Childhood friends fall into familiar rhythm on Ravens defense

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When her youngest son, Zion Young, burst into the house, Shirley Reese couldn’t believe the news that he’d be reuniting with his childhood friend Nate Wiggins — in high school.

The two had played youth football together before being split up in middle school. They’d stayed friends, and it seemed so fortuitous to Reese that the two of them would get to play together for one more year before Wiggins left for college.

“I said, ‘Wow,’” Reese recalled. “I thought that was special for them to meet back up because once we left the [youth] football team, you don’t ever know who’s gonna meet back up.”

So imagine her shock when she found out they were reuniting yet again — this time in Baltimore as NFL players. Young was the 45th pick in the draft, joining a team for which Wiggins became a full-time starter last season in his second year.

“Oh man,” Reese said. “Listen. This here was just the craziest thing in the world for me.”

It’s also been a comfort to Young and his family — especially since his college career included several stops and controversies — to have a teammate who can help make a new team feel like home.

The Young family was not able to make it to Baltimore for Young’s first home game, but will be there for the Week 4 game against the Tennessee Titans — once again cheering beside Wiggins’ family as their two boys play together on an NFL field.

Opposites

When Wiggins joined the Georgia Rattlers, he had no choice but to be friends with Young.

Tamika Lucas, Wiggins’ mother, said Zion will “make you be his friend” — a reply that made Young’s dad laugh.

“Yeah,” Frank Young said. “Yeah [more laughter]. Yeah, that’s right.”

Back then, the two of them were a study in opposites. Wiggins was small, quick and quiet. Young was big, energetic and loud.

Each was the youngest child in their family. Wiggins has two older sisters. Young has 10 older brothers and sisters.

Amid a group of energetic, athletic older brothers, Young had to be tough and loud if he wanted to make himself stand out. And he became adept at it.

As a child, he once hyped up an entire Chick-fil-A.

Frank had told the kids to settle down and say grace while he grabbed the food. As he went up to the counter, he heard Zion’s voice pierce through the crowd: “GOD IS GOOD AND GOD IS GREAT.”

“I’m talking about just screaming,” Frank said. “And I was about to say, ‘Quiet down, Zion,’ but when I looked around, everybody stopped eating and started looking over there, and when he finished saying grace, everyone in the Chick-fil-A had started clapping.

“He led the whole Chick-fil-A with his grace that morning. He woke up the whole Chick-fil-A.”

Over the years, as Zion grew and matured, it became clear there was something different about him as an athlete, too.

Then Wiggins arrived on the squad.

While Wiggins became the all-around star of the team, Young was the tone-setter with his passion and aggressiveness.

“He was the dog of the team, one of those leaders who you got to respect on the field,” said their coach at the time, Jim Davis. “He was a nightmare.”

Wiggins is still quiet off the field, but back then he barely spoke, his mom said. Frank said he even ate quietly.

But around Zion, Lucas saw her son open up. The energy was contagious, and Zion constantly had Wiggins laughing.

Finding their way

Young made an early impact in high school but was relegated to the sideline by academic issues as a sophomore. His mother called the school every day to ensure that he was staying on track. When he made his return to the field, he got to do it with Wiggins once again by his side.

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the look of that season, but echoes of youth football broke through: On one play where Wiggins scored a long touchdown, Young appeared to be racing to keep up while shouting the whole way. Carl Green, the school’s athletic director at the time, joked that Zion’s voice was probably the only thing that made it down the field in time.

Wiggins accepted a scholarship offer to Clemson, while Young ended up at Michigan State. They’d watch each other from afar, with Zion’s career taking a detour when he transferred to Missouri.

The idea of a reunion came up when the Ravens invited Young to Baltimore for a predraft visit. Wiggins told his mother he felt good about the chance to play with his old friend again.

Young had to answer some hard questions, though. In addition to an incident during his time at Michigan State, in which he and several teammates were charged following a scuffle in the tunnel after a game against Michigan, Young was charged with a DWI while at Missouri. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for the Michigan incident and was sentenced to probation for the DWI; he’s been working to complete required programs.

“I think that’s something he learned throughout this whole process when having those conversations with teams because when we talked, he was like, ‘I’m going to be open and honest because I don’t have anything to hide with any of those situations,’ ” said Jasper Grimes, who coached Young in high school.

Nonetheless, people around Young felt like he slid in the draft. Some expected him to go the first day. Others expected him to go higher in the second round. But then the call from the Ravens came, and it felt like the right fit.

“I was so surprised Zion slid out the first round,” Davis said. “But to see him go to Baltimore, that was very satisfying. Even Nate, he was mad about going late [in the 2024 draft], and then he ended up going to Baltimore. I’m like, ‘Man, y’all guys just went to a great team.’”

Wiggins has helped Young acclimate, and they’ve talked about ways to give back to the community that shaped them (Wiggins has a foundation; Young is exploring starting his own projects).

This weekend, their parents will gather at M&T Bank Stadium to watch a show they’ve seen before — a quiet yet outrageously athletic cornerback, an edge rusher whose energy (and volume) is matched only by his size — unfold on the biggest stage.