Monday the Buffalo Bills cut former University of Texas quarterback Vince Young and from all indications it may well have been his last stop in the NFL. Critics have said Vince had chance after chance but when you look deep, it can easily be said that he never had a chance.
Let’s start with his original team. The Tennessee Titans used a number one pick on Young in the 2005 NFL draft. Titans owner, Bud Adams, loved Vince. The problem was his head coach, Jeff Fisher, was not quite as lovestruck with the Houston Madison High School product. That situation was made worse when the Titans hired former University of Southern California coach Norm Chow to take the reins at the offensive coordinator position. Chow runs the pro set and Vince ran the spread offense at Texas.
Even though Tennessee lacked quality receivers and with the change in offensive scheme, Vince still performed. His win/loss record in games he started at Tennessee, was 30-17. His less than stellar 42-42 touchdowns vs interceptions with the Titans would have been ignored with most teams, but Titans head coach Fisher railed on Vince and constantly tried to change his mechanics.
The Titans ultimately created a young quarterback that had little confidence and was constantly looking over his shoulder. Not many guys would thrive in that type of situation. Vince’s tenure in Tennessee finally came to an end with Fisher destroying Vince as a Titan. It ended badly for both but Fisher, despite being what many would consider “overrated,” soon landed on his feet in St Louis.
Vince spent a season with the Philadelphia Eagles, where his only win against two losses came when the Eagles played the Cowboys at Texas Stadium. The win over Dallas gave Vince a respectable record of 31-19 in his 50 starts as an NFL quarterback. It never seemed to matter.
Essentially Vince suffers from not being a “Tim Tebow.”  Tebow seems to have every opportunity and advantage that Vince never received in his NFL career. Tebow has never completed more than 50% of his passes, yet he is labeled a winner. No one seems to pay attention to the strong defenses winning games… it’s all Tebow, all the time.
Vince gets little of the credit for his winning record. Â It’s always his running back, the defense or his head coach, who for years pulled the wool over the eyes of Tennessee fans until the owner realized how badly Vince was treated and fired Fisher. Sadly it was too late for Vince in Tennessee.
I hope Vince catches on and plays a few more years but if not I wish him the best at whatever he chooses. The guy with the single greatest game ever played in a championship game, deserves better.
Hook ‘Em Horns.
