Vince Young

First of all, if you haven't read Babcock's post on Tom Brady, do yourself a favor and read it immediately. The man is pure genius.

Second of all, read Nick's post on Week 2 after you’ve read Babcock’s piece. All I can say is that we’re pretty damn lucky to have two NFL experts here at the RoomofZen. Where else can you find stuff like this on the internet?

This week I'd like to discuss Vince Young. If you follow the NFL, I'm sure you've read about his meltdown. In case you haven’t and your head is buried underground, you can read about it here:
http://www.profootballtalk.com/2008/09/09/agent-says-young-was-watching-football/

http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080909/SPORTS01/80909043

http://deadspin.com/5047255/this-vince-young-melt-down-is-getting-uglierand-scary

http://deadspin.com/5047422/vince-youngs-got-a-gun-searching-for-answers-to-the-quarterbacks-bizarre-unraveling

Weird stuff, right? An NFL quarterback goes missing for two hours and his team calls the police. Young claims it’s not a big deal, but if a regular player goes off the radar for two hours, do you panic and start calling the cops? Not unless you know something is seriously wrong with the dude. The phrase “suicide watch” comes to mind, especially if he has a gun. From the AP:

“The mother of Titans quarterback Vince Young said he indicated he doesn't want to play football and is "hurting inside and out."

His mom, like any decent mom whose concerned about their son, goes onto say:

"What would you think, if you were tired of being ridiculed and persecuted and talked about and not being treated very well, what would you do? What kind of decision would you make?"

Apparently you start talking about quitting and giving up if you're Vince Young. And frankly there's nothing wrong with that if your head is not in the game. Just leave the team, free up the cap-space, and do your teammates a favor. Nobody wants a teammate like that, right?

But Vince Young is pretty darn good. And it's not like the guy is Ryan Leaf with expectations out of this planet. We know he can't pass too well, we know he has a hard time learning the offense, and we know he's a running-style QB like McNair or Vick. So big deal if he has a terrible opening game. I can cut him some slack. He did lead his team to the Playoffs and the guy does have a winning record. If I am a Titan's fan, all I care about is W's and Young is a proven winner. If he could pull a Ricky Williams and get his shit together, who wouldn't welcome back to the game? I would.

I started thinking about Vince Young last night and I actually feel sorry for this guy since I know he needs some psychological help. But then again he’s making millions of dollars and he’s playing a sport for a living. The guy has no excuse not to seek medical help. My sense is that his ego and self-pride is preventing him from doing so. (That and his agent is doing a terrible job advising the poor guy)

If you were Vince Young, wouldn’t you have an inflated ego, too? He’s won the National Championship, he’s was the 2006 Rookie of the Year, he’s been paid millions of dollars, and he was voted the 10th Best College Football Player…of all time. But those are just accolades. Look at what he’s actually said to the media:

"I never doubt myself. Never. If I doubt myself then I'm gonna be a bad quarterback”

“Asked if he's going to the playoffs, Young tells Pelley, "We working on it right now. I wanna say, you know, I'm not trying to predict it right now. But how we looking right now, we have a big shot at it."

"People have told you to calm down on your predictions, haven't they?" Pelley asks.

"No," Young says, laughing. "No?" Pelley asks.

Says Young, "Can't nobody tell me nothing."

On a scale of 1-10, with ten being the most cocky and borderline arrogant you can be as an NFL player, this type of attitude is an eleven. So of course this guy is fairly insecure and when the Titans lose and he's held responsible, there may be some issues.

(As an aside, pro athletes are notorious for not seeking help when they need it. Guys like Robinson on Raiders denied their problems and they only got worse. But then you have guys like the Eagles o-lineman who missed training camp due to depression. No one questioned his decision to seek help and now he’s back, ready to play. Why can’t Young do the same thing? No brainer, right? Just take some time off).

But for christ-sakes, dont have your mother go on the record defending you from media criticism. That shit just looks weak! Imagine the type of shit-talking Vince Young is going to hear if he ever comes back. It would take three Super Bowls in two seasons to stem the type of trash-talking I envision. And what defensive player in their right mind would hold back?

Just admit you're depressed, take some time off to clear your head, and come back to the league with gun's blazing. NFL fans, like most Americans, are forgiving and empathetic people. They understand that people suffer from mental breakdowns, especially when the spot-light is so intense. Maybe Young will eat some humble pie in the process and return to his prior form, sans the attitude.

And maybe his mom will stop making him look so bad.

The 2008 NFL Season: Let's Get Ready to Rumble!

Why you should be excited about this year's NFL extravaganza? Plenty of reasons. While some of them revolve plot-lines relating to last year's post-season, others have to do with teams rebuilding themselves and establishing their names as contenders. Oftentimes your proclivity towards a team will influence your interest in the league, but this year I urge you to take a step back, and consider the following issues:

1. How will Peyton’s knee and injured center affect him and the Colts offense? From my experience on the 0-line, center to QB exchanges are very important to the extent that they either help or destroy rhythm for the offense. Manning and Saturday have been together for more than five years and obviously they’ve established a fair amount of rhythm and trust between each other. How well will Manning take to a new center? And will it disrupt the juggernaut Colts offense? Imagine the pained look on Manning’s face when he keeps fumbling snaps? Priceless. Also consider Manning’s knee which is a lot worse than everyone thinks it is. Let’s say a blind-side sack aggravates Peyton’s knee and takes him out of the game. What will the Colts do then? I can promise you every d-linemen in the league is going to be aiming for Peyton’s knee this year, by the way. One slip-up by an offensive tackle and Peyton’s knee will end him.

2. Now that Mr. Umenyiora is out for the season, how will the Giants’ defense compensate and rebound? Correct me if I’m wrong, but the Giants’ pass-rush was a huge reason why they won the Super Bowl last year. Strahan and Umenyiora were the pillars of the Giants’ pass-rush and now they’re gone (on second thought, the Redskins taking Jason Taylor now looks brilliant with these two guys gone for the Giants). My sense is that the Giants will suffer because of this loss…and probably finish dead last!

3. Favre and the Packers. Simply put, if Favre does well and Rodgers sucks, then GB will get a lot of heat while the Jets will look like geniuses. Separating the ill-will Favre engendered from me during the off-season, he was actually pretty good last year. Favre’s play and an inspirational run by the Packers youth movement propelled them to the NFC Championship game. But then again the NFC sucked, with the exception of the Cowboys and Giants, so that’s not saying much. So if Favre plays well in the AFC, which is a lot better than the NFC, then the Packers will look like idiots for giving up a competitive player in th. But if Rodgers even posts even a decent season and Favre struggles, then the Packers will come out ahead (at least in the eyes of most fans).

4. The Titans intrigue me this year. Their defense is really good and Vince Young is always exciting to watch. But with a terrible and unproven wide-receiver set, how is Young supposed to be any good? The play of Vince Young this year will determine how good of a quarterback he really is in my mind. Yes the guy can run. Yes the guy can throw short passes. But can he lead the team to victory with sub-par and young receivers and actually throw the ball more than ten yards? This will make Young either a budding McNabb or a wilting Michael Vick who can’t run as fast.

5. The Vikings also intrigue me. We know Adrian Peterson is a nasty back, but do we know how much of a liability Tavaris Jackson will be? And will the Vikings repeat their performance with AP at the helm or have Tavaris completely screw it up? Brad Childress seems to think Tavaris is up to the task, but I have my doubts. Jackson is also injured, or was injured this summer, and that makes me nervous.

In summary, there are more than a few reasons to watch the NFL aside from your team. I only went into five reasons to watch the league this year, but there are about 100 more.

- Which rookie will explode this year and become a perennial starter or All-Star?
- Who is this year’s Earnest Graham, or player that comes out of nowhere to be nasty?
- Which team will pull a 2007 Packers and unexpectedly win 10+ games this year?

I think you get the point: the NFL will be awesome this year.