Usama Young (born May 8, 1985) 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 with ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in As ...

. He was drafted by the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

in the third round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He also played for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

Early years

Usama was born in the North East section of

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

to Dr. Khaula Murtadha and Leroi A. Young (1950-2016). Usama is the youngest son of their four boys. Usama Young attended Largo High School in

Largo, Maryland Largo, located within greater Upper Marlboro, Maryland, is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 11,605 at the 2020 census. Largo is located just east of the C ...

and was a

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football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

, and

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. He started to play football at the age of 8. As the youngest, Usama was given the opportunity to learn from his older brothers who pushed him to never cry, complain or make excuses. When Usama was 12 he was playing football in a local pee-wee football game. During the middle of the game a rabid dog ran onto the field and terrorized the young players, coaches and family members who were on the sidelines watching. To everyone's surprise the twelve-year-old Usama was able to tackle the dog, tie the dog up using the chains from the down markers and successfully restore order to the pee-wee football game. By the time Usama was a freshman in high school he developed a work ethic that would stay with him throughout his football career. As a senior in high school, he was a second team All-State honoree. Young graduated from Largo High School in 2003. He worked as a vendor at

FedExField FedExField (originally Jack Kent Cooke Stadium) is an American football stadium located in Summerfield, Maryland, east of Washington, D.C. The stadium is the home of the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). From 2004 un ...

during home games of the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

while in high school. This was revealed during the SuperAd that he and his father were featured in during

Super Bowl XLIII Super Bowl XLIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champions Arizona Cardinals to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

College career

Young was regarded as one of the top defensive prospects to emerge from Kent State in the last three decades. A three-year starter, his collegiate career totals include starting 37 of 45 games, with 198 tackles (129 solo), three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, nine interceptions with 21 yards in returns, 21 pass defenses and a blocked kick. As a freshman in 2003, Young started 9 of 12 games and had 49 tackles, two interceptions, 8 pass defenses and 2 fumble recoveries. In 2004, Young started 10 games and missed one game due to a hip strain. In those games, Young had 39 tackles and 3 interceptions with 57 return yards. In 2005, his junior year, Young started seven games and had 50 tackles with 4 for losses, 2 interceptions, and 3 passes deflected. A second-team All-

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

selection as a senior, Young made a career-high 60 tackles (39 solo) in 2006 as well as 2 interceptions, 3 forced fumbles, 6 pass defenses, and one blocked punt.

Professional career

New Orleans Saints (2007–2010)

Selected in the third round as the 66th overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, Young signed with the

on June 11, 2007 with a three-year contract. As a rookie in 2007, Young played 14 games and made 25 tackles and deflected one pass. In 2008, Young started 2 of 15 games played and made 50 tackles, 8 passes deflected, and 2 interceptions. Young won the

Super Bowl XLIV Super Bowl XLIV was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champions New Orleans Saints and the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Indianapolis Colts to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

title with the Saints after the 2009 season, in which Young played 12 games with 1 start and had 8 tackles, 1 pass deflected, and 1 interception returned 24 yards. In his final season with the Saints in 2010, Young made 23 tackles and 3 passes deflected.

Cleveland Browns (2011–2012)

On July 28, 2011, Young signed as a free agent with the

. In the 2011 season, Young played all 16 games for the first time in his career and started 8 games. Young made 70 tackles, 1 pass deflected, and 1 interception returned for 28 yards. The following season in 2012, Young played 13 games and started 11 and made 53 tackles, 7 passes deflected, and 3 interceptions returned for 44 yards. The Browns cut Young on April 2, 2013.

Oakland Raiders (2013–2015)

Young signed with the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

on April 9, 2013.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

Official siteOakland Raiders bioKent State Golden Flashes bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Usama 1985 births Living people People from Largo, Maryland Players of American football from Maryland American football safeties Kent State Golden Flashes football players New Orleans Saints players Cleveland Browns players Oakland Raiders players Players of American football from Washington, D.C.