TO BE YOUNGS
Valparaiso brothers Tanner and Tyler Young thrilled to play in state championship game
It’s a Saturday night in November, so of course football is on the agenda for Tyler and Tanner Young.
The lives of the Valparaiso brothers have revolved around the game for the past decade.
“Football’s a daily routine and has been for the last 10 years,” Tyler Young said. “It’s not some separate thing. It’s part of us now. It never stops, even when we leave the field.” But this Saturday is going to be different. Tyler Young, a 6-foot, 225-pound senior defensive end, and Tanner Young, a 5-11, 200-pound junior defensive tackle, won’t be sitting at home watching college football or preparing for an NFL Sunday. They’ll be playing for Valparaiso (10-3) in the Class 5A state championship game against Whiteland (12-1) at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Tanner Young said he was still struggling to comprehend the situation a few days after the Vikings’ thrilling 22-21 overtime win against Fort Wayne Snider in a semistate on Friday night.
“I don’t think it’s hit me yet, that we’re going to state,” he said. “And it probably won’t hit me until we get there.”
Football has been a fixture in their lives since Tyler Young started playing in Valparaiso’s Pop Warner league. Tanner Young was a later arrival to the sport, starting in middle school. The two didn’t become teammates until high school, spending much of their childhood as opponents.
“It was always intense because you never wanted to lose to your brother,” Tyler Young said. “It always pushed us to be better and strive for more.”
They identified the same source of inspiration for their football careers: their father, John, a 1988 Crown Point graduate who was an all-state running back.
John Young said he simply showed the game of football to his sons, and they took it from there.