Len Younce
{{Short description|American football player and coach (1917–2000)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = Len Younce
| image = Younce-Len-1949.jpg
| caption = Younce as a young coach in 1949
| number = 32, 60
| position = Guard
Linebacker
Placekicker
| birth_date = {{birth date|1917|1|8|mf=y}}
| birth_place = Dayton, Oregon, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2000|3|26|1917|1|8}}
| death_place = Portland, Oregon, U.S.
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 1
| weight_lb = 208
| high_school = Roosevelt {{nowrap|(Portland, Oregon)}}
| college = Oregon State
| draftyear = 1941
| draftround = 8
| draftpick = 67
| pastteams =
- New York Giants ({{NFL Year|1941}}, {{NFL Year|1943|1944}}, {{NFL Year|1946|1948}})
| pastcoaching =
- Oregon State (1949–1954)
Offensive line - Edmonton Eskimos (1963–1965)
Defensive coach/offensive line
| highlights =
- First-team All-Pro (1943)
- Second-team All-Pro (1946)
- NFL punting yards leader (1943)
- NFL 1940s All-Decade Team
- First-team All-PCC (1940)
- Second-team All-PCC (1939)
| statlabel1 = Games played
| statvalue1 = 65
| statlabel2 = Starts
| statvalue2 = 57
| statlabel3 = Punts
| statvalue3 = 70
| statlabel4 = Punting yards
| statvalue4 = 2,845
| statlabel5 = Longest punt
| statvalue5 = 74
| pfr = YounLe20
}}
Leonard Alonzo Younce (January 8, 1917 – March 26, 2000) was an American professional football player and coach. He had a six-year career, interrupted by World War II in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the New York Giants. Younce played college football for the Oregon State Beavers and was selected by the Giants in the eighth round of the 1941 NFL draft.
Younce is a member of the Oregon State University Athletic and Oregon Sports Halls of Fame.
Playing career
File:Len Younce - 1948 Bowman.jpg
Born in Dayton, Oregon,{{cite news|title=Obituaries|date=March 30, 2000|page=D13|work=The Oregonian}} Younce attended Roosevelt High School{{cite magazine |magazine=Oregon Stater |volume=85 |issue=2 |title=Grid great Younce dies |publisher=Oregon State University Alumni Association |url=https://oregondigital.org/sets/osu-alumni-magazine/oregondigital:fx71cc73v#page/53/mode/1up |date=September 2000 |page=51}} in Portland and then played college football at Oregon State College in Corvallis. He was selected in the eighth round (67th overall) by the New York Giants in the 1941 NFL draft, and played a variety of positions, including linebacker, offensive lineman, placekicker, and punter.{{Cite web |title=1941 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1941/draft.htm |access-date=2023-03-31 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}} Younce was a first-team All-Pro selection in 1943 by the International News Service.{{cite web |title=1943 NFL All-Pros |website=Pro Football Reference |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1943/allpro.htm |access-date=May 30, 2025}} In 1946, he was a first-team selection by the New York Daily News and a second-team selection by the Associated Press and United Press International.{{cite web |title=1946 NFL All-Pros |website=Pro Football Reference |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1946/allpro.htm |access-date=May 30, 2025}}
Coaching career
After retiring from playing, Younce was an assistant coach at Oregon State University from 1949 to 1954, and with the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Edmonton Eskimos.{{cite news|title=It's his world and he loves it|date=October 25, 1993|page=C1|work=The Oregonian|last=Wheeler|first=Ken}} He served as the linebackers coach for the Portland Loggers of the Continental Football League in 1969.{{cite news |title=Younce in grid role |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/814586119/?terms=%22Portland%20Loggers%22&match=1 |access-date=8 April 2023 |work=The Columbian |agency=United Press International |date=12 August 1969 |location=Vancouver, Washington |page=19}}
Later years
Younce was coaxed out of retirement to coach high school football for one year at Joseph High School in the small eastern Oregon town of Joseph in 1992. He intended to continue, but health problems prevented his return.
Younce was an inaugural inductee of the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1980,{{cite web|url=http://www.oregonsportshall.com/inductee-members.html |title=Hall of Fame Roll of Honor Members |publisher=Oregon Sports Hall of Fame and Museum |accessdate=February 23, 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130801161027/http://www.oregonsportshall.com/inductee-members.html |archivedate=August 1, 2013 }} and was inducted into the OSU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988. He died in Portland, Oregon on March 26, 2000.{{cite news|title=Younce Service is Saturday|date=March 28, 2000|page=D2|work=The Oregonian|last=Nolen|first=John}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Portal|Biography}}
- {{Find a Grave|36456150}}
{{Giants1941DraftPicks}}
{{NFL1940s}}
{{NFL punting yards leaders}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Younce, Len}}
Category:American football linebackers
Category:American football offensive guards
Category:American football punters
Category:Edmonton Elks coaches
Category:New York Giants players
Category:Oregon State Beavers football coaches
Category:Oregon State Beavers football players
Category:People from Dayton, Oregon