TALLAHASSEE, Fl. (WTXL) - For Godby High School grad Kenny Young III,nothing in this life has come easy.
"There's things in my life that have happened, but you know, you can't control things that happen," he said. Young has gone through more than most people do in a lifetime. He's witnessed shootings, had close friends and families murdered, and seen family move in and out of jail.
He escaped Tallahassee, paving his own way at Miami University, where he sits 10th all time in all purpose yards.
"Now I look back and I'm like yeah, I'm glad I made that decision (to go to Ohio)," he said. "You never know, if I was down in Florida, and those things had happened, I'm quick to jump on the road and see what's going on."
"I've seen a lot of people that go through rough times in life and they just drop the ball and give up," added Devin Rispress, who coached Young his freshman season at Godby. "He was one of those kids who knew what he wanted and he knew he had to be successful."
That's why Young is here. Lifting, sprinting, working on agility, because his dream is to hear his name called in late April. He is a running back that has good hands, and Young's skill set is endless, and that's why he is catching people's eyes.
"There are thousands of guys who are looking to get into that NFL Draft," said Rispres. "You have to every day, and I preach it to him, you have to always outwork somebody. You work even harder because you don't know how hard the other person is working."
"It still hasn't settled in yet. I still get excited," smiled Young. "I go back and I watch my highlights and stuff like that everyday. I'm like this is really happening, this is me, coming from where I come from."
Where he's come from has no bearing on where he's going - but for Young it's the past that keeps him focused on the future.
"I think about my past everyday, every night I pray. That's what drives me to do the things I love, and then I have an incredible support system that helps me throughout my whole career and life in general," he said. "The obstacles that I went through and I look back and I'm like wow, I really overcame those things. I can write my future basically."
And what a sweet story, it will be.