|
Source: Inside the Seahawks, Volume 2, Number 1, Sept. 3-Sept.
9, 1987
A lazy punt hung in the air in 1984, then it was caught by a never-to-be forgotten Seahawks’ opponent.
For in the same moment that he caught that punt, he was planted in the turf by an all-time NFL classic of a hit by Fredd Young.
The hit not only knocked the wind out of the punt returner, it took the collective breath of the crowd away. Reporters described it the next day with those little words usually reserved for the Sunday funnies.
Bam. Boom. Pow. Crunch.
Fredd Young. Welcome to Seattle.
Young has since led the Seahawks in tackles for two of his three seasons. In 1986, he racked up 121 stops.
A special teams Pro Bowler, he gets to his man and connects with a power that isn’t Sunday funny. It’s Sunday serious.
Though he missed the first two weeks of camp because he hadn’t signed a contract Young doesn’t look as if he’s rusty at all.
Last Friday night he collected five tackles and five assists against the Detroit Lions.
Young’s signing and arrival at training camp should have been heralded as a headline event.
The most talented linebacker of the 1986 squad, Young’s signing came at the same time the Seahawks were opening their pre-season playing schedule. And, supplemental draft choice Brian Bosworth was getting into town, signing contracts committing him to Seattle for the bulk of his playing career.
Young, whose accomplishments in the NFL took a backseat to the hopes of 1987 draft choices Tony Woods and Dave Wyman, also took a backseat to Bosworth.
He was the forgotten linebacker -- until he stepped on the field.
Fredd Young has the “defensive mentality” so necessary to be great in the NFL. But he doesn’t look at it that way.
When somebody says defensive mentality, “I don’t
really comprehend,” said Young. “ I’m just a player. I’m out to do a job. That’s been my personality.”
Young’s personality in the public eye, that of a roving football assassin, is vastly different from the soft-spoken, private man you may encounter off the field.
He is a man who, above all else, tells you that he wants to maintain his individuality, his identity.
“I’m not doing all kinds of things to exploit myself,” he said. “The money has changed my living quarters, what I drive, what I wear. Material things like that. But I'm still basically the same person.”
Young concedes that being a professional athlete “will change you definitely, but it’s how you change that matters.”
And not losing himself in all the hype is what Young believes is most important.
If Young has overcome the odds and kept his roots while being in the public eye, he has also accepted the responsibilities his physical accomplishments force on him.
He knows, for instance, that he is a role model.
“Right now, in the position that I’m in, I should be a good role model for kids,” said Young. “I try to be the best player on and off the field that I can. I keep on my toes, try to be the gentleman, maintain my priorities.”
Young learned to be a gentleman and developed his character in a strong family environment in Dallas, Texas, where he was born in 1961.
Visiting his mother and his two sisters as often as he can is an important part of Young’s life.
He is quick to point out that the success he enjoys on the field is in part due to the strength of the family bonds.
“Of course it matters,” said Young of his family. “Having their support makes a difference.”
Young has made his own home in Kirkland, not far from Seahawks headquarters.
“My mom has the house back in Dallas, but I also have a house here that I call home,” he said. “I have good friends up here and I’m comfortable with that.”
Exploring the outdoors on a motorcycle with his girlfriend, driving the country roads, helps Young relax away from the football field.
Young, the Seahawks 1984, third-round draft choice from New Mexico State University has taken well to Seattle and the beauty of the Pacific Northwest.
“It’s pretty much what I expected,” he said of Seattle. “There’s a lot of beauty, a lot of things to do. About the only thing I don’t agree with is the rain part (people talk about). I don’t think it rains that much.”
He’s obviously been recruited by Lesser Seattle.
“I just think people say that so others don’t come up here,” he said.
There’s another beautiful spot that Young has grown accustomed to -- Honolulu, Hawaii, the site of the Pro Bowl.
Young has been a Pro Bowler each year of his career -- the first two years as a special teams player, and last season as a linebacker.
Young is honored by those selections.
“I went there my first year and saw the linebackers playing and I thought I can do that. I set that as a goal,” said Young. “It’s a special feeling being there. It’s an honor and I think about it a lot.”
Setting goals and visualizing the accomplishment of those goals is a method Young applies often to his football.
“I visualize a lot. I visualize making a lot of plays, a lot of hits,” he said, “especially at the end of my rookie year, the visions came more often. Before a game, it became easier for me to visualize a lot of tackles, things like that.”
“I don’t know really about the frame of mind you need to be in. It just happens,” he said. “I go out. I do it.”
From an early age, about third grade, Young has been motivated by the desire to stand out, to be noticed for the good things he can do.
But Young recognizes that it is as a member of a successful team that he will gain the most recognition.
“It’s mechanical. Like a machine running properly,” Young said. “We find that success together, although the work that the individual puts in has to be there.”
His individual contributions have been monumental. Fredd Young is an important member of the Chuck Knox linebacking corps of the I 990s, a group many believe will dominate the NFL.
Fredd Young can see that day coming.
From: Vital Remains
He's my favorite player from the game, and the rest of the league was victimized by his awesome play all season long. I was so masterful with Young at my disposal, that I lead SEA to the title game, and got em a championship here in the Fort Dodge Iowa Tecmo Bowl league. I love Fredd Young, not only because of his talent on the game, but you gotta love a guy who made many a Pro-Bowls as a special teams player then eventually as a LineBacker.
We are planning on making some shirts for our league members with something to do with their favorite players, in what we call the "Tecmo Bowl Legends Series"....and Fredd made the ballot for the shirts...Young, LT, Jackson, Elway, among a few others. We will be making a slogan of sorts for the front with a action shot of the player, then maybe add in some photoshop stuff behind it....and the back lists all the Tecmo Legends. So I'm wanting to pay homage to one of the all-time Tecmo Bowl greats. With the spelling for Fredd's name, the shirt might say, Where would Seattle be with out it's double D?....hahahahahahaha! I have also checked ebay who knows how many times trying to find a replica Young jersey but with no luck, but I figure theres gotta be some out there somewhere! Hopefully I can track one of those down as well.
I also managed to track down the "Japan only" release of Tecmo Bowl, which came out a year after the USA version of Tecmo Bowl. It has updated rosters for the 90 season...blasted thing cost me 25 bucks, and then the adapter to play the japan cart on my NES cost me another 30 bucks.....55 dollars for a 15 year old Nintendo game, but we are fanatics about this game and this time period of the NFL, so I suppose no price would be too great. On this Japan version Rufus Porter is the man! Sadly Largent had retired and wasn't included, but Blades takes his place nicely!
Brad
From: Gonzales, Al
I went to college with Fredd...do you know his where abouts?
From: Tina
Love your site!
Just wanted to update you on the whereabouts of Mr. Fredd Young. He moved back to settle in Las Cruces, NM where he played college football. He now has a son who plays basketball for NMSU. He's still the same down-to-earth guy and he's in great shape. You'll see him with his sons around town. I just bumped into him at the mall yesterday.
He'll be glad to hear of your site and the fans who want keep in touch.
Thanks Becky!
From: ffaraj@optonline.net
Hi Becky, |
 
|