ers, and of
course an outstanding All America career at Notre Dame. You know,
I know when you got the knock on the door
(12:19):
and they told you, Bryant Young, you're going to be
enshrined in the National Football League Hall of Fame. A
lot of people have different appreciations for that in your
particular case, because you were the not only a well
rounded athlete, but a well rounded person as well. What
went through your mind immediately upon hearing that.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Well, just the journey. You know, you look at your
time as a young athlete in high school and the
development that happened there, and then having a chance to
play in college in the development that happened there, and
the people that were part of that, and then I
go to the Niners, and then it continues to makes
(13:00):
the coaches, the ownership, and just being a part of
such an iconic brand enfranchise it. Really all those things
come up, and just along the way, just the friendships,
the mentorship that you meet and have, the people that
develop you in a very special way. So all those
(13:22):
things kind of come up when I think about just
having the opportunity to be a part of this unique brotherhood.
But then when I look at almost thirty something thousand
people that played this game. Of that many people, three
hundred and sixty two have been enshrined in the national
(13:43):
and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. And when I
think of that, that is so so humbling. You know
that I had a chance to go along the journey
and be one of those three hundred and sixty two
people to be enshrined. That's just not athlete, it's coaches,
its administrators, as ownership, and I'm a part of that.
(14:05):
That's a wild moment for me. It's a very very
humble moment when you think about in totality all that,
all the people that have been part of the game
and helped develop and transform the game into where it
is today. To be three hundred and sixty two, a
sixty second member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame,
that to me is very humbling. And then I want
(14:28):
to to also be able to play with just one franchise.
Just just unique opportunity to do that and be in
the same place and just be a part of brand.
It was a great marriage and I'm glad it worked
out by the way it did, and I maybe to
represent the San Francisco forty nine Ers.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
When I came to San Francisco to do sports on television.
It was the same year. Matter of fact, it was
the first NFL owners meeting in which a young thirty
plus something, he was just over thirty year old owner
Eddie de Barbeloa Junior, had taken over the team. And
so I had a chance to watch Camelot from the beginning,
through your career and everything, and I'm just wondering, what
(15:05):
was your first impression of him, Eddie.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Well, well, my first impression it goes back to when
I was growing up in Chicago. Like i'd heard about
through the Bears, you know, I grew up a Bear fan,
and so through my love with the Bears and then
the Niners basically beating them in the playoffs and knocking
them out and having some tough battles, that's when I
(15:31):
kind of started to follow and track the forty nine ers.
And then as time goes by, here about this incredible
owner and Eddie the Barlow. And then I had a
chance to go to Notre Dame and I'm kind of
being a part of the legacy, taking classes into the
Barlow Center of the Barlow Hall building one of the
newest buildings toward the my junior and senior year on campus,
(15:55):
and they's just understanding who they were as a family,
just their commitment to community and family and their philanthropic work.
But not only that, you think about ownership and their
top down approach in terms of how you run it,
it's no wonder like the people play as hard coaches
(16:17):
hard manage is hard because you have ownership that's done
an incredible job over the years. Just there's a lot
that he's done this compassionate hard, you know, not only
just for his team, but just for other different causes.
So much respect and regard for ownership in that way.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Let me also ask you about Dana Stubblefield. I had
a as I ever thought back on your career, and
I remember watching you and Dana work together. People don't
realize the teamwork and it can come down to two
players like you and Dana can be significant in the
end result. How did you guys blend your talents to
get the result that the forty nine or is the
(17:00):
team needed the organization needed in the success it got.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Yeah, So then I was coming in my first year
as a second year had just come up a really
big year and won the defensive rookie other year. And
you know, for for us, it was right off the bat,
it was understanding the standard and what was at stake.
We we really pushed each other without saying a whole lot,
(17:28):
you know, how we how we practiced, how we competed
in the off season, how we practiced during the week,
and then to go out on Sundays or Monday nights
or sometimes Thursdays and play the way we were capable of.
We really pushed each other and just understanding that, you know,
(17:49):
we had something special and unique in terms of UH
being able to take advantage of when the double team
was coming my way and he has a chance to
work one on one with the guard and vice versa.
You know, when he had double teams with the protection
turned his way, I had a chance to work one
on ones in the inside. And so just just a
(18:10):
great worker relationship and had a lot of success in
doing that, planning against the run, effecting the quarterback. And
you know, we really pushed each other. You know, we
didn't we didn't say a whole lot in terms of, hey,
you got to get it going. We just understood we
crossed the line to go out the practice. Man, it
was it was go time, and it was just fun
(18:33):
to do it in that way.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
It's called chemistry, by the way, as we both know,
and the chemistry between the two of you was just unbelievable.
Let me take you to Super Bowl number twenty nine,
played in South Florida down on the Miami area. It
was a mismatch in a sense as you guys immediately
came out, you scored fourteen points in the first three quarters.
You won the game forty nine twenty six. What stands
(18:55):
out the most to you about that game?
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Wow?
Speaker 3 (19:01):
A lot.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
It goes from even before we get to the game.
It was a week or just great practice. The focus
was there, how we practiced. When we got to practice,
everybody was locked in. By the time we got to
the game and all the festivities that was going on,
the fanfare, the the fireworks and all that, it became
(19:28):
for me us. I think the general feeling was, well,
we we have prepared, we are ready, We're gonna win
this game. Not in an over confident or cocky way,
but we just felt confident in what we had did
in terms of preparations that we're gonna win, and it
was just a matter of how many points were gonna
win by. But but I remember just when that when
(19:51):
that when everything settled, the smoke cleared. They probably took
a few minutes in the first course of smoke clear,
but it was another game and you were just locked
in and you're trying to affect the game as best
you can. Everybody was teamed in and it was just
a great It was also great to see not only
(20:13):
how we performed on defense, but the watcher offense were
on the sideline do something incredible and put up forty
nine points. Just an incredible opportunity to do that in
the first year. It was special then to see all
the excitement after the game and post game conference, just
(20:36):
an incredible experience and glad I get a chance to
be a part of that with my teammates.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
Many times we hear announcers say about an athlete, particularly
in football, being a warrior. I want to take you
back to nineteen ninety eight. You are having a great
season nine and a half sacks, and then you had
a season ending injury suffered in the Monday night matchup
against the New York Giants, and that ninety eight season,
but that injury to you was so severe that you
(21:05):
needed a metal rod be inserted in the broken leg.
And despite your devastating injury, you came back late in
the that came late in the nineteen ninety eight season,
you came back fully recovered in time for the ninety
nine season and recorded over seventy tackles and eleven sacks.
That is a lot of fortitude, It's a lot of
positive thinking, it's a lot of hard work. What was
(21:27):
the most challenging thing for you as a person and
as an athlete?
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Wow, you know, I think that injury challenged me in
every facet of a comeback and the rehab it challenged
me mentally. It challenged me physically, of course, but I
didn't know, if you know, I knew how severe it was,
and it was going to be a huge challenge for
(21:54):
me to work back and get to back where I was.
I didn't. I didn't feel like myself until midway through
the season. But I would say the most challenging part
was to stay positive and to stay committed to the process.
As hard as it was. There was a lot of
adversity that I faced when this seemed like there was
(22:17):
no hope and things weren't getting better. There was just
a little glimmer of light that really motivated me and
inspired me to keep moving forward and stay stay on
the track on track, you know. But and it happened
just a little bit at a time, day by day.
But I'll tell you what it was not so much
(22:39):
of all the work that I did, but it was
a lot of people that were around me that helped
me through that whole process, through the medical staff, the
athletic trainers, our strength conditioning staff, and Jerry Hadaway and
Terrell Jones. It was just just a village of people.
(23:00):
But in terms of the fortitude and the will, it
really did test my love for the game, like how
bad did I want it? And to be able to
come back and really play up to a level that
a lot of people didn't expect, you know, it's it's
also a testament to you know, guys just really looking
(23:20):
over me and giving me grace and mercy and allowing
me to strength and wire me the way that he
has u to work through that. So I was very
very grateful to be able to come back from that.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
Do you remember the particular moment, Briant when you said
to yourself, I did it.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
No, I never It's funny, I never think about I.
You know, although I don't think about I did it,
I think about we did it, you know. And I
never had the aha my moment I made it. You know,
for me, it's always been about we made it. We
(24:04):
got to this point because I've never been a me
guy in that since. And for me to say I
did it and not acknowledging all the people that have
been a huge part of this journey, it would be
a discredit to them for all the work and the
things that they did to inspire to sharpen, to help
(24:26):
develop me, to operate on me, to develop a workout
plan for me. So the coach and you know, give
me different technique things in the defensive game planned to
allow me to play the way I did. We made it,
And so to say that I made it would do
a disservice to the people that have been important in
(24:49):
my journey.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
In ninety seconds, when you think about your pro football career,
what is that one moment indelible in your mind that
you'll never forget.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
That's a great question. Well, I'll just say the some
of the just to be a part of such an
iconic brand and the ownership and Nadie, the Barlow and
Denise and then the New York family, the coaches and
(25:26):
my teammates that when I think about the brand and
the marriage and all that and all that it encompasses.
Would one championships that's you know, that's obvious, the comeback award,
But but the some of the brand and what it
stood for to be able to wear that with with
(25:47):
pride and honor, that that really stands out for me.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
Well, Brian, I watched your entire career joyfully, I might say,
and I just smiled when I saw your name had
been released as being a member of the Pro Football
Hall of Fame. It is so well deserved, but not
only for your athletic capabilities, but for the man that
you are and the things that you've done in other
ways in your life. Thank you very much for spending
time with us here. You're welcome anytime on Sports Byline.
(26:15):
Thank you so much again. Brian Young elected to the
Pro Football Hall of Fame. Defensive tackle played in the
Lake for fourteen seasons with the forty nine ers after
an outstanding All America career at Notre Dame, and he
is a member of the NFL's All Decade Team of
the nineteen nineties at eighty nine and a half sacks
in his fourteen year career with the forty nine Ers,
(26:35):
ranking him at sixth all time in the NFL in
career sacks for a player in the defensive tackle position,
and he also owns this was a stat that I
wasn't aware of. Also owns the forty nine Ers franchise
record for career safeties with three. Brian Young with us
as we continue across the country and around the world.
Good to have you with us on America's sports talk show.
(26:57):
You have been listening to Ron Bars Sports byline yousa
podcast on the eight Side Network.
Host
Ron Barr
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