Brett Young (April 3, 1967 – March 3, 2015) was an
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
defensive back
In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...
who played seven seasons in the
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...
(CFL) with the
Ottawa Rough Riders
The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine ...
,
BC Lions and
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...
. He was drafted by the
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...
of the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL) in the eighth round of the 1989 NFL
Supplemental Draft. He played
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
at the
University of Oregon
The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...
and attended
Phineas Banning High School in
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
.
College career
Young played for the
Oregon Ducks from 1985 to 1988, recording nine interceptions. He was dismissed from the school for academic shortcomings in June 1989.
Professional career
Young was selected by the
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...
of the NFL in the eighth round of the 1989 NFL Supplemental Draft.
Ottawa Rough Riders
On August 15, 1989, Young was signed to the practice roster of the
Ottawa Rough Riders
The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine ...
of the CFL. Due to injuries, he made his CFL debut, and first start, on August 21, 1989, against the
Toronto Argonauts
The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...
.
He played in 24 games for the team from 1989 to 1990.
BC Lions
Young was traded to the
BC Lions in 1992 for future considerations, which was later the rights to
Bruce Beaton
Bruce Beaton (born June 13, 1968 in Port Hood, Nova Scotia) is a former professional Canadian football offensive lineman who played 13 seasons in the Canadian Football League for five different teams. He was named CFL All-Star three times and was ...
.
He played in eleven games for the Lions in 1992.
Ottawa Rough Riders
Young returned to the Rough Riders late in the
1992 season
Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since the ...
and played in one game. He then played for the Rough Riders from 1993 to 1995, being named Ottawa's outstanding defensive player and earning CFL Northern All-Star honors in 1995.
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Young was traded to the
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...
with
Horace Brooks and
Jason Phillips for quarterback
Steve Taylor
Roland Stephen Taylor (born December 9, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, music executive, film maker, assistant professor, and actor. A figure in what has come to be known as Christian alternative rock, Taylor enjoyed ...
in 1996.
He played in twelve games for the Tiger-Cats during the
1996 season.
Death
Young died of
kidney failure
Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...
on March 3, 2015, in
Torrance, California
Torrance is a city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the m ...
.
References
External links
Just Sports Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Brett
1967 births
2015 deaths
Players of American football from California
Sportspeople from Los Angeles County, California
American football defensive backs
Canadian football defensive backs
African-American players of American football
African-American players of Canadian football
Oregon Ducks football players
Ottawa Rough Riders players
BC Lions players
Hamilton Tiger-Cats players
People from Carson, California
20th-century African-American sportspeople
21st-century African-American people
Deaths from kidney failure