NFF National Scholar-Athletes
Steve Young set some of the greatest records in the history of football. Playing 31 games for Brigham Young 1981-83, he was responsible for 74 touchdowns - 56 passing and 18 running. He completed 592 passes for 7733 yards. He had 8817 yards total offense. In 1982, his total offense, 311.8 yards per game, was second in the nation. In 1983, he led the nation in total offense 4346 yards, 3802 passing yards, 306 complete passes, 33 touchdown passes, and a pass completion percentage of .713. All this in 11 games. He was a unanimous All-America and won the Davey O'Brien and Sammy Baugh Awards as the nation's top quarterback. In 1983, he was recognized by the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame as a top scholar-athlete. He also won NCAA scholar-athlete recognition and was Western Athletic Conference all-academic. Young added a law degree in 1994. He played 15 years as a pro, reaching the heights with the San Francisco 49ers. He threw six touchdown passes in Super Bowl XXIX January 29, 1995 and was Most Valuable Player in the game. He was MVP of the National Football League in 1992 and 1994.
In 1999, he was ranked No. 63 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. Young was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on February 5, 2005, becoming the first left-handed quarterback to be so honored.The San Francisco 49ers had his #8 jersey retired during a halftime ceremony against the New England Patriots on October 5, 2008. Young received a J.D. from BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters at Utah Valley University for speaking at its graduation ceremonies in 2005.Young serves as a managing director of Huntsman Gay Global Capital, a leading middle-market private equity firm in Palo Alto, Calif. He has appeared on pre- and post-game shows for ESPN's Monday Night Football and co-hosts a radio show on KNBR 680 AM in San Francisco. Young serves as a National Advisor to ASCEND: A Humanitarian Alliance, which plans expeditions to African and South American countries to provide life skills mentoring with sustainable solutions in education, enterprise, health and simple technology. In 1993, Young founded a charitable foundation known as the Forever Young Foundation, which serves children facing significant physical, emotional, and financial challenges by providing academic, athletic and therapeutic opportunities otherwise unavailable to them. In 2001, Young was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
