Young, Selvin

Card: SP 2008
Acquired:4/9/12, Target Authentic Memorabilia Autograph Edition

Selvin Young joins a string of recent UT starting backs, (dating back to Priest Holmes) who made it good in the NFL.  Selvin struck me as an under the radar player, and with his 5-11, 207 frame, he was slightly undersized to be an every down back. Deceptively speedy, he ran a 4.58 40, but could really cut on a dime and explode which was really his best attribute. As a backup to Cedric Benson his rookie season, he split time as the primary kick/punt returner for the Longhorns. Young started in the 2005 championship over the Trojans, and finished his career with 3,060 all purpose yards and 29 touchdowns at UT.

Selvin was not taken in the 2007 draft and elected to go with the Denver Broncos, – a team that employed a zone blocking system, and really appealed to his strengths as a one-cut runner. He’d work his way into the lineup spelling time for former Bill Travis Henry as well as a 3rd down back, finishing his rookie season with 729 yards and a 5.2 YPC in 8 starts. His numbers led all AFC rookies in rushing yardage. It was an incredible rise for the young rookie, but a herniated disc, (similar to what had troubled former Texan Steve Slaton,) and a torn groin muscle sidelined him for much of 2008. In 2009 it was determined that Selvin needed more time to rehab his neck injury, and with the Broncos now sporting a full stable of runningbacks, -Denver opted to give Selvin an injury settlement. He has not been signed since, but from what I saw on Twitter, he continues to work out and claims now to be 100% rehabilitated.

Great card actually. I really like the super close up on the threads, and overall its a superior effort by SP. I was really happy to get this card, as I had hoped that the UT Upper Deck set would have spotlighted Young, but in the end, it was the luck of the draw from the Target Memorabilia Collection that got me this one. The best part about it is I was just talking about him at the Orange-White Scrimmage!

G/Gs 23/13    Rush 201    Yds 1032    Td 2     Lg 50   |   Rec  38   Yds 247   Avg  6.5   Td 0