ENGLEWOOD - Some people hope. Some, however, believe. They still believe, despite the odds, struggles and failures along the way.

"I believe, I always have," Broncos rookie running back Selvin Young said. "I always felt like things would be right. My grandmother would always tell me - I would always be like, 'Grandma, I want this, I want that, I want this' - and she would say, 'You have to speak of things as though they are and they will come to pass.'

"So I try to speak about things as though they are."

Not that Young hasn't put that idea to the test during the past five years. But fresh off 91 rushing yards on 17 carries Saturday night against the Cleveland Browns, Young has done the one thing an undrafted rookie must do in an NFL preseason.

He has been noticed.

"That's what you want to see, you're looking for a guy to stand out," Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said. "And he really stood out."

That wasn't always an issue for Young. He arrived at the University of Texas in 2002 as another gem from the recruiting mine of Texas high school football.

He ran for 116 yards, including a 79-yarder, in his first scrimmage. He became the first player in school history to return a punt and kickoff for touchdowns in the same game. He showed enough promise that there was talk he would split carries with Cedric Benson, who went on to win the Doak Walker Award as the nation's best running back before he was a first-round pick by the Chicago Bears.

From there, though, Young's career path became pockmarked with the unexpected.

There was a groin injury in 2003 that caused him to miss just enough time that Benson separated himself in the running back battle and never looked back.

In 2004, he fielded a kickoff and took a hit that broke his right ankle. It took 11 screws and a plate to put what Young called "a jigsaw puzzle" back together.

He limped through 2005 with an ankle sprain and experienced academic troubles that forced him out of Texas and into Austin Community College for a semester to earn his way back in for the 2006 season.

"He has a desire to win," said Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young, no relation but one of Selvin Young's close friends. "And he is hungry."

"I always talked about getting healthy, staying healthy, being healthy, completing a season," the Broncos' Young said. "I'm still going to keep that frame of mind. I don't get frustrated. Not with the injuries, but the frustrating part is wondering if those around you still believe that you have the ability to do what you want to do."

Selvin Young had the final block that sprung Vince Young free for the touchdown that gave the Longhorns the national championship to close 2005. He finished 2006 with 591 rushing yards - his best season for the Longhorns - and seven touchdowns, but missed some time because of a rib injury.

He then watched as, with medical reports in hand, 32 NFL teams passed him on draft day in April before the Broncos signed him as a college free agent.

Running backs coach Bobby Turner, always on the hunt for runners to put in an offense that has pounded out more yardage on the ground than any other team since the start of the 1995 season, vouched for him.

"Bobby really liked him . . . ," Shanahan said. "He's the kind of person you like to take a chance on. Smart, has ability and played in a program like Texas."

"I was disappointed, very disappointed I didn't get drafted," Young said. "Of course, I felt like I was the best running back coming out in this draft, but I've got my whole entire career to prove that and not let someone else decide by picking people.

"It just takes one, and Bobby Turner listened to what I had to say and he believed in me. And just the fact he believed in me, now he's going to get an opportunity to coach somebody like me."

But August is a time of an unflinching numbers game in the NFL. The Broncos had eight fewer players on the practice field Monday than they did on the sideline Saturday with first cuts due this afternoon.

There are many who believe, only to be told it wasn't enough. The supply of those who want to be on an NFL roster always exceeds the number of available spots. But Young believes anyway. He has filled a pile of spiral notebooks - "my daily journal" - about such things along the way.

"I write in there all the time," Young said. "I have quite a few tablets filled up, lately it's been a lot of positives. The more that's positive in there, when I go back to read them at the end of the week, it's a good thing.

"But I know how it goes. I have to be prepared, come to work ready to perform or I won't be here. I've said I want to stay, I want to play football, this is my dream. But I came in off the street and I know I can be back out there any time. I just want to see what happens."

Long road ,/P>

Broncos rookie running back Selvin Young was a heralded recruit when he arrived at Texas in 2002, but his career was derailed by injuries. His college rushing statistics.

Year No. Yards Avg. TD

2002 85 408 4.8 5

2003 35 151 4.3 3

2004* 12 102 8.5 2

2005 96 461 4.8 8

2006 137 591 4.3 7* Medical Redshirt

legwoldj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2359

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