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View Full Version : Vince Young's magic merely a memory



Eagle 1
08-24-2009, 11:00 AM
01:26 AM CDT on Monday, August 24, 2009


Column by JEAN-JACQUES TAYLOR / The Dallas Morning News | jjtaylor@dallasnews.com

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/082409dnspotaylorcol.33da293.html

It's sad watching Vince Young play football these days. There's no other way to describe it.

The sensational playmaker we saw deliver a national championship to Texas no longer exists. When Young played at UT, you never missed a play because you never knew when he would deliver the spectacular.

All we knew is that it would occur – and if you didn't miss a play, you didn't have to rely on descriptions from friends and other writers that simply wouldn't do it justice.

Frankly, Young should've won the Heisman Trophy instead of Reggie Bush.

All you need to know is on USC's most important play in the national championship game, Bush was standing on the sideline. On UT's most important play in the waning seconds, Young scored the game-winner.

That's among the reasons it was so difficult to watch the Tennessee Titans' backup quarterback play in a preseason game Friday against Dallas. These days, Young plays with none of the swagger of the youngster who once convinced Mack Brown it was OK to be a rapper.

The Texas Two-Step? That's just a memory.

Bobby Carpenter, trying to shed the label of first-round bust, easily tackled him in the open field as though Young was just another buster playing in the fourth quarter of a meaningless preseason game. Which he was.

If the Titans have the courage to deal with the embarrassment, none of us should be shocked if they cut him.

He's just not that good.

It's hard to believe he was recently quoted as saying he would be the next African-American quarterback to win a Super Bowl, and that he'll eventually be in the Hall of Fame.

Actually, those comments sound like the kind of empty braggadocio usually associated with prize fighting.

Young can't even beat out Kerry Collins, an over-the-hill, faux starter with a popgun arm. Do you really think the Titans want Collins starting? Of course not.

Young's failure is hard on everyone who watched him dominate at UT.

Roy Williams needed nearly 10 seconds to figure out a way to describe his former teammate's career.

First, Williams smiled. Then he paused. Then he shrugged. Then he looked upward.

Then he smiled awkwardly. Again.

Finally, Williams spoke.

"I wish the best of luck to the guy," he said. "We all know he can play and we all know the things he can do when his head is on right."

We saw a glimpse of what Young could achieve when he helped lead the Titans to the playoffs in his second season with his combination of passing and running.

His career fell apart last season because the hometown crowd booed him and he listened.

Young hasn't been the same since, but it's way too easy to say he's failed because he's too sensitive.

Young hasn't displayed the passing skills necessary to be an upper-echelon quarterback. Young is a career 57.3 percent passer with 21 touchdowns and 32 interceptions, which isn't nearly good enough.

In his defense, if you draft a player like Young, he must be the epicenter of the offense to maximize his skills. You can't ask him to make a bunch of reads when he drops back to pass or make him feel like a failure when he runs.

Still, Young isn't the running threat he was at UT because many NFL linebackers are just as fast. No longer is Young the best athlete on the field.

The glory days, for Young, are over.

He can tell his kids that once upon a time, he was the best. There's certainly no shame in being a college legend who failed as a pro.

Archie Griffin is doing quite well.
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He is the best football player ever and is a once in every two to three generation player.

So I'm wondering, is he still hailed as the "best football player ever"?

http://bbs.3adownlow.com/vb/showthread.php?threadid=61313&perpage=15&highlight=vince%20young&pagenumber=1


IMO when he matures out of the taken every boo as an insult and realizes he is a mobile QB first then he will progress

http://bbs.3adownlow.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=86053&perpage=15&pagenumber=2

Aint going to happen.

BreckTxLonghorn
08-24-2009, 11:08 AM
Not saying he's the stud, or that this article doesn't hit on some accurately sensitive points. But one, huge, question:


How good did everyone think Vince Young was until the Rose Bowl against Michigan? Because if I remember correctly, his ability was still being questioned at that time, and earlier in the season he laid a goose-egg versus OU.

It took him two solid years and adjustments of the coaches to find a system for him to be succesful. Coaches in the NFL are more adamant to their system, which may spell doom for Vince. However, if something does click (it's obvious it take him time to adjust) or if he goest to another team and finds a coaching staff that can adjust to his strengths instead of forcing to play out his weaknesses, magic could happen. Not saying it will, saying it could.

Electus Unus
08-24-2009, 11:13 AM
He should have never left early.

Maroon87
08-24-2009, 12:18 PM
I've said this on several occasions (probably posted it on here too)...no matter what Vince does or doesn't do in the NFL, he delivered one the finest big-game clutch performances ever in that Rose Bowl vs. the "unbeatable" USC Trojans. We will see highlights of him from that game for as long as all of us are alive.

He is and always will be part of the rich history of not only UT football, but college football overall.

And apparently, that really bothers some of you.

TheDOCTORdre
08-24-2009, 04:58 PM
Originally posted by Electus Unus
He should have never left early.

wouldnt have made a difference in his pro performance if he stays another year

LE Dad
08-24-2009, 05:24 PM
Originally posted by TheDOCTORdre
wouldnt have made a difference in his pro performance if he stays another year :clap: Correct you are. Vince was never required to make multiple reads. NFL is all about sight adjusts, line calls, and coverage reads. VY was a fine college QB because Mack Brown adapted to the system Vince ran in high school. Not gonna happen in pros.

BobcatBenny
08-24-2009, 05:37 PM
Originally posted by LE Dad
:clap: Correct you are. Vince was never required to make multiple reads. NFL is all about sight adjusts, line calls, and coverage reads. VY was a fine college QB because Mack Brown adapted to the system Vince ran in high school. Not gonna happen in pros.
IMO ... it was that Mack Brown "let" Vince make Mack look really good ... and without the fortune of a rare collegiate talent ...Mack Brown would be a big disappointment to UT fans. Yet ... Mack Brown was smart enough to not let his ego get in the way ... and got out of Vince's way. Thus Mack is a hero instead of a heal.

So ... my hat is off to Mack Brown ... not as a great coach ... but as a coach that recognized greatness. Which ... in turn is praise worthy. :clap: :clap:

Vince's pro career is entirely irrellevant, because he will always be known as a great football player.

cntdwn
08-24-2009, 05:41 PM
Next time, the writer just as soon send a razor blade in the mail to him. I think writers take some things WAY too seriously.

IHStangFan
08-24-2009, 05:46 PM
Originally posted by LE Dad
:clap: Correct you are. Vince was never required to make multiple reads. NFL is all about sight adjusts, line calls, and coverage reads. VY was a fine college QB because Mack Brown adapted to the system Vince ran in high school. Not gonna happen in pros. Agreed. VY was an outstanding college QB....but I said it before....he would not transition into the pros very well. Yes he made spectacular plays.....in COLLEGE. He is a mobile QB...which...is good...but in the pros it's not enough. It's a secondary skill. No "mobile first" type QB has ever done much in the NFL......make occasional big plays and make everyone say "WOW" yes.....win Super Bowls....not so much. I feel the exact same way about Vick. Sure he was exciting to watch, and he'd make a "wow" type play here or there....but all of the talk I seem to hear about how good he was and how he's a team changing player.....I just can't buy into it. VY nor Vick will ever win a Super Bowl as a starting QB unless they develop their passing game and rely on their mobility as a secondary option.

LE Dad
08-24-2009, 05:59 PM
Originally posted by BobcatBenny
IMO ... it was that Mack Brown "let" Vince make Mack look really good ... and without the fortune of a rare collegiate talent ...Mack Brown would be a big disappointment to UT fans. Yet ... Mack Brown was smart enough to not let his ego get in the way ... and got out of Vince's way. Thus Mack is a hero instead of a heal.

So ... my hat is off to Mack Brown ... not as a great coach ... but as a coach that recognized greatness. Which ... in turn is praise worthy. :clap: :clap:

Vince's pro career is entirely irrellevant, because he will always be known as a great football player. :clap: Your right on, didn't mean to make Brown sound like a heal. Similar infant to what Pittsburgh did with Cordell Stewart. Adapt. No one will ever diminish what VY meant to UT.

sinton66
08-24-2009, 06:25 PM
My guess is they're trying to "mold" him into something he isn't. When (and if) the Titans make the same decision that Mack Brown made concerning letting Vince be Vince, you might see some of his talent return. If they DON'T do that, I hope they deal him to Dallas or Houston where he can kill the Titans every time they face him..:D

bigwood33
08-24-2009, 09:40 PM
He won't get dealt...he will probably get cut. That rumor of a single digit Wunderlich score must have been accurate. He certainly can't read an NFL defense.

LE Dad
08-24-2009, 09:47 PM
Originally posted by bigwood33
He won't get dealt...he will probably get cut. That rumor of a single digit Wunderlich score must have been accurate. He certainly can't read an NFL defense. Thanks for the memories Vince.

bigwood33
08-24-2009, 10:11 PM
Great high school and college player! His legacy is really the Rose Bowl...2 of them. His Rose Bowl performances set him apart from all other players who played in the "Grandaddy of 'em all"!

Eagle 1
08-24-2009, 10:30 PM
Originally posted by sinton66
My guess is they're trying to "mold" him into something he isn't. When (and if) the Titans make the same decision that Mack Brown made concerning letting Vince be Vince, you might see some of his talent return. If they DON'T do that, I hope they deal him to Dallas or Houston where he can kill the Titans every time they face him..:D

Hopefully you really don't believe that.
The only possible suitable offense in the nfl he might fit in is the "wildcat".
A good 3-4 defense can shut that down.
Dallas sure don't have a problem slowing VY down.;)

Bull Butter
08-24-2009, 10:33 PM
And people laughed and ridiculed the Texans for drafting Mario Williams

Electus Unus
08-24-2009, 10:52 PM
Originally posted by Eagle 1
Hopefully you really don't believe that.
The only possible suitable offense in the nfl he might fit in is the "wildcat".
A good 3-4 defense can shut that down.
Dallas sure don't have a problem slowing VY down.;) The patriots good 3-4 defense did a hell of a job shutting it down!