Former teammate Young: Owens was very respectful, deserves spot in HOF

While the Hall of Fame voters may have kept Terrell Owens from joining the Canton ranks due to his character issues, at least one of the receiver's former quarterbacks disagrees with their decision and their reasoning.

Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young, who is a Hall of Famer himself, was Owens' teammate for the first four seasons of his career and believes he deserves a gold jacket to call his own.

Related: Terrell Owens calls HOF a 'total joke' after not being selected again

"Yeah," Young told KNBR radio, when asked if Owens should be in the Hall of Fame. "I played with him, I felt like I knew him. I knew the abilities he had. There's no question he's struggled with a lot of things, but in the end, yes."

While Owens developed a loud-mouthed, team-troubling reputation by the end of his career, Young says the youthful receiver showed impressive character and strong work ethic in his early days.

“In '97-'98 he would say, 'Yes sir.' I said, 'Terrell, call me Steve ... I know I'm old, c'mon,'" said Young. "But he was very respectful.

"He worked as hard as Jerry Rice - I've never said that about anyone else by the way. He was willing to stand next to Jerry and work, and I've never seen that before. So to me, what I saw were his physical abilities were incredible. The work ethic, incredible, and a very respectful guy."

Young admitted that Owens wasn't ready to be the leader the 49ers were looking for when he, Rice, and a group of Super Bowl-experienced veterans left the team in 1999.

"The team we had in '98, if Terrell had've (spiked the ball on the Dallas) star, we wouldn't have let him come back to our sideline," said Young. "We would've said 'no that doesn't work.' To me it opened up an avenue where he became a de facto leader and I don’t think he was ready for those shoes."

Taking the good with the bad, Young still believes Owens made enough of an impact on the game to deserve a place in football immortality.