Kenny Young

Classroom

Kenny Young earned a spot on the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll, which recognizes students with a 3.0 GPA or better, every year from 2015 to 2017. This past year, he was honored with the 2016-17 UCLA Academic and Student Services Success Award. A solid student, his GPA has been in the 3.0 range for the bulk of his Bruin academic career. During 2016 he answered the challenge of one of his professors and was a member of the UCLA Debate team.

Character

Young took a chance on himself when he left a small town in Louisiana of barely 3,000 people and headed to the big city of Los Angeles. He took that chance because of his determination to make himself better by exposing himself to a more challenging environment. He was forced to forge new friendships and earn the respect of teammates and classmates from the moment he stepped onto the campus. He is not one to sit idly by and has sought to share his visions with others by taking part in various community service endeavors. A starter at linebacker in six games his freshman season, he has grown as a player each year.

Community

Young has made that extra effort to give back and be of service in his community. He has taken a keen interest in visiting and communicating with a local youngster who is a big sports fans but has not been able to particiate himself after being confined to a wheelchair. Young has also visited the local children’s hospital. He has worked youth camps in the local area and has volunteered at an annual scholarship breakfast, which seeks to raise funds for deserving youth to attend college. He has been a part of UCLA football’s welcome to NEGU (Never Ever Give Up) Kids who are battling terminal diseases. He took part in the LAPD Jr. Cadet Youth Services Day on campus through which he worked to reinforce with the youngsters the value of education and discipline in a young person’s growth and development. Young also has participated in a Thanksgiving Soup Kitchen and the NFL’s Youth Play 60 Youth outreach program.

Competition

Young made six starts as a true freshman in 2014 and has gone on to start 24 of the last 25 games overall (as of nomination time). He was named second-team All-Pac-12 Conference in 2016 in a vote of the league coaches. Young ranked sixth in the Pac-12 Conference in total tackles per game (7.5) and was second on the team with 8.5 tackles for loss. He was tied for 14th in the conference in sacks per game (0.42), and his three fumble recoveries ranked tied for eighth in the nation. He registered a season-best 12 tackles in a win against Arizona.

As a sophomore, he was fifth on the team in tackles and made 12 starts. His 5.0 tackles for loss was fourth-best on the team, and he returned his first career interception for a touchdown. Young posted a career-best 13 tackles in a game against Stanford. As a freshman, he was credited with 35 tackles and had six games with at least four stops.