Mr. Everything earns the right to carve own path
Man, it does NOT suck to be Vince Young these days. After leading UT to a 41-38 win over USC in the Rose Bowl and giving the Longhorns their first national championship in 35 years, Young is now the unofficial but without a doubt King of Austin. Yes, Vince Young could stroll naked down Guadalupe and draw nothing but acclaim and applause. He will likely never have to pay for another meal in Austin as long as he lives. The man could show up for the first day of classes in a Klan robe while carrying the severed head of John the Baptist, and no one would say “boo”. Yes, it’s good to be King.
If Vince Young wants to leave Texas a year early to go into the NFL draft, who’s going to try and stop him? Certainly no one in Austin. Yes, Young could stay, and perhaps even deliver another national championship. There is something to be said for going out on top, though, and who can blame Young for taking the millions? How many of us wouldn’t make exactly the same decision for exactly the same reasons?
Young’s departure is bad news for Longhorns fans, but Mack Brown and UT will survive. And it’s not as if Division I college football has ever been about getting one’s degree. Who can blame a player as transcendentally talented as Vince Young for wanting to seize the opportunities laid in front of him? He can take care of himself and his family for life, he can play the game he loves at the highest level, and he will likely never have to work an 8-5 job unless he chooses to. Not bad for a kid still in college, eh?
And he’d sure look good in a Houston Texans uniform, wouldn’t he??
Most players who leave early for the NFL leave behind fans disappointed that the player put himself before their team. After last Wednesday night, Vince Young could announce he was leaving Austin to join the French Foreign Legion, and Longhorn fans across the country would say, “Au revoir! Bonne chance!”
Let’s face it: Young could leave Austin to join anything short of Al Qaeda, and Texas fans wouldn’t begrudge him.
He earned the goodwill of Orangebloods with his performance against USC in the Rose Bowl. Young also earned the sudden affection of NFL scouts, whose opinions of the fourth-year junior changed with his performance in one game.
The guy with the suspect throwing motion is suspect no longer. That proves scouting remains more art than science, because Young didn’t do anything in the Rose Bowl that he hadn’t done all season….
“We just know that a lot of teams were saying some good things,” Young said at a press conference Sunday in Austin. ” … My mom said it was my decision, and that was my decision. I felt like I was ready to go. I learned a lot of things in college, and I was ready to move on to the next level.”
Young leaves Texas with 44 touchdown passes and 28 interceptions, 6,040 passing yards and 3,127 rushing yards. Young leaves, despite saying as recently as Thursday that he has a lot to learn, despite the belief by offensive coordinator Greg Davis that Young is not yet ready for full freedom at the line of scrimmage. Young will earn that freedom during NFL practices, not in college games.
Last, and most important, Young leaves with a 30-2 record as a starter. There’s a statistic everyone can understand.
“The whole season, I was planning on coming back with my teammates,” Young said, “but it’s a one-time thing, so I’m going to take a jump at it while I can.”
It is, as they say in Texas, a bidness decision.
Indeed…and how many of us wouldn’t do exactly the same thing. Vince Young’s life is turning into something resembling a fairy tale. Here is a kid not yet out of college, and by the time he’s 25, he’ll already have made more money that most of us will make in our lifetime. Of course, most of us don’t have to face 300-lb defensive lineman looking to destroy us down after down. Nice work if you can get, eh??
With any luck, Young will be able to ply his trade for his hometown Houston Texans, but even if he doesn’t, he likely will have a long, brilliant, and lucrative career for an NFL team. And who among us isn’t at least a little bit jealous?
