Tyrone Young

Tyrone Donnive Young (April 29, 1960 – October 15, 2015) was an American college and professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for two seasons during the 1980s. Young played college football for the University of Florida, and thereafter, he played professionally for the NFL's New Orleans Saints.

Tyrone Young
No. 89
Position:Wide receiver
Personal information
Born:(1960-04-29)April 29, 1960
Ocala, Florida, U.S.
Died:October 15, 2015(2015-10-15) (aged 55)
San Diego, California, U.S.
Height:6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Weight:190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High school:Ocala (FL) Forest
College:Florida
Undrafted:1983
Career history
Career NFL statistics
Receptions:36
Receiving yards:682
Touchdowns:6
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Early life

Young was born in Ocala, Florida in 1960.[1] He attended Forest High School in Ocala,[2] and he was the quarterback for the Forest Wildcats high school football team.[3] Young led the Wildcats to back-to-back Florida state football championships in 1975 and 1976.[3]

College career

Young accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach Doug Dickey and coach Charley Pell's Florida Gators football teams from 1978 to 1982.[4] The Gators coaching staff decided to red-shirt him as a true freshman in 1978, but he subsequently worked his way up the depth chart to briefly become the Gators' starting quarterback.[3] He subsequently changed positions to wide receiver and was paired with another converted quarterback, Cris Collinsworth, as the Gators' star flankers.[3] During Young's sophomore season in 1980, he was a member of the Gators team that posted the biggest one-year turnaround in the history of NCAA Division I football[5]—from 0–10–1 in 1979[6] to an 8–4 bowl team in 1980.[7] Memorably, Young caught ten passes for 183 yards against the Georgia Bulldogs in 1980, which remains the eighth best single-game performance by a Gators wide receiver[4][8] He also caught a fifty-one-yard touchdown reception against the Florida State Seminoles in 1981.[3]

Young graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in 1988.

Professional career

The New Orleans Saints signed Young as an undrafted free agent in 1983,[9] and he played for the Saints in 1983 and 1984.[10] He saw limited action in his rookie season, but had almost 600 yards receiving as a second-year pro.[10] In his two NFL seasons, Young played in thirty-two games and had thirty-six receptions for 682 yards and six touchdowns.[1]

Death

Young died on October 15, 2015, in San Diego, California from multiple myeloma, which was first diagnosed in 2004. He was 55 years old.[8]

See also

References
  1. Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players, Tyrone Young. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
  2. databaseFootball.com, Players, Tyrone Young Archived February 12, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
  3. Bud Crussell, "Tyrone Young: He Has Had Some Challenging Times," Ocala Star-Banner (January 9, 1981). Retrieved August 6, 2010.
  4. 2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide Archived April 2, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 143–146, 157, 186 (2011). Retrieved August 31, 2011.
  5. Norm Carlson, University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators, Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia, pp. 95–96 (2007).
  6. College Football Data Warehouse, Florida Yearly Results 1975–1979 Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 18, 2010.
  7. College Football Data Warehouse, Florida Yearly Results 1980–1984 Archived November 18, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 18, 2010.
  8. Pat Dooley, "Tyrone Young, former star football player at UF, dies at 55," The Gainesville Sun (October 16, 2015). Retrieved October 16, 2015.
  9. Jack Hairston, "New Orleans Saints Sign Tyrone Young," The Gainesville Sun (May 20, 1983). Retrieved August 6, 2010.
  10. National Football League, Historical Players, Tyrone Young. Retrieved August 5, 2010.

Bibliography
  • Carlson, Norm, University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators, Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). ISBN 0-7948-2298-3.
  • Golenbock, Peter, Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory, Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). ISBN 0-9650782-1-3.
  • Hairston, Jack, Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told, Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). ISBN 1-58261-514-4.
  • McCarthy, Kevin M., Fightin' Gators: A History of University of Florida Football, Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (2000). ISBN 978-0-7385-0559-6.
  • Nash, Noel, ed., The Gainesville Sun Presents The Greatest Moments in Florida Gators Football, Sports Publishing, Inc., Champaign, Illinois (1998). ISBN 1-57167-196-X.
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