Charley Young

Charley Young
No. 30
Position:	Running back
Personal information
Date of birth:	(1952-10-13) October 13, 1952
Place of birth:	Raleigh, NC
Height:	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight:	230 lb (104 kg)
Career information
High school:	Enloe High School
College:	North Carolina State
NFL draft:	1974 / Round: 1 / Pick: 22
Career history
Dallas Cowboys (1974–1977) *Inactive and/or offseason member only
Career NFL statistics
Rushing yards:	638
Receiving yards:	391
Touchdowns:	4
Stats at NFL.com

Stats at pro-football-reference.com

Charles Lee Young (born October 13, 1952 in Raleigh, North Carolina) is a former American football running back in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at North Carolina State University and was drafted in the first round (22nd overall) of the 1974 NFL Draft.

Early years

Following a standout high school sports career at Enloe High School, in 1970, Young and Willie Burden became the first African-Americans recruited to the North Carolina State University football team. He also was a part of the track team.

When Lou Holtz arrived as the head coach at North Carolina State University, he implemented split-back veer offense to take advantage of the talent at running back, that included Young, Burden, Stan Fritts and Roland Hooks.^[1] At the time this was arguably the best group of running backs in the nation, they were known as "The Four Stallions" and everyone of them went on to play in a professional football league.^[2]^[3]

As the fullback, in 1973 he was part of the Atlantic Coast Conference championship team. He finished his college career with 1,657 rushing yards.

Professional career

In the 1974 NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys had two first round draft choices. With the first one they selected Ed "Too Tall" Jones. The team was targeting Lynn Swann with their second first-round pick, but selected Young instead, after Swann was taken by the Pittsburgh Steelers.^[4]

He played only three seasons in a reserve role, until suffering a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee, during the 1977 training camp.^[5] After being on injured reserve for a year, he returned in 1978 but couldn't make the team.^[6]

References

1974 NFL Draft First Round Selections

Ed "Too Tall" Jones Bo Matthews John Hicks Waymond Bryant John Dutton Carl Barzilauskas J. V. Cain Ed O'Neil Wilbur Jackson Bill Sandifer John Cappelletti Barty Smith Rick Middleton Randy Gradishar Don Goode Woody Green Fred McNeill Reuben Gant Henry Lawrence Dave Gallagher Lynn Swann Charley Young Bill Kollar Roger Carr Steve Riley Donald Reese

Dallas Cowboys 1974 NFL Draft selections

Ed "Too Tall" Jones Charley Young Danny White Cal Peterson Ken Hutcherson Andy Adrade John Kelsey Jim Bright Raymond Nester Mike Holt Bill Dulin Dennis Morgan Harvey McGee Keith Bobo Fred Lima Doug Richards Bruce Craft Gene Killian Lawrie Skolrood

Draft years: 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Dallas Cowboys first-round draft picks

Lilly Jordan Appleton Morton Niland Homan C. Hill D. Thomas To. Smith B. Thomas DuPree E. Jones Young R. White Henderson Kyle Dorsett Bethea Shaw Richards R. Hill Jeffcoat Cannon Brooks Sherrard Noonan Irvin Aikman E. Smith Maryland Harper Pritchett K. Smith R. Jones Carver LaFleur Ellis Ekuban R. Williams Newman Ware Spears Carpenter Spencer F. Jones Jenkins Bryant Ty. Smith Claiborne Frederick Martin B. Jones

AFC East BUF MIA NE NYJ North BAL CIN CLE PIT South HOU IND JAX TEN West DEN KC OAK SD NFC East DAL NYG PHI WAS North CHI DET GB MIN South ATL CAR NO TB West ARI STL SF SEA