Former BYU football Consensus All-American Steve Young is one of six former NCAA student-athletes selected to receive the 2009 NCAA Silver Anniversary Award.
Young becomes the fourth Cougar to receive the prestigious award, joining current BYU faculty athletic representative Larry Echohawk (football, 1970), who was honored in 1995; Gifford Nielsen (football, 1978), who was honored in 2001; and Danny Ainge (basketball, 1981), who received the award in 2006.
The honor recognizes former student-athletes who successfully completed collegiate careers in various sports and have excelled in their chosen professions. The Silver Anniversary Award acknowledges the former student-athletes on their 25th anniversary of completing their athletics eligibility.
Silver Anniversary honorees will be recognized Jan. 15,2008, at the NCAA Honors and Delegates Celebration during the 2009 NCAA Convention in Washington, D.C.
Other 2009 NCAA Silver Anniversary Award winners are Dieter Collins-Parker (Hawaii, volleyball and basketball); Mark Fusco (Harvard, ice hockey); Earl Graves Jr. (Yale, basketball); and Kathy McMinn (Georgia, gymnastics). The Silver Anniversary Award recipients are selected each year by the NCAA Honors Committee.
Young was the 1983 Davey O’Brien Award winner and the 1982 WAC Offensive Player of the Year. During his BYU career he set 13 NCAA records and seven Western Athletic Conference marks. As a senior, Young posted a completion rate of 71.3 percent (306 of 429 for 3,902 yards and 33 touchdowns), the highest single-season percentage in NCAA history at the time.
The highest-rated quarterback in NFL history, Young was named MVP in the San Francisco 49ers’ Super Bowl XXIX victory in 1995. The two-time league MVP was selected as the 1992 NFL Player of the Year by Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News. During his career, appeared in seven consecutive Pro Bowls and won four straight NFL passing titles.
A 1984 NCAA postgraduate scholarship winner and NCAA Top Five honoree, Young graduated with a degree in international relations from Brigham Young and earned a law degree from the Brigham Young’s J. Rueben Clark Law School in 1994.
An active participant in numerous charities across the nation, Young serves as honorary chair of the Children’s Miracle Network in San Francisco and is a member of the Dream Team of Children’s Miracle Network and Parents of Children with Disabilities. He also is the founder of the Forever Young Charity Foundation.
In 2001, Young was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and was later inducted into the CoSiDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2005 Young was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Young is currently an NFL analyst for ESPN.