Chase Young

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.

Chase Young (born April 14, 1999) is an American football defensive end for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL).

A native of Maryland, he played college football at Ohio State University for the Buckeyes.

Young was born in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, on April 14, 1999.

His 16.5 sacks broke the single-season school record previously held by Vernon Gholston, who had 14 in 2007.

He was later named to the Big Ten Network's 2010s All-Decade Team as the only unanimous selection.

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 that helped 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 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 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.

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.

During his junior season in 2019, Young broke the school's single-season sack record with 16.5 and was named a unanimous All-American and the recipient of several defensive player of the year awards.

He was also named the Big Ten Male Athlete of the Year and was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, a rare accomplishment for a defensive player.

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.

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.

Young declared for the 2020 NFL draft following that season and was considered by many to be its best overall prospect before being selected second overall by the Washington Football Team.

He was named the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Year and made the Pro Bowl after leading all rookies in several statistical categories in 2020, including sacks and forced fumbles.

His 2021 season was seen as a disappointment after he recorded just 1.5 sacks prior to suffering a major knee injury halfway through, leading to a lengthy recovery that forced him to also miss the majority of the 2022 season.

He was traded to the 49ers mid-way through the 2023 season.

Young decided to forgo his senior year at Ohio State by declaring for the 2020 NFL draft, where he was considered to be the best overall prospect by many in the media.

He attended the NFL Combine but did not participate in any workouts or drills, stating that he did not want to waste time being a "combine athlete".

Young was one of 58 players invited to the draft, which was held virtually due to social distancing regulations arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.