Selvin Young (born October 1, 1983) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

. He was signed by the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2007. He played college football at

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

Early years

A three-year starter at

Jersey Village High School Jersey Village High School is located in Jersey Village, Texas, United States, in the Houston metropolitan area. The school, which serves grades nine through twelve, is a part of the Cypress-Fairbanks ISD. Maggie Wiley serves as its principal, ...

in Houston, Texas, Young was rated as a four-star recruit, as well as the fifth best running back in the recruiting class. He signed with the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

over offers from

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

and

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

College career

As a freshman in 2002 at the University of Texas, Young returned punts and was the backup for

Cedric Benson Cedric Myron Benson (December 28, 1982 – August 17, 2019) was an American professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Longhorns and was recognized as a co ...

. The following year, he primarily served as the kick returner and the punt returner. As a junior, Young suffered a season-ending ankle injury during the second game of the season at the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

. A

medical redshirt Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

was granted for the season by the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

. In 2005, Young was the starter for five games, including the national championship game against the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

, where he rushed for 45 yards and a touchdown, and set the key block on the famous "fourth-and-five" game-winning touchdown. He finished the season with 461 yards and 8 touchdowns. As a redshirt senior in 2006, Young was the starter for 11 of the 12 games, in a season which culminated with a 10-3 record and a win at the 2006 Alamo Bowl. He finished his career at the University of Texas with 3,060 all purpose yards and 29 touchdowns, which includes 1,713 rushing yards and 25 rushing touchdowns. In December 2006, Young graduated with a degree in liberal arts.

Professional career

Young was not selected in the draft. As an undrafted free agent, he signed a free agent contract with the

on May 1, 2007. After impressive performances in the team's exhibition games, head coach

Mike Shanahan Michael Edward Shanahan (born August 24, 1952) is a former American football coach, best known as the head coach of the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL) from 1995 to 2008. During his fourteen seasons with the Broncos, he le ...

named Young the #2 running back, behind starter Travis Henry. In Young's first ever start, he notched 120 total yards from scrimmage against the Green Bay Packers, filling in for an injured Henry. Young recorded his first career 100-yard rushing game and first career rushing touchdown on November 11, 2007, in an away game against the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

. He rushed for 109 yards on 20 attempts. His touchdown run was a 20-yarder in the third quarter of the game. The Broncos won, 27-11, which was their first victory at Arrowhead Stadium since 2002. His two best games of the 2007 season were against the

, when he rushed for over 100 yards and over 5 yards a carry in both contests. Both games were coincidentally the only 100 yard games he had in the 2007 season. Young finished the 2007 season playing 15 games (8 starts), with 729 rushing yards on 140 attempts (5.2 rushing average) and 1 rushing touchdown. On April 30, 2009, Young was waived by the Broncos.Caplan, Adam (April 30, 2009
Broncos Waive RB
Scout.com Retrieved April 20, 2009.

References

External links

Denver Broncos bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Selvin 1983 births Living people African-American players of American football American football running backs Denver Broncos players Jersey Village High School alumni Players of American football from Houston Texas Longhorns football players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people