Vince Young

Vincent Paul Young, Jr. (born May 18, 1983 in Houston, Texas), commonly Vince Young, or "VY", is an American football quarterback for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League. Young was the third overall draft pick in the 2006 NFL Draft. He played college football at The University of Texas.

In his rookie season, Young was named the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and earned a roster spot on the AFC Pro Bowl team.As a junior in college, Young finished second behind Reggie Bush in the voting for the Heisman Trophy. He won the Davey O'Brien Award which is given annually to the best collegiate quarterback in the nation. Following the Heisman voting, Young led his team to a BCS National Championship against the defending BCS national champion, University of Southern California, in the 2006 Rose Bowl. The game was called one of the most-anticipated games in the history of college football. In 2006, ESPN named Young as the 10th best college football player of all time. Texas retired Young's jersey on August 30, 2008.

2006 NFL Draft

Throughout the 2005 season Young had indicated that he planned to return to the University of Texas for his senior year in 2006. The day after Texas won the BCS National Championship, Young accepted an invitation to appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. When Leno asked Young whether he would stay for his senior year of college or declare for the 2006 NFL Draft, Young replied that he would discuss the matter with his pastor, his family, and coach Mack Brown.

On January 8, 2006, Young announced he would enter the NFL draft, where he was expected to be drafted early in the first round. Even after his Rose Bowl performance, some observers said he may have difficulty in the NFL because of his unorthodox sidearm throwing motion and the different style of play in the NFL. After Drew Brees signed as a free agent with the New Orleans Saints, Young was predicted by most experts to be the third overall pick in the draft belonging to the Tennessee Titans, where he would reunite with his close friend and mentor Steve McNair, but McNair was soon traded to the Baltimore Ravens. With the second overall pick, the Saints (now with Brees) were now likely to pass on drafting a high-rated quarterback, and Young was no longer thought to be a consensus top five pick. Some had speculated that he would not even be picked in the top ten. A controversy regarding the Wonderlic, a standardized test given to all recruits, was thought also to have been problematic for Young.

On February 25, 2006, during the NFL Combine, it was erroneously reported that Vince scored a six, out of a possible fifty points, on his Wonderlic Test. The test is designed to measure cognitive ability, which could indicate a player's ability to learn a complex NFL playbook. The Wonderlic corporation has resisted equating a score with a given I.Q. Charlie Wonderlic Jr., president of Wonderlic Inc., says, "A score of 10 is literacy, that's about all we can say." Some observers believed this score would lower Young's draft selection and faulted his agent, Major Adams, for not preparing Young ahead of time with practice tests. However, on February 26, 2006 combine officials said the reported score of six was incorrect. According to NFL Spokesman Steve Alic, "I can tell you absolutely that the score that has been reported on the Internet is inaccurate. I spoke to the person who graded the test, and he assured me that that number was not correct". The next day, the test was properly readministered and Young scored a 16, the same as Dan Marino. Wonderlic scores are released to NFL teams for draft purposes, but are not supposed to be released publicly. A few media outlets apologized for running the highly improbable first result. But most media did not correct the story and continued to wonder whether the first (now inaccurate) score would lower Young's draft selection.

The NFL draft was held on April 29-30, 2006. The Tennessee Titans drafted Vince Young with their first round pick (3rd choice overall), confirming the predictions of many draft experts. He was the first quarterback taken in the draft, with the Titans choosing him instead of Matt Leinart. The Titans general manager, Floyd Reese, said Young's upside was the deciding factor in his being chosen. Reese said, "Last night at 11:35, I was on my knees praying ... he will rewrite the position. This guy physically is such a combination of arms and legs. People want to make him out to be a Michael Vick. He's not that. He's different". He started his NFL career on August 12, 2006 in a preseason matchup against a Reggie Bush led New Orleans Saints.


Rookie Season

On July 27, 2006, Young agreed to terms on his initial contract with the Titans. Terms of the deal were reported to include five years with a sixth year team option and as much as US$58 million overall including $25.7 million in guaranteed money. As a quarterback, Young was able to reach a deal similar to that signed by the draft's #1 overall pick, Texans defensive end Mario Williams. On August 12, 2006, Vince Young made his preseason debut, and on September 17, he threw for his first career touchdown against the San Diego Chargers. Young made his first career start versus the Dallas Cowboys on October 1, 2006 completing 14 of 29 passes for 155 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. He achieved his first NFL victory (against the Washington Redskins, 25-22) on October 15, 2006.


2007 Season

For the first exhibition game against the Washington Redskins on August 11, 2007, Titans Coach Jeff Fisher benched Young after he broke one of the team rules. Though Fisher declined to mention the rule Young broke, Young later hesitantly admitted that he left the team hotel the previous night in order to sleep at his home without informing Fisher. Young apologized for his behavior and was allowed to play for the next game.

During the Titans first game, a 13-10 win against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Young threw for 78 yards with 1 interception and ran for 22 yards, including a TD. In Week 2, the Titans lost 22-20 to the Indianapolis Colts at home. Vince threw for 164 yards and a TD and ran for 53 yards on 5 carries. During Week 3, the Titans played the New Orleans Saints in the first of their 2 appearances on Monday Night Football in the 2007 season. The Titans beat the Saints 31-14 behind Young's 185 total yards (21 rushing, 164 passing) and 2 TDs with 1 interception. On Sunday October 7, Vince Young and the Titans took to the field in Nashville as they took on the Atlanta Falcons. Despite a lackluster day, the Titans and Young would come away with the victory 20-13. Young was 20-33 with 153 yards and 3 INT's.

At the end of the regular season, Young finished with 2,459 passing yards with 9 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. Additionally, Young would finish with 395 rushing yards and 3 rushing touchdowns. In Young's first playoff game, Young completed 16 of 29 passes for 138 yards, 1 interception and 12 rushing yards for a 53.5 passer rating.


2008 Season

In the first game against the Jacksonville Jaguars Young injured his knee and was expected to miss 2 to 3 weeks. On September 15, Jeff Fisher made the decision to go with Kerry Collins and for Collins to remain the starter for the rest of the season. Young would be the back up quarterback.


2009 Season

During the 2009 offseason, Coach Jeff Fisher announced that Kerry Collins would remain the Titans' starting quarterback for the 2009 season; Fisher said that if Young wanted to become the starting quarterback, he would have to "earn his job back".