Byron Young gave more than 150 Los Angeles students something they could carry into school. He also wanted to leave them with something they could carry much longer.
On the Rams‘ off day Tuesday, Aug. 4, the Pro Bowl outside linebacker visited Everest Value School, a TK-8 campus in Los Angeles. Young distributed new backpacks and helped provide meals for the students, according to the team, but he did not want the impact of the event to end with school supplies.
“I always want to give back to the kids and the youth because they’re the future,” Byron Young told LAFB Network. “I want to be someone that they could look up to and say, ‘You know what? Whatever I want to be, I could achieve it.'”
Young’s path gives that message weight.
Byron Young Had A Non-Traditional Journey
After high school, he spent roughly a year and a half away from football while working jobs at Burger King and Dollar General. A flyer advertising a tryout at Georgia Military College helped him find his way back to the sport. He eventually reached Tennessee and became the Rams’ third-round selection in the 2023 NFL Draft.
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In May, Byron Young returned to Tennessee to complete another part of that journey. He earned his communication studies degree and became the first member of his family to graduate from college. Young called it one of his greatest accomplishments.
His football resume has grown, too. Young recorded a career-high 12 sacks in 2025 and earned his first Pro Bowl selection. His performance also placed him at No. 84 in the NFL Top 100.
But when he spoke about reaching children, Young did not frame success as something delivered through a single speech. He said the example has to continue after the event ends.
“Just by showing up and practicing what I preach,” Young said. “Telling them the advice and actually doing the same thing. In the long run, they could look up and say, ‘You know what? Byron did it this way. He did that.'”
Byron Young recalled a recent conversation in which his agent described meeting a professional athlete when he was young and the lasting influence that moment had on him. It reinforced for Young how much a player’s presence can mean to a child, even when the interaction is brief.
The exchange also went both ways. Young said students approached him with pictures and kind messages of their own, giving him motivation in return.
The clearest message he wanted to leave behind was one that has followed him from retail jobs to junior college, Tennessee and eventually Los Angeles: A setback does not disqualify anyone from succeeding.
“Don’t be afraid to make a mistake or fail,” Young said. “A lot of people look at failure as, ‘You lost, so you can’t be successful.’ Failure is a part of success. I guarantee you nobody in the world was successful without having some barriers to cross or some adversity.
“Adversity is part of success, and it’s beautiful. Just embrace that.”
The backpacks helped the students prepare for the beginning of a school year. Byron Young’s larger goal was to give them an example they could return to when their own route forward stops looking straight.
