NFL

What has happened to Vince Young?  He was supposed to be the next great dual threat quarterback for the NFL.  Some had evaluated him to be on a equal par athletically with Michael Vick, with a plus that he was 5 inches taller at 6′ 5″.  Young reminded a lot of people of a great play making quarterback by the name of Randall Cunningham. Some scouts had rated him to be the next Steve McNair, only Young’s progress would be a lot more accelerated because he came from a big time D1 school at Texas unlike McNair who came from tiny Alcorn State.  More importantly he was compared to a winner like Steve Young.  And we all saw the 2006 National Championship game with Young’s Texas team verse the powerful USC Trojans team; with the likes of current NFL players Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, and LenDale White. Vince Young single handedly willed his Texas team to the win over one of the greatest college teams of all time in the 2005-2006 Trojans.  NFL great Ronnie Lott called Vince Young “The greatest quarterback to ever play college football” after watching Young’s dominating performance in that Rose Bowl game.

Everything seemed like it was falling in place for the Texas star .  His hometown team the Houston Texans had the number one overall pick in the draft that year and Young seemed like the consensus lock to be the choice.  Young would fill the seats and bring excitement and victories to the Texans, a couple of things the Texans organization needed desperately.  Then came the in-depth NFL scout evaluations;  Young had a weird delivery with the football and Young scored severely low on the NFL wonderlic test.  The once can’t miss future NFL superstar had a couple of chinks in his armor.  One thing led to another, and Vince Young was drafted by the Tennessee Titans after being bypassed by the Texans.  It seemed like everything worked out perfectly for both sides because the Young had a lot of similarities to Steve McNair, who was traded shortly after to the Baltimore Ravens.  Young had the perfect coach in Jeff Fisher, who utilized McNair’s ability to perfection and the two almost won a Super Bowl together in 2000.

Things just haven’t worked out as most and definitely Young would have thought or liked.

The fans seemed to have turned on Young and become unhappy with up and down play on the field from him.  The boos from the fans have not helped with Young’s alleged extreme sensitivity to criticism.  And it’s not exactly a ringing endorsement when your mother, therapist, and others have come out to speak on your emotional stability.  A lot of these issues are hard for a starting NFL quarterback who also has a history with injuries to come back and be the leader of his team.

If your NFL teamates think that you are mentally weak and you are the starting quarterback, then there is a problem.  Look into former Pittsburgh Steeler quarterback Kordell Stewart situation in Pittsburgh for a reference.  Right now Vince Young has a problem with keeping his starting job in Tennessee.  If that is the case he will have a problem keeping a starting job in the NFL period.