Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Understanding Vince Young

By Joshua Duffy

There was a report this weekend that Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young was just about ready to hang up the spikes after his rookie season — a season in which he won the Offensive Rookie of the Year award.

"It was crazy being an NFL quarterback," Young told the Associated Press. "It wasn't fun anymore. All of the fun was out of it. All of the excitement was gone. All I was doing was worrying about things."

Of course, this prompted a chorus of hand-wringing by writers put off by VY's apparent lack of commitment. SI's Peter King ended his recap of the situation with a sarcastic "Now there's a solid guy."

But I'm not jumping on Young for this one. Put yourself back into Young's shoes coming off the end of his rookie season. In the previous year:

• Young led Texas to an undefeated season, capturing the National Championship by winning one of the greatest bowl games ever, a 41-38 victory over USC in the Rose Bowl in which Young threw for 267 yards and rushed for 200 more.
• He got snubbed in the Heisman voting, finishing a distant second to USC's Reggie Bush. Bush, who rushed for 1,700 yards as part of a tandem with LenDale White, received the highest percentage of first place votes ever at 84%, despite the fact Young combined for over 4,000 yards — 3,000 passing, 1,000 rushing — and 38 touchdowns. I can't say I think Young should have necessarily won the award, but his performance on the field merited much stronger consideration.
• During the combine process, rumors swirled about Young reportedly scoring a 6 out of 50 on his Wonderlic test, designed to measure intelligence. From that point on, Young became the "athletic but stupid" QB of the class of 2006. Meanwhile, USC's Matt Leinart was touted as the smart option, feeding into the white QB/black QB stereotypes (of which all black quarterbacks are deeply aware).
• Passed up in the 2006 draft by the hometown Houston Texans, who took NC State DE Mario Williams instead. New Orleans then took Bush second, followed by Tennessee picking Young third. Young agreed to a five-year deal, with an option for a sixth, with $25.7 million guaranteed and an overall value that could reach $58 million with option and roster bonuses and salary.
• After watching Kerry Collins get killed for three games (two of which Young came in to mop-up at the end of blowouts), Young was installed as the Titans' starter. After losing his first two starts to drop the Titans to 0-5, Young led Tennessee to an 8-3 finish. They missed the playoffs by one game, but Young won the Offensive Rookie of the Year award and was named to the Pro Bowl.
• According to the AP story, Young said "there was so much going on with my family" during that time. There was no elaboration.

Now that doesn't sound like a bad year. Actually, it sounds like a great year (with the exception of any personal troubles). But think about how tired you would be after doing all that in a span of 12 months. From the pressure of an undefeated college season (in Texas no less) to the Heisman voting, to the ugly and exhausting pre-draft process, to learning a new offensive system, to becoming a rookie starter in a playoff hunt. I mean, god damn — that's a lot of stuff going on for one dude. Can you really blame him for at least wondering if he was up for beginning the whole thing over again?

Part of the problem for Young is that this story feeds into an existing narrative about him, that he lacks "commitment" to being a professional QB. He's had some instances of being late to team meetings or breaking other rules that got him in trouble with Fisher. He once missed a team flight to a road game. Elitist sports writers hate it when players, especially young ones, pull that kind of crap. It goes against their "play the game the right way" ethos. (Just because I like and respect King's work doesn't mean he's not an elitist.)

But I understand. Sometimes, no matter how good a situation looks on the outside, sometimes people just want to tell the world to eff off and go live in peace. No more reporters hounding him. No more criticism about his style of play or low completion percentage. No more Michael Vick comparisons. Just get away. After a year like that, I understand.

But when Young gives a candid interview about the mental toll of his rookie year, all of a sudden he's a mark for snippy "Now there's a solid guy" comments. And the media missed a very important point to the story — that even though he was worn to the brink of quitting, he found his inspiration, got back to football, and led the Titans to a 10-6 record and a wild-card berth. Why was that not mentioned in King's recap? Overcoming adversity — that's a good thing, right?

And the media wonders why players don't trust them.

Seth Doria is a writer based out of St. Louis. For intelligent insight, sophomoric insult, and everything in between, visit The Left Calf.