Landon Young once thought his only chance to play in college would be as a long snapper

Landon Young is now with the New Orleans Saints but once wondered if he could even play college football. (UK Athletics Photo)

Former UK offensive tackle Landon Young said he had “no clue” he might play in the NFL when he was in middle school and high school. He was not even sure he would play college football, so he went to long snapping camps to help his chances of playing in college.

“I don’t come from a sports background. Me and my Dad were like surely the only way I am going to make it on a full ride (scholarship) is to be a long snapper somewhere,”  Young said. “I was going to snapping camps and I really debated giving up football.”

The former Lafayette High School standout got a UK scholarship offer the summer before his sophomore season but didn’t totally understand what that meant.

“It wasn’t until my junior year that I realized what all this football stuff was. I didn’t get another offer at UK until the end of my junior year. I had committed to UK after I got the offer,” Young said.

Lafayette coach Eric Shaw and assistant coach Dennis Johnson tried to help Young with the process. Shaw played for the Bengals and Johnson was a UK standout who also played in the NFL.

“I never got the severity of it. Even during (media) interviews when I was told, ‘You are the youngest guy ever offered (at UK)?’ and I was like, ‘Offered what? Like $2,000 dollars a year or something.’ I didn’t get it,” Young said.

“Probably my junior year coach (Eddie) Gran was still at Cincinnati and he offered me and in the next three days I got Alabama, Ohio State, and Auburn. I was like maybe this is a little bigger than I thought. It ended up working out.  I started to figure out what all that meant.”

Young initially didn’t understand a scholarship offer meant he would not have to pay to go to college.

He “loved” both track and wrestling. He knew scholarship money was not there for wrestling or track. He also knew the odds were against anyone making it to the NFL even though Johnson repeatedly told him he had the skills to make it.

“I thought there was no way I could make it. Then I got to college ball, played my freshman year, and thought about the possibility of maybe making money one day playing football,” Young said. “It all ended up working out pretty well.”

The New Orleans Saints took Young in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL draft He’s on the active roster and the one-time future long snapper seems to have a chance for a long career with the Saints.