Young, Roberson Juggle Two-Sport Lives

From the first time you touch a ball as a kid, whether it's a game of catch or HORSE, you dream of one day being as good as the college athletes on TV. Few ever see these dream come true. 
 
OBU sophomores Cagney Roberson and Devontrae Young have not only achieved these goals but have taken it one step further. Aside from their roles on the OBU football team, both athletes play and excel at two sports.
 
Devontrae Young has been in love with football since he was six years old when he started as a receiver.
 

"I started catching a lot of passes and I thought 'this sport is really cool and I really liked it'" Young said. "And I started playing defense and I started tackling people, I said 'I can do this."'
 
Ever since, Young said he was hooked. It wouldn't be until he was almost thirteen years old however, that Young would discover his talent for a second sport, track.
 
"I first started running when I was in the seventh grade, I used to beat everyone in my class and those ahead of me" he said. "Then when I got to eighth grade I used to beat out seniors in high school."
 
Young entered high school with what appeared to be a bright competitive school career ahead of him.
 
Or so he thought.
 
"I hurt my knee, tore my ACL and some more ligaments in my knee at the end of my freshman year going into my sophomore year so I didn't play my whole sophomore year," Young said.
 
It would be a whole year before Young would be able to return to sports, one that left him filled with doubts.
 
"I didn't know if I really wanted to play anymore because I knew I wasn't going to feel the same in my leg and it kind of held me back mentally," he said.
 
Eventually Young said he was able to overcome those mental barriers and decided to return to football and track his junior year. It was a decision that would not only allow Young to receive offers to play both football and run track in college, but would eventually lead him to become a national champion in track.
 
"I came back and I realized that I didn't skip a beat or anything," he said. "I was still running a great speed; I was running great times."
 
Despite his relief, Young said there were still doubts along the way. After what he considered a bad year in track his senior year of high school, Young said he was just ready to start getting ready for football.
 
During freshman year Young started out as safety but was moved to quarterback halfway through the season. For the last six games Young would play quarterback, and while most of the people watching him were mostly interested in him as a football player, there was one set of eyes that took notice of him for a different reason. Those eye belonged to the head track coach at OBU, who had heard about Young's running ability.
"One day I was coming out of the training room and coach Maston, the head track coach here, asked who I was and said he'd heard good things about me," he said.
 
Young started going to indoor and outdoor meets, each time noticing an improvement in his times.
 
"In the 4x200 relay we won the indoor, in the 200 meter I was probably 0.04 seconds from being in the top four sprinters overall," he said.
 
Young also excelled in running the outdoor 2x400 relay, the 200 meter run, and the 100 meter dash. With his qualifying times Young helped buy his relay team, as well as himself, a trip to nationals where they won the indoor 4x200, and the outdoor 4x100. Individually Young also managed to be the runner-up in the 200 meter dash and was a three time All-American as a freshman.
 
"It's really a blessing," Young said of his accomplishments. "I can't do it without God and those who are around me that push me every day to get better."
 
Although he has had so much success, Young said he does not let it go to his head.
 
"I've still got more work to do to get better and better; I don't use it as my advantage," he said. "I just keep to myself and stay humble about it because anything could happen at any moment."
 

When football season comes to end Young won't be the only football player suiting up for another sport, fellow teammate Cagney Roberson will also be gearing up for another season. Roberson doubles as the receiver for the OBU football team and a forward for the basketball team. Unlike his teammate, Roberson did not spend his high school career playing football, but only played until seventh grade.
 
"At the time I didn't really like football, I was more of a baseball kid because I grew up playing baseball," Roberson said. "So I decided to stop playing."
 
Things changed for Roberson however during his senior year, when he received an unexpected call to the principal's office.
 
"We got a new head coach job and a coach from Broken Arrow decided to come over and I was in my chemistry class and they called me to the principal's office," he said.
 
Roberson walked into the office to find the coach and the principal waiting to talk to him.
 
"They basically told me that they really want me to play football," he said. "And then at that time I was doing really well in basketball."
 
Due to his success as a basketball player, Roberson said, his mother didn't want him playing football, for fear that he would be injured. Determined to make it work, however, the head football coach decided to try to change his mother's mind.
 
"A couple weeks later he somehow got my mom's phone number, called her and guaranteed her that I wouldn't be getting hurt," Roberson said.
 
The coach's convincing worked and soon Roberson was suiting up once again for football season. OBU's football coaches took notice of Roberson's talent and offered him a scholarship. Basketball, however, was a different story, one that began when his best friend from high school was looking into playing at OBU.
 
"He was getting recruited by the coaches here for basketball," he said. "They offered him and he committed and the day after he committed they told me that they wanted me to walk on last year."
 
Although two sports would be more to juggle, Roberson said he didn't mind because of his love for basketball.
 
"I just really love playing basketball, it's fun," he said. "I don't like having downtime, I always want to be doing something."
 
Nobody knows when they first pick up a ball how good they will be at a sport, much less if they'll be good at two. Although Roberson and Young's passions may each be split between two sports, there is one thing that they will always be passionate for no matter what game they play: Bison pride and the desire to help their teams be the best they can be.