Charle Young, an All-Pro tight end who helped the San Francisco 49ers capture their first Super Bowl title, has died at age 75. The 49ers said Tuesday they were told of Young’s death by his wife. No cause of death was disclosed.
Young spent 13 seasons in the NFL, playing for the Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks, and enjoyed his most notable individual success with Philadelphia before later joining San Francisco and being part of the Bill Walsh-era dynasty, the report says.
The report says Young was taken sixth overall out of USC by Philadelphia in 1973 and made the Pro Bowl in each of his first three seasons. He was a first-team All-Pro as a rookie after totaling 55 catches for 854 yards and six touchdowns, and he earned second-team All-Pro honors in each of the next two seasons.
Young then played for the Rams from 1977-79, helping Los Angeles reach the Super Bowl in his final season there; he had three catches for 39 yards in the NFC title game win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, per the report. He joined the 49ers the following season as Joe Montana took over as the starting quarterback in Bill Walsh’s second year. In 1981, when San Francisco won the first of five Super Bowls in 14 seasons, Young had 37 catches for 400 yards and five touchdowns. The report notes he caught the dynasty’s first playoff touchdown on a pass from Montana in a divisional-round victory over the New York Giants, added four catches in the NFC title game against Dallas and recorded another reception in the Super Bowl against Cincinnati. He spent one more year with the 49ers before finishing his career with three seasons in Seattle.
Young finished his NFL career with 418 receptions for 5,106 yards and 27 touchdowns in 187 games, and at retirement following the 1985 season he ranked seventh among tight ends in receptions and 11th in receiving yards, the report says. At USC, Young helped the Trojans win a national title in 1972, was named an AP All-American and totaled 62 catches for 998 yards and 10 TDs in three seasons; he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2004.
