He was a star athlete in high school, playing on his football team and winning a state heavyweight title in wrestling as a senior.

He played three years as an end on his Forty Fort High School football team and was also a wrestler, winning the state heavyweight title as a senior.

[1] The head of a soft drink bottling company in Wilkes-Barre helped Young get into the University of Georgia, where he played football on the varsity team starting as a freshman.

[1] He was sent as a Navy cadet to Great Lakes Naval Station near Chicago and played on a service football team there coached by Paul Brown in 1944.

[1] The Browns won the following three AAFC championships, helped by a staunch defense and a high-scoring offense featuring quarterback Otto Graham and fullback Marion Motley.

[2] Young continued his academic studies during the offseason – his career at Georgia was cut short by the war – and received a degree from Baldwin–Wallace College in 1949.

[4] Young announced his retirement after the 1953 season, when he shared playing time with rookie Doug Atkins at left defensive end.

[3] Young worked during the off-season in his last two years with the Browns at the Public Service Company of Northern Illinois in its personnel department.