49ers' Bryant Young endured death of 15-year-old son on his way to the Hall of Fame
On his way from South Bend, Indiana, to Canton, Ohio, Bryant Young endured football trials great and small. He lived through a family matter that touches his soul.
Being a Notre Dame captain in the biggest loss in Fighting Irish history perhaps stands as his greatest football trial.
It ranks up there with breaking a leg when he was a rising San Francisco 49er. It was one of those gruesome fractures, the kind people of a certain age associate with an NFL quarterback from Notre Dame, Joe Theismann, and with a Cincinnati Bengals nose tackle, Tim Krumrie, who snapped a leg in a Super Bowl against the 49ers.
The trial that began seven years after the end of Young's 14-year NFL career dwarfed the others.
Bryant and Kristin Young settled with their children in Charlotte, North Carolina. Son Colby, one of six siblings, came home from eighth-grade football practice one day in 2014 with a severe headache.
It was bad enough to prompt a hospital visit. Colby was diagnosed with pediatric brain cancer.
The stories and photos of struggle and courage, progress and setback, mourning and remembrance, would move anyone.
Colby was 15 when he breathed his last on Oct. 11, 2016.
2022 Enshrinement:'You live on in our hearts': Bryant Young salutes late son Colby at his Enshrinement
Bryant took a coaching job with the Atlanta Falcons in 2017. Every day, he presented his defensive linemen with 15 questions. Eventually they learned it was a tribute to Colby's years on Earth.
Months and years passed. One time Bryant Young posted Colby's picture on Instagram with a birthday message from the other side: "Holding all the memories and the hope in Christ to get me through until I'm able to see you again."
Bryant lived in a daze for quite a while.
"Sometimes," he says now, "it was so hard to even get up in the morning and pray."
The epic Notre Dame loss came against Boston College on Nov. 20, 1993. A week earlier, captain Bryant Young enjoyed his finest hour, helping lead the No. 2 Fighting Irish to a win over No. 1 Florida State.
All that was left was to win the regular-season finale against Boston College (the score from the previous year was 54-7), then win a bowl game, and then celebrate a national championship.
The Boston College game started poorly but turned to a thrill ride when Notre Dame rallied to a late 39-38 lead. Boston College had time for a late field goal, making it an epic upset, 41-39.
The Fighting Irish went on to beat Texas A&M in a bowl game. They finished No. 2 in the final polls, higher than any of Notre Dame's final rankings in 29 subsequent seasons, but that was of minimal consolation at the time.
Young, a defensive tackle, and Notre Dame teammate Aaron Taylor, an offensive tackle, suffered the loss together, moved on to the NFL, won Super Bowls, and stayed in touch.
Their teams actually collided in an NFC championship game, won by Taylor's Packers on Jan. 6, 1996. By then Young had a reputation as the best young defensive tackle in football.
His team and his career were rolling when the 49ers rolled into a Monday night game against the Giants on Nov. 30, 1998.
The game was nearly over when he went down. He recalled the moment for Sports Spectrum, saying it prepared him for his son's ordeal:
"I began seeking God when I was flat on my back. I was weak, vulnerable and powerless. And God began to go to work.
"I accepted Christ as my Savior when I was 10 years old. In the early part of 2000, I made a commitment to serve Christ like I hadn't before.
"As dads we are supposed to be protectors, to guard our families, our children and our spouses. When we can't do that, we feel helpless. I went through some dark times. God gave me what I needed to get through to the next day, the next week, the next month.
"We are hopeful. I am assured that Colby is in heaven now. We had the opportunity to walk with him and talk to him about looking forward to heaven. That was beautiful for us to be able to do.
"My wife and I were always givers, but we learned a valuable lesson during that season of our lives. We had to learn how to open our hands to allow other people to bless us.
"God is still teaching me to keep growing. I don't have all the answers."
From Canton, if you jump on U.S. Route 30 and stay there long enough, you will wind up in Chicago Heights, Illinois, where Bryant Young grew up, 30 miles south of Soldier Field, 85 miles west of Notre Dame.
Young reflected on his upbringing during a recent interview with the Canton Repository:
"Chicago Heights was a very blue-collar town. My father worked at Ford. I had two older brothers. We had our moments as siblings growing up, but we looked out for each other.
"My parents did a good job making sure we had everything we needed, from a spiritual standpoint, a nurturing standpoint, teaching us right from wrong, understanding there are consequences for your actions.
"It meant something when my mom asked us to do something. What she asked us to do was how she lived her life. She loved people and she served people. She had a huge heart."
Young's size, athleticism and character put him at the top of recruiting wish lists. He was a senior at Bloom High School in 1989, which happened to be Bo Schembechler's last season at Michigan. The Wolverines made a hard push, but he cast his lot with another Ohio-bred coach, Lou Holtz, whose 1988 Notre Dame team went 12-0 and won the national championship.
"The overall feel of Notre Dame, the passion, the family aspect, Lou Holtz ... it fit the bill," Young said.
He sat a year and started for Notre Dame in 1991, when a 10-3 finish included a 24-14 lost at No. 3 Michigan.
In 1992, a loss to Stanford put the Irish at 3-1-1. From then through a bowl win over Texas A&M on Jan. 1, 1994, the record was 17-1, the only loss coming to Boston College.
In 2018, a Fansided panel picked an all-time Notre Dame team, position by position. Young's friend Taylor made it on the offensive line. The defensive linemen were Alan Page, Chris Zorich, Leon Hart and Ross Browner.
Excluding Young is suspect. He was ready enough coming out of Notre Dame to start every game as a 49ers rookie. The 49ers went 13-3 and easily won three postseason games, including Super Bowl XXIX against the Chargers.
He was a force on 49ers teams that went 11-5 in 1995, 12-4 in '96 and 13-3 in '97.
The 1998 team was blowing out the Giants, about to be 9-3, when Young broke a leg. That Monday night was a collage of what put Young in the Hall of Fame.
First quarter: Drops Tiki Barber for a 4-yard loss.
Second quarter: Comes close to sacking QB Kent Graham before tackling him after a 1-yard gain.
Third quarter: Stuffs Gary Brown at the line of scrimmage.
Fourth quarter: Again chases down Graham after a 1-yard gain.
Late in the game, a 31-7 win, Young again got after Graham when he went down in a heap.
Head coach Steve Mariucci followed the medics onto the field. He told Young not to look as his broken tibia and fibia were arranged in an air cast. Kristin Young, who was pregnant, found her way to Bryant's side and took his right hand. Owner Eddie DeBartolo grasped his left hand as he was wheeled to an ambulance.
Young made short work of the long road back. Nine months after surgery, he played the 1999 opener. He didn't miss a game and was named NFL Comeback Player of the Year.
He came back an iron man, making 140 of his 208 career starts after the nasty break.
"He was to our defense what Steve Young and Jerry Rice were to our offense, in regards to being a leader and showing the way," Mariucci told Hall of Fame voter Clark Judge on Talk of Fame Network. "Bryant Young was the man."
Eight times, the 49ers presented Young with the Len Eshmont Award, based on inspirational presence, courage and outstanding play. No other 49er has won it more than twice.
All of those awards came before the biggest trial of his life.
Reach Steve at steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com
On Twitter: @sdoerschukREP
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Bryant Young lost son to cancer on way to Pro Football Hall of Fame
