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Vincent Paul Young, Jr., commonly Vince Young or "VY", born May 18, 1983 in Houston, Texas, is an American football player. He is currently a dual-threat quarterback for the National Football League Tennessee Titans, having been selected by the Titans as the #3 overall pick in the NFL Draft on April 29, 2006.

Previously he played college football for the University of Texas (UT) Longhorns before turning professional. He is remembered in Longhorns lore for bringing the school its fourth national championship in football and the first since 1970.

As a college junior, he was one of three finalists for the 2005 Heisman Trophy, finishing second to Reggie Bush in the final vote. Young has been named the best college football player of 2005 by College Football News, based upon their statistical analysis. Top 100 players of 2005 College football News, January 15, 2006. Young led his team to a victory in the BCS National Championship Game on January 4, 2006, in a classic thriller against the defending BCS national champion University of Southern California Trojans in the Rose Bowl Game to capture the national championship.

On January 8, 2006, Young declared he would forego his last year of NCAA college eligibility and become a professional player by entering the 2006 NFL Draft. This decision made him the second player in Mack Brown's eight year term as head coach of the Texas Longhorns to enter the NFL with eligibility remaining.The only other player to leave the team for the purposes of entering the NFL draft with eligibility remaining during Brown's tenure was Kwame Cavil. Cavil was suspended from the team prior to the bowl game in his junior year, for "violation of team rules". The nature of the violation was not specified by Brown, Cavil, or the university. It is uncertain if Cavil would have been welcomed back to the team for his senior season if he had not left early. Cavil subsequently went undrafted. Texas' Cavil puts name into NFL hat Sports Illustrated January 7, 2000 January 10, 2006 was proclaimed "Vince Young Day" in his home town of Houston, Texas. After declaring for the draft, Young was the subject of much speculation about how high he might be drafted.

Personal

Young grew up in Houston, Texas where he was primarily raised by his mother and his grandmother. His father, Vincent Young Sr., is currently in prison for a 2003 burglary conviction.Robbins, Kevin "Watching a Stranger with a Father's Eyes" Los Angeles Times, December 31, 2005. Young credits his mother and grandmother for keeping him away from the street gangs he briefly got involved with in his early adolescence. At the age of 7, Young was struck by a vehicle while riding his bicycle at the corner of Tidewater and Buxley streets in his Houston neighborhood. The accident nearly killed him and left him hospitalized for months after the handle bar went into his stomach. Today, he credits this event for making him into a tougher man.

High school career

Young was coached by Ray Seals at Madison High School in Houston, Texas where he started at quarterback (QB) for three years and compiled 7,624 yards of total offense during his career. During his senior season he led his Marlins past the previously undefeated North Shore Mustangs, in a game that would go down in Texas football history as one of the greatest ever played.

Among the honors he received:

He was also a varsity athlete in numerous other sports. In basketball he played as a guard/forward and averaged more than 20 points per game over his career. This allowed him to be a four-year Letterman and two-time all-district performer. In track and field he was a three-year Letterman and member of two district champion 400-meter relay squads. In baseball he played for two seasons, spending time as both an outfielder and pitcher. He also made the all-state team in football and in track.

College career

Young signed with Texas in 2002 and redshirted rather than playing his first year. This means that he participated in drills and practices, but did not play in any games. This allowed him a full year to learn the playbook and to develop his skills before being asked to play in a game situation. A redshirt season is not counted by the NCAA as one of the four years of his college eligibility, meaning he could still elect to play for the team for up to four seasons after the redshirt year.

As a redshirt freshman (as opposed to a true freshman who has not sat out a redshirt year) in 2003, Young played in 12 games, including seven as the Longhorns' starter. He had a 6-1 record (6 wins and one loss) in the seven games where he started the game as quarterback.

As a redshirt sophomore in the 2004 season, Young started every game and led the Longhorns to a 11-1 season record, a top 5 final ranking, and the school's first-ever appearance and victory in the Rose Bowl against the University of Michigan. He solidified his reputation as a dual-threat quarterback who can advance the ball well either by passing or rushing. This makes it more difficult for the defensive team to account for all possible plays from scrimmage.

In the 2005 regular season, Young led the Longhorns to an 11-0 regular season record. The Longhorns held a #2 ranking in the preseason, and held that ranking through the season except for one week when they were ranked #1 in the Bowl Championship Series.Veyhl, Jake. Longhorns No. 1 for First Time in BCS The Daily Texan. October 25, 2005.. Texas then won the Big 12 championship game and still held their #2 BCS ranking, which earned them a berth in the National Championship Rose Bowl game against the USC Trojans. Before the game, the USC Trojans were being discussed on ESPN and other media outlets as possibly the greatest college football team of all time. Riding a 34 game winning streak, including the previous National Championship, USC featured two Heisman Trophy winners in the backfield, including quarterback Matt Leinart (2004 Heisman winner) and running back Reggie Bush (2005 Heisman winner) who was widely discussed as being possibly the best running back in the history of college football.

In the Rose Bowl, Vince Young put on one of the most dominating individual performances in college football history, accounting for 467 yards of total offense (200 rushing, 267 passing) and three rushing touchdowns (including a 9 yard TD scramble with 19 seconds left) to lead the Longhorns to a thrilling 41-38 victory. This performance led to him winning Rose Bowl MVP honors for the second consecutive season. After the game, former USC and NFL safety Ronnie Lott said "Vince Young is the greatest quarterback to ever play college football." "Without question," said Trojans coach Pete Carroll, "that was the best * I've seen by one guy."

Early in his collegiate career, Vince Young had been criticized as "great rusher...average passer", and his unconventional throwing motion had been criticised as being "side-arm"Brown, Chip. In-Vince-ible Athlon Sports. August 8, 2005. as opposed to the conventional "over the top" throwing motion typically used by college quarterbacks. However, by the 2005 season most of the criticism had faded, and he developed into a consistent and precise passer. Young concluded the 2005 regular season as the #1 rated passer in the nation. Including the Big 12 Championship game and the Rose Bowl, he finished as the #3 rated passer in the nation, with a quarterback rating of 163.9. Division I-A National Player Report Passing Efficiency NCAA.

Year Passing Rushing
Comp Att Yards TDs Int Att Yds Avg TD
2003 84 143 1,155 6 7 135 998 7.4 11
2004 148 250 1,849 12 11 167 1,079 6.5 14
2005 212 365 3,036 26 10 155 1,050 6.8 12
Totals 444 718 6,040 44 28 457 3,127 6.8 37

Career accomplishments

  • Vince Young is the first and only player in NCAA I-A history to pass for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in the same season. No other player has even reached the 2,500/1,000 mark in a season.
  • He has a win/loss record as a starter of 30-2, ranking him #1 of all UT quarterbacks by number of wins. His .938 winning percentage as a starting quarterback ranks sixth best in NCAA Division I football history.
  • Vince's career passing completion percentage is the best in UT history at 61.8%.
  • He passed for 44 touchdowns (No. 4 in UT history) while rushing for 3,127 yards (No. 1 on UT's all-time quarterback rushing list/No. 5 on UT's all-time list) and 37 touchdowns (No. 4 on UT's all-time rushing touchdowns list/T-No. 1 among quarterbacks).
  • Young's 9,167 yards of total offense is a school record.
  • Young has rushed and thrown for over 100 yards in the same game for five times in his career, which is a UT school record.
  • Young is the only UT player to accumulate 400 or more yards of total offense in a single game more than one time. Chris Simms and Major Applewhite accomplished it once each, while Young accomplished the feat four times.
  • Vince set a UT record for total offensive yards in a game, with 506 yards against Oklahoma State on October 29, 2005.
  • He is the only quarterback in UT history to rush for 100 yards in three or more games during a season and he did so in each of his 3 seasons at UT.
  • Young set the UT single-game pass completion percentage record against Oklahoma State in 2004 by completing 18 of 21 passes (85.7%). He broke his own record by completing 25 of 29 passes (86.2%) against Colorado in 2005.
  • Young set the UT single-game record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 192 versus Michigan in the Rose Bowl. He broke his own record in 2005 by rushing for 267 yards against Oklahoma State.
  • Young owns five of the top seven single-game quarterback rushing performances in UT history: 267 yards vs Oklahoma State as a Junior; 200 yards vs USC as a Junior; 192 yards vs. Michigan as a Sophomore; 163 yards vs. Nebraska as a Freshman; 158 yards at Texas Tech as a Sophomore.
  • Young has six of the top 8 longest runs by a quarterback in UT history.
  • Young became the first player in UT history to pass and rush for 1,000 or more yards in the same season.
  • Young became the first quarterback in UT history to have three 100-yard rushing games (vs. Oklahoma, at Baylor, vs. Nebraska) in the same season and is tied with Ricky Williams (1995) for the third-most 100-yard games by a freshman in school history.
  • Young's 17 wins and 43 touchdowns accounted for in 2003-2004 are the most ever by a UT quarterback in their first two years.
  • Young is a two-time winner of the Rose Bowl MVP award, joining Ron Dayne, Bob Schloredt, and Charles White as the only two-time winners. He is the only two-time winner of the Rose Bowl MVP award who did not play for a school in either the Pac-10 Conference or the Big Ten Conference, which are the two conferences that traditionally send teams to the Rose Bowl game.
  • In the 2006 NCAA national championship game, he completed 30 of 40 passes for 267 yards and carried the ball 19 times for 200 yards and 3 rushing touchdowns. Those 200 rushing yards set a Bowl game rushing record by a QB. He was named Rose Bowl MVP for the second time in his career. UT beat USC by the score of 41 to 38 and Vince Young ran in the winning touchdown. In this game, UT ended USC's 34-game win streak. Young's 467 total yards set a new Rose Bowl record.

College honors

At the conclusion of the 2005-2006 season, Sports Illustrated issued a special commemorative edition (pictured) that featured Vince Young shouting in triumph amidst a storm of multi-colored confetti. Features in the special edition included a story on Vince Young's Glory Days by author Tim Layden, as well as a story disecting How the Rose Bowl was won by Austin Murphy. The issue was on sale nationwide alongside the regular edition of the magazine, which also featured the Rose Bowl on the cover.

NFL Draft

Throughout the 2005 season Young had indicated that he planned to return to the University of Texas for his senior year in 2006Vince Young: 'I plan on coming back' Dallas Morning News October 252005.Veyhl, Jake. Longhorns No. 1 for First Time in BCS The Daily Texan. October 25, 2005.. 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.Vince Young to leave Texas, enter NFL Draft USA Today''. January 8, 2006. Accessed January 8, 2006.. 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.Chadiha, Jeffri No Sure Thing Sports Illustrated March 2, 2006. Before 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. However, with the Saints (who have the second overall pick) likely to pass on taking a high-rated quarterback, 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.NFL rumors Sports Illustrated April 4, 2006

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, a rumor surfaced that he 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."ESPN page 2 - Accessed March 1, 2006. 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.Dougherty, Pete (Green Bay Press-Gazette) and Wyatt, Jim (The Tennessean) Will Wonderlic cause teams to wonder about Young? USA Today - accessed March 1, 2006.

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." McCormick, Terry NFL: Reports of Young's exam score inaccurate Nashville City Paper February 27, 2006 The next day, the test was properly readministered and Young scored a sixteen, according to his agent Major AdamsMcShay: Young's test score creates quite a buzz KABC-TV February 27, 2006. Wonderlic scores are released to NFL teams for draft purposes, but are not supposed to be released publicly.Young leaves Combine with questions looming Accessed March 3, 2006. While there has been a media buzz over Young's score, all in all the specifics of what exactly occurred to render the first test results invalid is not known. Still, some in the NFL dispute whether the Wonderlic scores are meaningful at predicting a recruit's playing ability. Sean Jones, a member of the Oakland Raiders' personnel department, said:

All I need to know about Vince Young is that he came up with one of the greatest performances ever in the Rose Bowl. In the fourth quarter, I saw (USC coach) Pete Carroll throw every kind of blitz at Vince. I saw Vince read the blitz and beat the blitz. I don't care what his Wonderlic score is. The only score I care about is 41-38.McClain, John False score gives Young wrong kind of buzz Houston Chronicle February 27, 2006. Accessed February 27,2006.

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. The Titans general manager, Floyd Reese, said Young's upside was the deciding factor in his being chosen. Reese said, "Last night at 2:30, 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." "Heir to McNair? Titans draft Vince Young" Mercury News. April 29, 2006.

Notes

External links

1983 births | African American football players | American football quarterbacks | People from Houston | Living people | Tennessee Titans players | Texas Longhorns football players

 

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