LeBron James showed his support for NFL star Bryce Young after he was benched by the Carolina Panthers.
After a disastrous start to the NFL season, the second-year player out of Alabama was sat after failing to throw a touchdown with three interceptions. The struggling Panthers started their campaign 0-2.
Although Young faces heavy criticism for his performances, he has backing from fellow athletes, including James and former NFL star Ryan Leaf.
James, a former No 1 pick himself, took to X on Tuesday night and told Young to keep his head up through the adversity.
‘Bryce Young hold ya head Young!!’ James wrote. ‘Rooting for you and know this ain’t on you! Continue to put the work in and it shall prevail!’
LeBron James showed his support for second-year Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young
Young was benched by the Panthers after they got off to a 0-2 start in the NFL season
Leaf, who the San Diego Chargers drafted with the second overall pick in 1998, insisted that the problem springs from a lack of support from the Panthers.
‘They screwed this thing up from the get-go, though. I mean, this organization is horrible,’ Leaf told TMZ Sports.
‘This organization has done nothing to try to help and develop a player that has so much expectation on him. And so, I laid this at the feet of the organization completely.’
Leaf dealt with the same spotlight in the NFL, struggling to live up to high expectations. He ended up calling it quits after just three seasons.
As Young is replaced by Andy Dalton for the starting position, Leaf related to the Carolina quarterback’s experience.
Former San Diego Chargers quarterback Ryan Leaf also backed Young amid the criticism
In their first two games, Young failed to throw a touchdown with three interceptions
‘No one believes in him and no one has his back. And I know what that feels like,’ Leaf told TMZ. ‘You don’t want to go into the office. You don’t want to be around anybody. Football seems so toxic to you because you’ve always had that. You’ve always had success.
‘And you’ve always been the guy that everybody loved to lift up and follow and everything like that.’
In his rookie season, Young completed 315 of 527 attempts for 2,877 yards and 11 touchdowns with ten interceptions. The Panthers would finish with a dreadful 2-15 record at the bottom of the NFC South.
