Sports' Forgotten Heroes

One of the fastest players to ever grace the gridiron was the 5-foot-4 Buddy Young. A native of Illinois, Young played for the Illini before joining the AAFC (All America Football Conference) and later the NFL where he enjoyed great success with the then Baltimore Colts. Buddy’s speed and quickness is what made him a threat on the field. At Illinois, the first time Buddy ever touched a football, he ran 64-yards for a touchdown. The second time he got a hold of the ball, he ran 30-yards for a touchdown. In fact, his first year with Illinois, he scored 10 touchdowns to tie the team record of the legendary Red Grange. In the pros, during Buddy’s 9-year career, he scored 17 touchdowns on the ground, caught passes for another 21 touchdowns, scored two touchdowns on punt returns and four on kickoffs, including a return of 104-yards. While Buddy was making a name for himself on the football field, one can only wonder how much more notoriety he would have garnered had he decided to stick with a different sport, one i