Chase Young Representing DeMatha in the NFL

Photo credit to:

Luke O’Hare, Staff Writer

Chase Young is an American football player who was drafted to the Washington Commanders in the 2020 NFL draft. Chase was born on April 14, 1999 and grew up in Upper Marlboro, MD. He went to St. Columba School for elementary and middle school. Chase started playing football at a young age. This helped him gain experience and learn the rules of the game from a young age. During his time playing youth football he played as a quarterback, tight end, and outside linebacker. He later made a switch to defensive end in high school.

During his first two years of high school he attended St. Vincent Pallotti High School. He played football there and stood out to coaches everywhere. He was recruited to come to DeMatha to play football and ended up attending DeMatha his Junior year. Not only was he doing great on the field, but he also had good grades in the classroom. Chase was dedicated to get better and make others better. In a video produced by Sports Stars of Tomorrow on YouTube, his teammate Anthony McFarland said “I wasn’t as talkative until Chase came. He kind of started that fire in me.” Chase had incredible stats that led to him becoming a 5-star recruit. His Junior year, he recorded an impressive 19 sacks and 27 tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

During this season he became one of the team’s leaders. Head coach Elijah Brooks said in the same video, “The guys follow him, you need that in order to have a successful team.” He had all of the top schools in the country trying to get him to commit to their school, accumulating a total of 40 division 1 scholarship offers. The next season, all eyes were on the number 1 ranked defensive end in the country. Consequently, he had one of the most impressive stat lines imaginable. In his senior year he recorded 70 tackles, 19 sacks, 37 tackles for loss, five forced fumbles, and two defensive touchdowns.

The nationally ranked 5-star recruit committed to Ohio State University. During his time at Ohio State he had a total of 99 tackles, 30.5 sacks, and 9 forced fumbles in 36 games. After 3 years at Ohio State he felt he had proven enough and was ready for the NFL. He was drafted number 2 overall in the 2020 NFL draft to the Washington Football Team (now Commanders) and made an immediate impact for the team. In his rookie season, he had 32 solo tackles, 12 assists, 7.5 sacks and 3 fumble recoveries in 15 games. This led to him being awarded the Defensive Rookie of the Year Award. Chase Young certainly has a bright future and is a great example of a DeMatha alumni.