Jaylen Twyman
Jaylen Twyman
Personal Life
Jaylen Twyman was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up in the housing projects of Lincoln Heights. The violent area has left its mark on Jaylen's family. His father, Guy Young, spent 2006 to 2013 in prison on drug distribution charges whlie trying to provide for his family. Guy's mother went to jail and left him in charge of Jaylen and his siblings. Jaylen's uncle Dexter Motley, was the victim of a drive-by shooting in August of 2014 and his older brother, Tayvon Cummings, was murdered in May of 2016. Jaylen's grandfather had an ice cream truck with a slushie machine across from the strip where they were both gunned down. [17]
Jaylen Twyman's other uncle, Parnell Motley, is a cornerback at University of Oklahoma. His mother, Stephaine, had a little help raising Jayden from his godmother, Crystal. [17]
In an interview with Post Gazette, Twyman spoke about his experience growing up has shaped him: [17]
"A lot of the stuff that I’ve seen really shaped me into the person I am today.
It shaped me to try and keep pushing.
I’m playing for a different thing when I put on that helmet and step between those lines."
He abides by the advice his father gave him: [17]
"Pressure only busts pipes or makes diamonds."
Education
Jaylen attends the University of Pittsburgh and plays on the Pittsburgh Panthers.
Football
Jaylen started playing pee-wee football at 8 years old.
His first played with the Metro Bengals under coach Warren Washington, who was the brother of Jaylen’s godmother, Crystal.
He also played for coach Cordell Lyons at the Boys & Girls Club in Clinton, Maryland. [17]
Jaylen finished the 2019 season with 10.5 sacks and ranked second nationally among interior defensive linemen.
He also earned first-team All-ACC and second-team All-America honors.
On December 26th, 2019 Jaylen's father, Guy Young, announced that he'd be postponing the NFL draft and returning to Pittsburgh for another season: [18]
"We didn’t want to leave nothing on the table as far as the draft.
Jaylen will come back to work on his craft.
Football can be gone like that with an injury.
At the end of the day, we want him to get his education....
We’ll wait until next year"
His name is listed on five All-America teams including Football Writers Association of America, Associated Press, Sporting News, Walter Camp and The Athletic. He is also a first-team All-ACC, selected by the league’s official voting panel and the AP. Jaylen only trails Aaron Donald who had 11 sacks on his way to playing with the Los Angeles Rams. Jaylen adopted his jersey number 97 as a tribute. [19]