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09 Jun 2009 |
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On January 2006, now Tennessee Titans Quarterback Vince Young put on one of the best performances we've ever seen at the college level in a National Championship game. The former Texas Longhorns quarterback helped his No. 2 ranked team shock the world by upsetting the No. 1 ranked USC Trojans 41-38, in arguably one of the most exciting games in NCAA history.
 In my opinion (and I'm sure others will agree), Vince Young would not have been selected as high in the draft a few months later but for his performance in the National Championship game. He single-handedly denied the Trojans their third straight national championship, and ended their 34-game winning streak; their first loss since a regular season game against California in September 2003. Young took home MVP honors as he finished the night 30-for-40 for 267 yards, along with his 200 yards rushing and three touchdowns. With the Longhorns down 12 late in the fourth quarter, Young ran for two scores in the final five minutes of the game, including an eight-yard touchdown on a critical 4th-and-5 play with 19 seconds left in the game to give Texas their first lead since the midway point of the third quarter. After Young ran in to complete a two-point conversion, the Longhorns took a 41-38 lead en route to their fourth national championship in school history. Before the national championship game, USC Trojans quarterback Matt Leinart was expected to be the top quarterback selected in the 2006 NFL Draft. After Young's record-breaking performance, more teams started showing more interest in selecting him and less interest in selecting Leinart. Despite his success at Texas, there were still many that questioned whether or not Young had enough talent to succeed in the NFL. His blazing speed and ability to run the ball as a quarterback drew comparisons to Atlanta Falcons star quarterback Michael Vick. However, Young drew criticism from observers for his side-armed passing style and whether or not he could adjust to not always lining up in a shot-gun formation. Ignoring the criticism, the Tennessee Titans still selected Young with the third overall pick in 2006, since the franchise knew Steve McNair's time as an NFL quarterback was coming to an end. The Titans had high expectations that the former Longhorn could help turn around a team that finished 4-12 the previous season. There was a lot of expectations and excitement surrounding Young playing for the Titans considering the team passed on Matt Leinart and former Vanderbilt Commodore Jay Cutler. Still, the Titans believed Young was the right fit for their team and couldn't wait to get him on the field. However, getting him on the field was a little tougher than they expected. Before he could even participate in his first training camp as a Titan, Young decided to holdout until he received the deal he wanted. A couple of days before the start of August, Young and the Titans reached a five-year deal (with a sixth as an option) that gave their new quarterback $25.7 million in guaranteed money and the potential to make $58 million. The quarterback received a higher contract than Houston Texans gave defensive end than Mario Williams, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the draft that season. Greedy? It sure seems like it. Then again, a holdout by a rookie until he gets the money he thinks he deserves seems to be a common theme in the NFL. Young's 2006 rookie campaign was an impressive one as he went 8-5 as the Titans' starter. He won the starting job in Week Four after Kerry Collins led the team to an 0-3 start. At one point, he led the Titans to six straight wins and four fourth quarter comebacks. After helping the Titans make a run for the playoffs when all hope seemed lost, Young went on to win Rookie of the Year honors, along with a Pro Bowl appearance after San Diego Chargers quarterback Phillip Rivers dropped out due to a foot injury. All of a sudden, some of the critics who thought Young didn't have a chance for success in the NFL were changing their minds. Young avoided the "sophomore slump" nickname by leading the Titans to a 10-6 record in 2007 and found themselves with a first-round playoff matchup against LaDanian Tomlinson and the San Diego Chargers. Despite the 10-7 loss, the Titans had emerged as one of the rising teams in the NFL with Young as their quarterback. Still, many analysts were not impressed with Young as a starting quarterback in the NFL, even if the Titans were winning games. During his first two seasons in the league, Young led the Titans to a 17-11 record as a starting quarterback. He threw for 4,745 yards and 21 touchdowns. However, the statistic that sticks out the most is his 30 interceptions thrown during those first two seasons. Last season, the Titans posted the best record during the regular season at 13-3. However, all this was accomplished with Kerry Collins as their starting quarterback. Young was replaced by Collins after a knee injury in Week One against the Jacksonville Jaguars and remained the No. 2 quarterback for the rest of the season. It is hard to imagine the Titans would make this move after all of the money they spent on Young, but they did. After a successful 2008 run in which the Titans held the best regular season record, the team looks to have another strong run this season in hope of advancing further than the second round of the playoffs. So what are they trying to do to repeat last season's magical run? For starters, Jeff Fisher named Collins the starting quarterback. Fisher made it clear that if Young wanted to win his starting job back with the Titans, he would have to earn it in the offseason. Did Young accept this decision well? Of course he didn't. Last week, Young made it clear that he wants to be traded if he's not the starting quarterback for the Titans this season. He claims that he is ready to play football and if the Titans will not allow him to be their top man this season, then another team will. If Young is this upset, are the Titans making the right move by starting Collins? Collins statistics may not have stuck out when compared to some of the other quarterbacks in the league (2,676 passing yards, 12 touchdowns, and seven interceptions). However, he provided the Titans with enough leadership as a quarterback to lead a team with a powerful defense and strong running game. I hate to admit it, but Young is not as great of a quarterback as he has himself built up to be. If we were looking at a quarterback such as Peyton Manning or Tom Brady taking on a No. 2 role for their team, I could understand why they would be upset. But this is Young we're talking about here. Young will be entering his fourth season in the NFL as a quarterback who has more career interceptions than touchdowns. What is even more frustrating is that a quarterback who throws more interceptions than touchdowns is still making millions from that hefty contract of his. If anything, Young should take the advice that Matt Leinart would give him. Leinart lost the starting quarterback job to Kurt Warner last season and has accepted the role as the backup quarterback for the Cardinals until his time comes to become a starter again. Even when the Cardinals made it clear that Warner would be their starting quarterback again this season, Leinart never spoke a word about how he was upset with his role. Young needs to do the same for the Titans and see the positive from this situation; he gets another season to learn everything he can from a veteran quarterback who has been in the league for 15 seasons. Young needs to accept the fact that there is a chance he may not be the starting quarterback again once September rolls around. He may think he is the best option for the team, but right now the best option is for him to be a team player and to stop making a big deal out of the situation. If anything, Young should be thankful for the fact that he is making more money than most of the other quarterbacks in the league who have much better statistics than he does. Take Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers for example. In his first full season as a starter, Rogers not only impressed with his 4,036 yards passing, but his 28 touchdown passes from last season surpass the total number of touchdowns Young has thrown in 33 career games (22). It's understandable to understand the frustration Young is feeling right now to be the Titans' starting quarterback. He may think his presence is what's best for the team, but it's not. With that said, I can see Young as the franchise quarterback for years to come. However, for the time being, he needs to understand that he may have to accept the role as a backup to Collins. If anything, Young needs to realize he has a whole career ahead of him while Collins may only have another year or two before he decides to hang up his cleats for good. Instead of being a complainer, Young needs to step it up and act like the leader that the Titans expected him to be when they drafted him in 2006. "What's Bugging Me is a weekly series surrounding the latest controversial stories surrounding the NFL."
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