Former Detroit Lions wide receiver Titus Young was released from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation last week after serving almost half of his four-year prison sentence for battery with serious injury.
The 29-year-old Young had previously been denied parole in February for the fight he was sentenced to prison for in 2016 – the last crime in a string of them that dated back to 2013, when he was released by both the Lions and the Rams.
Young had been granted 862 days – or the equivalent of 2.3 years – of time served by the court, which allowed him to be paroled last Friday. He spent the final year-plus of his imprisonment in the California Health Care Facility, which offers “medical care and mental health treatment to inmates who have the most severe and long-term needs,” according to the California Department of Corrections website.
For his prior offenses before 2016, he had been given probation or sentenced to time in a mental health facility. Back in February, when his parole was denied, the deputy parole commissioner who reviewed the case denied his parole because of Young’s “history of violent criminality and the lack of sustained rehabilitative programming tailored to Mr. Young’s history of violent criminality, it is adjudged that aggravating factors outweigh mitigating factors bearing on Mr. Young’s risk of violence to the community.”
Young’s release from prison was first reported by the Los Angeles Times.
Earlier in 2018, Young also released a series of diary posts to the Times that outlined some potential mental health issues the former star receiver was dealing with.
“My fight or flight in my brain was off and that could be due to head trauma suffered while playing football,” Young wrote. “All I know now is I’m back to normal and I take good medication and I’m not ashamed of it either.
“It’s kind of hard for me to think wisely in sticky situations where I feel threatened. Taking the medicine allows my mood to be stabilized and helps with hearing voices. Yeah, I have heard voices, as well. The voices came, and came from the bipolar. It’s usually when I let my brain relax and focus on others. I can kind of hear them.”
The Lions took Young in the second round of the 2011 draft. He played two seasons for Detroit, catching 81 passes for 990 yards and 10 touchdowns in 26 games.