One look in Vince Young's eyes and you can tell that he is no quitter. BQB-Site Editor Lloyd Vance weighs in on the Vince Young melodrama
September 14, 2008
(Philadelphia, PA) --- All week I have been hearing talk that NFL 2006 Rookie of the Year Vince Young is everything from suicidal to depressed to a quitter since he went AWOL earlier this week . Sure Young has had his struggles with passing and maturity at times in his short NFL career, but I thoroughly believe the dual-threat quarterback is mentally tough enough to win in the NFL for years to come.
In talking to many successful quarterbacks over the years, everyone of them expressed that they had doubts and hard feelings regarding their play after bad losses. However the main thing that every successful quarterback said they possessed was a knack to put negative plays behind them. Because these QB's knew they had to "be the man" when the game was on the line.
I truly believe that Young possesses they successful characteristics and when I talked to him way back in December of 2005 at the Heisman Trophy presentation, I saw the competitor in the former University of Texas star. In looking in his eyes after he felt USC's Reggie Bush won his award, you could see that a fire burned in his heart. That fire turned into an inferno weeks later in the 2006 Rose Bowl as the Longhorns brought home the 2005 National Championship by beating USC 41-38. In the game Young sprinted 8 yards for the winning touchdown with 19 seconds left finishing with 200 yards and three touchdowns and completing 30 of 40 passes for 267 yards without an interception.
I only bring up all this past history to show Young has the character and guts to be a winning quarterback in the NFL. Sure he had a bad game (12-22, 110, 1 TD, 2 INT) against the Jaguars in week 1 (a 17-10 win, no less). But he is not alone in second-guessing himself after fans "booed" him. Hall Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw said that in his first few years in Pittsburgh before he started winning, he wouldn't even leave his house due to the "non-love" he felt from fans as they called him a dumb hillbilly and many other dastardly things. Bradshaw said that he was depressed and didn't realize it until his playing days were over. But Bradshaw was given the confidence and time by the Steelers organization to grow into a mature, heady, and most importantly a winning quarterback.
Young needs to get the same treatment from the Titans family as he is their meal
ticket as shown by him putting this organization back on the map after some down
years when Steve McNair got old. Young will have 2 to 4 weeks to heal his
sprained knee and his ego, so I fully expect a vindicated V.Y to return to the
NFL as a leader-first quarterback.
--- Submitted by Lloyd Vance
