South Doyle High School alum hoping to get drafted into NFL
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — With night two of the NFL draft in the books, a local high school product remains on the the board. Elijah Young played his high school football at South-Doyle High School before heading to Missouri and Western Kentucky for college ball.
The room at Emerald Youth was full of family and friends as the teams made their selections in this years draft. Elijah Young saying he will bring a lot to whichever team picks him.
'I feel like I'm a versatile back,' Young said. 'I can hit the home runs, can catch the ball and can also put my shoulder down.'
Elijah Young is a south Doyle high school product looking to be the third player to be picked in the NFL draft from that school. While in high school, Young was named Tennessee's 5-a Mr. Football and the Tennessee Gatorade player of the year. He went on to play college ball at Missouri and western Kentucky. Young saying playing for those two schools will help him in the long run.
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'You know, those are two different cultures right there,' he said. 'It's really two different mindsets, so me being able to gather from both will really help me.'
He was surrounded by friends and family who all echoed the same sentiment, whoever picks him will get the best out of him.
'If they listening, he's a work horse, y'all better come get him,' Coach Haley said.
'It's been great watching every stepping stone and how much he has endured during this process,' Caprice who was there to support Elijah said. 'I just want to say, hey, y'all better come get your man here.'
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Elijah's younger brother Curtis was also there by his side as draft picks continued being called. Curtis told 6 News, he will forever be proud of his brother.
'He was my role model, I modeled everything I did after him,' Curtis said. 'He set the stone, so I try to walk on it as much as I could. He's going to always going to over exceed my expectations, that's why I'm always going to be proud of him.'
Curtis only needed one word to describe the type of player Elijah can be in the league.
'He a dawg,' Curtis said. 'He can go anywhere, play anywhere. He's going to do whatever it takes so I know when he gets the chance and the opportunity, sky's the limit.'
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Elijah's mentor, Mark, has known him since he was 7-years-old and from day one he knew Elijah was something special.
'He was a scrawny little kid,' Mark said. 'I'm not joking either but very quickly you could see he had freakish athletic ability, freakish athletic ability and always has.'
Elijah was a man of few words at the watch party, but is excited for the opportunity ahead of him if he gets drafted. In the time spent in the room with Elijah and his family, it was evident how much everyone in the room wanted him to get the phone call every football player dreams of, you've made it to the NFL.
The draft is not over yet and there is still time for Elijah to be drafted in one of the next three rounds on Saturday as the fourth through seventh rounds get underway.
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