In a landscape lined with beanstalks, redwoods and willows, Bryce Young is an anomaly.
The Panthers ace looks a lot different to his quarterbacking counterparts. Whereas the vast majority of them are hulking, Young's frame — a 5-foot-10, 205-pound build — doesn't inspire much fear among the masses of NFL defenders he takes on.
Then, he drops back and delivers. Depending on that arrow's final destination, defenses could have a different reaction.
Young has yet to cement himself as one of the league's best passers. But he's a solid option under center. And with youth on his side, there's no reason why he can't be the player he was lauded to be during his college years.
We know what Young offers inside and outside the pocket. Here's what you need to know about his off-the-field life; namely, his family history.
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Bryce Young dad: Craig Young
Young's father is Craig Young.
While destiny knows no fury like a gridiron, Craig did his best to imbue the gods to cast athletic gifts upon his son. Bryce's name is a reflection of his father's passion for the game. The moniker came to Craig in a frenzy as he watched the Packers — and their star linebacker, Bryce Paup — on Monday Night Football.
Craig dropped plush footballs into Bryce's cradle, hoping he'd rip one out the sky and hold onto it like a cherished pendant. When he was a few months old, he did. Craig jumped on the couch in celebration.
Bryce's first few years in the sport were shaped by his father's coaching. But in middle school, Bryce expressed to his mother that he didn't like being around his father. He was overbearing, Bryce said. He was unrealistic.
“I [was] dealing with my own stuff,” Craig told Sports Illustrated in 2023. “I didn’t reach my own potential athletically. I didn’t get the best coaching. There’s a chance I stopped playing because I quit, and I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen to him. So if I saw weakness, or what I perceived to be weakness, I was going to yell it out of him or shame it out of him, coach him harder than I coached other players. And it was destroying his confidence and it put a wedge in our relationship.”
Craig took a step back. He's a clinically-trained health therapist, after all. He had to rework his brain to rework his interactions with his son.
“I wanted to make sure whatever he did was his choice," Craig said. "Do you want to work out today? Great. You don’t? That’s fine, too. Just let me know before I pay for it.”
So far, so good for the Young clan. All these years later and father and son's relationship is as steady as ever.
“We provided a safe place for him to express his feelings or sometimes not to express his feelings," Craig told CBS Sports, per People. "That whatever he’s feeling was okay and that we were there to help him problem solve and that through that problem-solving journey he was always loved and we were there for him.”
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Bryce Young mom: Julie Young
Young's mother is Julie Young, a special education teacher.
Julie spent 25 years tending to special needs children. Described by her son as one of "the most humble and empathetic people" he's ever met, Julie has a secret past. She was a soccer wunderkind in her youth, even traveling to Australia for a U-16 tournament. She landed at Cal Poly Pomona, proving a reliable option in the Broncos' set up.
Julie didn't divulge any of her athletic accomplishments to her son. It wasn't until he was older — and one of her former teammates got to talking — that he found out about his mother's skillset.
“I didn’t know this about her for almost my entire childhood,” Bryce told the Associated Press in 2023. “It took for someone else to tell me. It took for one of her teammates to tell me just how good she was. ... Then when I asked her, she was was like, ‘Oh, I tried my best. I had fun.’ But in reality she was one of the best players in the country.”
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Bryce Young mentor: Mike Teller
Young might not share blood with Mike Teller. But they may as well be family. Teller is one of Pasadena's foremost hoop experts. He's a basketball trainer to the stars, having lent his services to a number of the region's finest talents, including Nets wing Ziaire Williams.
Before Young was a Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 overall pick, he was a budding guard prospect who Teller was shaping into a Division I talent.
Basketball was one of Young's dueling passions growing up. He was damn good at it, too, Teller told AL.com in 2021.
“He was athletic, his handle was really good, his shot was good, his decision making was good, he could guard. He was a really good all-around point guard,” Teller said. “I’ve been doing this for going on 19 years, and in my opinion, there is no doubt he would have been a Division I point guard.”
Young settled for football in the end. It could have all been so differently if he had a few more inches of growth to work with.
“If I had a few more inches, I might be hooping now,” Young said on his podcast.
Teller remains an active part of Young's life. He attended Young's signing day with the Crimson Tide in 2019 as well as Young's draft party ahead of the 2023 NFL Draft.
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Where is Bryce Young from?
While Young was born in Wynnewood, Penn., he's a California kid through and through. His family settled in Pasadena early in his life.
Young became a household name in the Golden State as a high schooler, starring first at Cathedral High School then at Mater Dei.
With the Monarchs, Young impressed, tossing for more than 4,500 yards and 58 touchdowns as a senior. He was summarily named the No. 1 player in his recruiting class.
Young is close friends with another Southern California native, C.J. Stroud, who he met on the high school football circuit.
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