Walter Young

Walter Lee Young Jr. (born December 7, 1979) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers and Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Panthers in the seventh-round pick of the 2003 NFL draft. He played college football for the Illinois Fighting Illini.

Early life Born in Chicago Heights, Illinois, Young attended Rich East High School in Park Forest, Illinois, where he earned all-state honors as a quarterback.

College career Football Originally a quarterback, Young switched to wide receiver as a redshirt sophomore at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2000. Starting seven games that year, Young finished the season with 27 receptions for 403 yards. As a junior, Young started 11 games and finished second on the team with 50 catches for 890 yards and eight touchdowns, while averaging a team-leading 17.8 yards per catch. In his senior year of 2002, Young started 12 games and again ranked second on the team with 56 catches for 822 yards and six touchdowns. Young finished his college career ranking third on the Illini all-time list with 2,382 receiving yards and 15 touchdown receptions, and fifth with 147 receptions. He played in seven games in 2003 and was targeted five times but did not record a catch. He also made two solo tackles. Young was placed on injured reserve on December 20, 2003. He was waived by the Panthers on August 31, 2004.

Pittsburgh Steelers Young was signed to the practice squad of the Pittsburgh Steelers on September 7, 2004. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Steelers on January 27, 2005. He was waived on August 29, 2005, and signed to the team's practice squad on September 5, 2005. Young re-signed with the Steelers on February 16, 2006. Young was waived on December 23 and signed to the Steelers' practice squad on December 27, 2006.

Young signed a reserve/future contract with the Steelers on January 3, 2007. He was waived on September 1, 2007.

Personal life Young currently works in trade show operations for GCJ Management.