Sam Young (born June 24, 1987) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

who played 10 seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He was selected by the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

in the sixth round of the

2010 NFL draft The 2010 NFL draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 NFL draft, draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, with the first ...

, and played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

. Young played for six different teams during his NFL career, where he was primarily a backup. He had his longest stints with the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

and

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

at roughly three seasons each from 2013–2015 and 2016–2018, respectively.

Early life

Young attended

Pine Crest School Pine Crest School is a private preparatory school with campuses in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton, Florida. It was founded in Fort Lauderdale in 1934 by Mae McMillan, who also served as the school's first president. The ...

, playing tight end in football, defense in lacrosse, center on junior varsity basketball, and competed on the weight lifting team. After his freshmen season he transferred to St. Thomas Aquinas High School. He was moved to

left tackle A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and Defensive tackle, defense. In the modern system of ...

and did not allow a sack during his junior and senior years. He was a two-time Florida Class 5A All-state selection. He also practiced the

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight (object), weight called a discus in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors. It is a ...

and won the state title in the

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

, breaking a school record. In 2005, he was a Parade All-America first-team selection and received the Florida Gatorade Player of the Year. Following his stellar high school football career, Young was invited to play in the 2006

U.S. Army All-American Bowl The All-American Bowl (currently branded as the Navy All-American Bowl for sponsorship reasons) is a high school football all-star game, held annually at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Typically played in January, the All-American Bowl is p ...

College career

Young accepted a football scholarship from the

. He became the first true freshman to start the season opener on the offensive line (

right tackle A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and Defensive tackle, defense. In the modern system of ...

) since freshmen became eligible in 1972. He was named first-team Freshman All-American by The Sporting News in 2006. As a sophomore, he started the first two games at right tackle, before being switched to the left side for the remaining 10 contests. As a junior, he started all 13 games at

. As a senior, he started all 12 games at

, helping the offense to finish fifth in the nation in passing (323.5-yards per-game) and eighth in total offense (451.8-yards), while averaging 30.1 points-per-game. In his college career, Young made 50 starts on the

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

and all consecutive (both were school records at the time).

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Young was selected by the

in the sixth round (179th overall) of the

. He was active in 3 games (did not play against the

) and was declared inactive in 13 contests, while contributing on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

. In

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, he had a disappointing training camp and was reportedly beaten often by defenders in practice. He was

waived A waiver is the voluntary relinquishment or surrender of some known right or privilege. A waiver is often written, such as a disclaimer that has been accepted, but it may also be spoken between two or more parties. When the right to hold a p ...

on September 5.

Buffalo Bills

On September 6,

, he was claimed off waivers by the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

. He appeared in 4 games and was declared inactive in 12 contests. In

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, he played in 12 games with 4 inactive designations and 4 starts at

in place of an injured

Chris Hairston Christian Erin Hairston (born April 26, 1989) is an American former professional American football, football offensive tackle. He was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the fourth round of the 2011 NFL draft. He played college football for the Cle ...

. On October 7,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, he was waived after appearing in four games with one inactive designation.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On October 8,

, the

claimed him off waivers and was active in 11 games, playing mainly on

. On March 6,

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, he was re-signed by the Jaguars. He played in 9 games, with 6 starts at

and was declared inactive in 7 contests. In

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, he appeared in 16 games for the first time in his career, starting two at

in place of an injured

Luke Joeckel Luke Tobias Joeckel (; born November 6, 1991) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars second overall in the 2013 NFL draft ...

and one at

in place of an injured Jermey Parnell.

Miami Dolphins

On March 9,

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, Young signed a one-year $910,000 contract with the

. On September 3, he was released as part of final roster cuts. He was re-signed on October 11, 2016. On December 28, Young signed a one-year $1.15 million contract extension. He appeared in 8 games and was declared inactive for 3 contests. He made one start at

because of injuries. On September 2,

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, he was released. On September 4, he was re-signed. He played in 10 games, starting six at

in place of the injured Ja'Wuan James. He was declared inactive for 6 contests. On March 23,

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, Young re-signed with the Dolphins on a one-year contract. On September 2, he was released. On September 3, he was re-signed. On October 13, he was released. On October 15, he was re-signed. He appeared in 12 games (one start) and was declared inactive for 3 contests. Against the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

, he started at right tackle in place of an injured James. He was not re-signed after the season.

San Francisco 49ers

On August 12,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, he was signed by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

to replace an injured

Shon Coleman Shon Coleman (born November 25, 1991) is an American former professional football offensive tackle. He played college football at Auburn. Early life Born in Memphis, Tennessee to Travis Tunstall and De Keishia Coleman-Tunstall, Coleman attende ...

. He was released during final roster cuts on August 30. He was re-signed on September 20. He played in 4 games and was declared inactive for 2 contests. He was released on November 7,

Las Vegas Raiders

On May 5, 2020, Young signed with the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West ...

. He was released during final roster cuts on September 5, but re-signed with the team two days later. He re-signed with the Raiders on June 7, 2021. He announced his retirement on August 3.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Sam 1987 births Living people Players of American football from Coral Springs, Florida St. Thomas Aquinas High School (Florida) alumni American football offensive tackles Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Dallas Cowboys players Buffalo Bills players Jacksonville Jaguars players Miami Dolphins players San Francisco 49ers players Las Vegas Raiders players Pine Crest School alumni