Brian Young, a former UTEP football star who went on to play in the National Football League, is among six new nominees for induction into the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame.
Young, an all-city, all-district and honorable mention all-state lineman at Andress High School in El Paso, was recruited by UTEP in 1996 and immediately made an impact. In his first year, he made 13 tackles (three for a loss) and recorded a sack and assisted in another.
He just kept getting better. He ended his UTEP career with a total of 214 tackles (34 for losses) and 16 sacks.
Rated the strongest player on the team with a 435-pound bench press and 675-pound squat, he was named All-Western Athletic Conference his junior year and WAC Defensive Player of the Year his senior season.
NEEDLESS to say, the NFL came knocking. He was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the fifth round in 2000. He played for the Rams from 2000 through 20002 and then for the New Orleans Saints from 2004 through 2008.
The Saints signed Young, 6 feet 2 and weighing 298 pounds, to a four-year $10 million free agent contract in 2004. That year, as a starter, he had 59 tackles and 2.5 sacks. In 2005, he had 51 tackles then, in 2006, when the Saints were the “Cinderella Team” in the NFL, he recorded 46 tackles and 5.5 sacks,
A knee injury ended his playing career but the Saints hired him as a defensive coach in 2011.
The other five nominees to the El Paso Athletic Hall include the following, in alphabetical order:
RAY ADAUTO, longtime radio talk show host, sports announcer and executive who is perhaps best known for his public address announcing at UTEP. A graduate of Cathedral High School, he is widely known as “Uncle Ray” by his many fans.
ERIC ALWAN, media relations director for Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino and a rising star as a race caller in New Mexico. He began bringing national recognition to El Paso even as a youth, thanks to his handicapping skills, and appeared on national television and in national publications.
ROY CULBERSON, a former football and basketball star at Bel Air High School who went on to coach at Andress and Eastwood High Schools, UTEP, North Texas and work in the athletic departments at North Texas, Montevallo in Alabama and Jackson State University.
MATT SIMON, a football, track and wrestling star at Burges High School who later reached the pinnacle of coaching as an assistant .He is one of only 10 coaches to have won both a national college championship (Washington in 1991) and a Super Bowl (Baltimore in 2000). In 1997 he was inducted into the University of Washington Hall of Fame.
Dr. SCOTT STEIN, an El Paso dentist and award-winning body builder who has dedicated much of his time to the dental welfare of local sports organizations. Dr. Stein placed first in the Texas State Body Building Championships not only in his class but overall in 1997 and has been consistently in the Top Five in body building competition throughout the United States.
FORMERLY nominated were sports officials Shawn Lehigh and Bob Geske, bringing the total of nominees to eight this year.
There will be one more meeting where nominations for induction this year will be accepted. That will be this coming Monday, March 2, at 5:15 p.m. at First Christian Church, 901 Arizona Avenue. The meeting is open to the public.
Voting by the board of directors will be held March 16 at the same time and place.
The induction banquet is scheduled for April 29 in the Signature Room at Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino.