D.J. Young
D.J. Young was promoted to the active roster for the Arizona Cardinals on December 28, 2011. Prior to his promotion to the 53 man active roster, he spent the entire season on the practice squad for the Cardinals. D.J. was undrafted in the 2011 NFL Draft, however, once the NFL lockout was lifted, he quickly became a sought after commodity at the OT position as a free agent before ultimately deciding to play in Arizona. Young, a Lansing Michigan native, originally committed in 2006 to Bowling Green University in Ohio where he started off his college career at defensive tackle. D.J. was considered one of the top defenders in the state of Michigan during his senior year and was named to the Detroit Free Press All State Dream Team. He chose Bowling Green over offers from Cincinnati, North Carolina, Indiana, Purdue, Kentucky, Central Michigan and UCF. As a sophomore, D.J. recorded 23 tackles and 2.5 TFL for the Falcons. In his freshman year, he played a reserve roll with the team recording 7 tackles in 6 games played. After the 2007 season with Bowling Green, D.J. Young decided to transfer to his dream school that eluded him out of high school, Michigan State University. Not only did he risk giving up a scholarship from Bowling Green to sign with the Spartans as a walk-on and pay his own way, D.J. also had a monumental task in the classroom in order to complete his transfer to Michigan State. After sitting out the 2008 season due to NCAA transfer rules, Young needed to complete a total of 49 college credits in order to be eligible for the 2009 football season as some of his classes from Bowling Green did not transfer. D.J. switched to the offensive side of the ball for the Spartans where he started 11 games in 2009 at right tackle and in 2010, switching to left tackle, started 12 games and was named second team All Big Ten by the coaches. D.J. was born Curtis Duane Young Jr. and is the son of former Michigan State University, San Diego Chargers and Buffalo Bills tight end, Duane Young. His father played 6 seasons in the NFL, 5 in San Diego and 1 in Buffalo.
