Former BYU football All-American Steve Young headlined a group of six former NCAA student-athletes who received the prestigious 2009 NCAA Silver Anniversary Award at the NCAA Convention in January.
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.
The Silver Anniversary Award recipients are selected by the NCAA Honors Committee and were honored on January 15 at the NCAA Honors and Delegates Celebration in Washington, D.C.
Young set 13 NCAA records (four total offense and nine passing) and seven Western Athletic Conference marks during a prolific career as quarterback at BYU.
Other 2009 NCAA Silver Anniversary Award winners included:
> Darrell Green, Texas A&M (football & track)
> Deidre Collins-Parker, Hawaii (volleyball & basketball)
> Mark Fusco, Harvard (ice hockey)
> Earl Graves Jr., Yale (basketball)
> Kathy McMinn, Georgia (gymnastics)
Young, who is currently a NFL studio analyst for ESPN, was the 1983 Davey O’Brien Award winner and the 1982 WAC Offensive Player of the Year. As a senior he 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. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2005.
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.
Young is the fourth BYU Cougar to receive the prestigious NCAA Silver Anniversary Award, joining Larry EchoHawk (1995), Gifford Nielsen (2003) and Danny Ainge (2006).