Vince Young: A Confusing Ordeal
O on June 23rd, 2009
I do not think there is a bigger “heads-tails” athlete in this world than Vince Young. People either love him or they can not stand him. He is a hero in the state of Texas where he won high school and college championships. Yet, in the state of Tennessee, they view Young altogether differently. Despite having a record of 18-11 as a starter for the Titans, Titan fans do not want any part of Young anymore. Kerry Collins now has the starter’s role and Young has made comments to the effect of how he wants to play. How could a quarterback go from Offensive Rookie of the Year to a quarterback that no one wants in 30 months?
I personally believe the beginning of Vince Young’s downfall had more to do with Young’s personality than his play. Young had a segment about him on 60 Minutes and he was crushed for it. Media outlets and call-in shows called him “spoiled” and “selfish.” Now this segment was at the beginning of last season, which was ironically was the beginning of the end of Young’s popularity in Tennessee.
Young struggled at the beginning of his second season. He threw interceptions at an increased pace; he also got injured in week 6 and they missed a week. Even with Young struggling, the Titans were 6-2 halfway in the season and then they really struggled, losing 3 games in a row. Now 6-5, the fans in Tennessee began to criticize Young. Even with the criticism, Young led the Titans to 4 victories in 5 games to make the playoffs, but he again struggled in the playoffs against San Diego. The Titans had a good season, but Vince Young seemed to be catching a lot of flak.
In his third season, Young get injured in the first game of the season and never get back his starting job from Kerry Collins for the remainder of the season. After the game, rumors spread that Young did not want to go back in the game because the fans were booing. The next night, the Titans claimed they were looking for Young and afraid that he would commit suicide. Young claimed that he never wanted out of the game and was no threat whatsoever in committing suicide, but how did it get like this and why did those reports get to the media?
This off-season, Young has said he wanted to play and get his job back. Well, he will not have that chance as long as Kerry Collins is healthy. How ironic is it that Young, the person who got them out of being the worst team in the 2006 may be facing his last season in Tennessee in 2009? Well, it is just another turn in the career of Vince Young in Tennessee.
