Landon Young Named Captain of 2019 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 13, 2019) — The fans have spoken and University of Kentucky junior offensive tackle Landon Young has been voted captain of the 2019 Allstate AFCA (American Football Coaches Association) Good Works Team®.
Young was named a member of the team in September for his volunteer work in the community and abroad. Of the 22 total Good Works Team members, Young received the honor of being named Good Works Team® captain through fan voting that took place throughout the season at ESPN.com/Allstate.
For 28 years, the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team has highlighted the inspiring stories of selflessness demonstrated by college football players across the country who have dedicated their lives to positively impacting the world around them. The 2019 Good Works Team consisted of a final roster of 22 award recipients and one honorary head coach — 11 players from the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision and 11 players from the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision, Divisions II, III and the NAIA — that were selected from this year’s 169 nominees.
Young is Kentucky’s 15th player to be named to the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team and the school’s first to be named Good Works Team® captain in the history of the program.
Young, also a member of the Southeastern Conference Community Service team, is one of the leaders for Kentucky football in terms of community service hours. He’s a player that can always be counted on to volunteer and give back to his community. Here are just a few of his service projects:
- He has visited a local nursing home several times, including a pre-Super Bowl party to give joy to the residents.
- Guest speaker at local churches and elementary schools on seven different occasions, talking about life lessons, fighting through adversities, faith and football.
- Volunteered at Habitat for Humanity.
- Volunteered at Kentucky Children’s Hospital to visit patients and lift their spirits.
- Helped decorate Lexington’s Hope Center's recovery program for women with Christmas decorations.
- Volunteered with Lexington Christian Church to do yard work for members not physically able to take care of their yard.
- An animal science major in the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Young has volunteered his time for eight straight years at a veterinary clinic in Cynthiana, Kentucky.
- Participated in a one-week service trip to Ethiopia in May of 2019 where he helped deliver essential nutrition, supplies, hope and love to families living in Korah, a slum made up of all the trash accumulated in Addis Ababa; visited an orphanage with approximately 80 children; and took teenagers from Korah to play arcade games and see the "Avengers" movie.
Young will join his fellow Allstate AFCA Good Works Team members in New Orleans ahead of the 2020 Allstate® Sugar Bowl® and participate in a special volunteer project to refurbish Einstein Charter School. Young and the team will also be honored on the field at halftime during the game on Jan. 1, 2020.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.
In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.