Bryant Young is as classy as they come.
The former defensive lineman was inducted into the 49ers Hall of Fame Sunday at halftime of Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals. It might have been the best moment of the day for the 49ers Faithful.
Young joined 95.7 The Game's “Willard & Dibs” Tuesday morning to express his gratitude to the 49ers, where he played for his entire 14-year career from 1994 to 2007. Listen to the full interview above.
“I tend to lean toward the ‘behind-the-scenes’ guy. I don’t handle talking to myself well,” Young said. “It is about others. Just to be others-centered as we live life. Life is not about us. The moment I start to reflect on me and think it’s all about me, it could be bad. It’s all about the people that are around me. To acknowledge the people that impacted my life, it was an opportunity to do that.
“At times, I was always finding moments to do something that was not about me, to take the light off of me. It’s really a huge honor to be recognized the way I have. I’m thankful to the organization and all the people around me, for sure.”
You can see why Young always had the reputation of being a true professional and great teammate. Young was a four-time Pro Bowler who helped anchor the defensive line as a rookie during the team’s Super Bowl XXIX run and finished his career with 89.5 sacks, which is tops in the franchise by a whopping 23 (Charles Haley, 66.5 sacks).
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The NFL named him to the 1990s All-Decade Team but he’s yet to get the call from Canton, Ohio, from the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Young said he’s not concerned about trading his red jacket for a gold one.
“I don’t think about those things,” Young said. “But it’s awesome to see how one’s body of work may be worthy of those type of accolades. I’m really honored to have played as long as I have. If that opportunity comes, I think it’s a real moment.”
When looking at this year’s 3-5 49ers squad, Young remains optimistic, despite what he saw Sunday against the Cardinals.
“There’s still a lot of hope,” Young said. “There’s a lot of games left. You just have to keep fighting, scratching and clawing to continue to battle to win games.”
