Chase Young

Early life

Young was born on April 14, 1999, in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. He began playing American football as a child, attending St. Columba School in Oxon Hill, Maryland, before attending St. Vincent Pallotti High School in Laurel, Maryland, in 2013. As a freshman there, he played as a quarterback, tight end, and outside linebacker before switching primarily to defensive end later that year. Young and the team won the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association C-conference championship in 2014. He was also a member of the school's choir, playing the piano, saxophone, and violin.

In 2015, Young transferred to DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland, where he had 19 quarterback sacks and 27 tackles for loss that season to help the team win the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) championship. He was invited to The Opening in July 2016, a college football recruiting camp sponsored by Nike, where he was named MVP at his position. As a senior in 2016, he had 19 sacks, 118 tackles, five forced fumbles, and two defensive touchdowns that helped the team go undefeated and win another WCAC championship.

By then, he was recognized as one of the best high school football players in the nation when he was included on the 2016 USA Today All-USA team and named all-metropolitan defensive football player of the year by The Washington Post. Young was also invited to the International Bowl and All-American Bowl, playing on the East team for the latter. Young also played for DeMatha's basketball team, playing alongside Markelle Fultz who was later selected first overall in the 2017 NBA draft. At the time, both he and Fultz had set goals to become the first overall selections in their respective sports.

College career

Young received scholarship offers from over 40 universities before committing to Ohio State in July 2016 to play for the Buckeyes, choosing them over schools such as Alabama and Maryland due to their family-oriented approach and his desire to play under defensive line coach Larry Johnson. Young recorded 3.5 sacks, 18 tackles, and a forced fumble as a freshman in 2017. He became a starter during his sophomore season, with him recording 10.5 sacks for the year despite spraining both ankles halfway through. Three of them came against Northwestern in the 2018 Big Ten Football Championship Game. He was named second-team All-Big Ten for his performance.

Young was named one of the team captains as a junior in 2019. That year, he tied Ohio State school records for single-game sacks (4) and tackles for loss (5) in a win against Wisconsin. In November 2019, Young was suspended for two games by the NCAA for getting an unauthorized loan from a family friend to allegedly help his girlfriend attend the 2019 Rose Bowl, which he later repaid in full. In his first game after being reinstated, Young recorded three sacks against Penn State. He ended the season with 16.5 sacks, 46 tackles, 21 tackles for loss, 7 forced fumbles, 3 pass deflections, and a blocked field goal. His 16.5 sacks led the NCAA and broke the single-season school record previously held by Vernon Gholston, who had 14 in 2007.

In addition to being unanimously named to the 2019 College Football All-America Team, he won several other awards and honors that season including the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Chuck Bednarik Award, Ted Hendricks Award, Chicago Tribune Silver Football, Nagurski–Woodson Defensive Player of the Year, and Smith–Brown Defensive Lineman of the Year. He was also named a finalist for the Walter Camp Award, Maxwell Award, and Heisman Trophy, becoming only the ninth defensive player since 1982 to be nominated for the latter, where he finished fourth in voting behind quarterbacks Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts, and Justin Fields. Young was also voted the Big Ten Jesse Owens Athlete of the Year, which annually honors the Big Ten's top male athlete of any sport. He was the seventh football player to win it since its inception in 1982 and the first since Ron Dayne in 2000. Young finished his career at Ohio State with 30.5 sacks in three seasons, which ranks second all-time there behind Mike Vrabel, who had 36 in four. He was later named to the Big Ten Network's 2010s All-Decade Team as the only unanimous selection.

Personal life

Young's father Greg played college basketball at Bowie State University before working as a deputy sheriff with the Arlington County Sheriff's Office, while his mother Carla works for the Office of Investigations for the United States Department of Transportation. He has a sister, Weslie, who played college basketball at North Carolina Wesleyan. Young pursued a major in criminology at Ohio State after being inspired by his father and several of his uncles and cousins, who have all worked in law enforcement. He was also nicknamed "the Predator" during his time with the Buckeyes for his on-field performance and how his dreadlocks resembled Predators from the Predator franchise.

Young is represented by Klutch Sports Group, a sports agency founded by Rich Paul, and serves as their football ambassador for Klutch Athletics, a sportswear brand formed in partnership with New Balance in 2023. He has appeared in advertisements for Chipotle, Under Armour, and eBay, as well as on episodes of The Shop and Celebrity Family Feud. Young performed guest vocals on "Fire & Ice", a track from the American rapper Wale's 2021 album Folarin II. He was the honorary pace car driver for the 2022 Federated Auto Parts 400, a NASCAR Cup Series race held in Richmond, Virginia.