Vince Young Featured In My Favorite Magazine Feature Ever: Esquire's "What I've Learned"
by August West on Aug 5, 2009 1:57 PM CDT
in Tennessee Titans News
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PrintEvery month Esquire runs a single page feature that is probably the best reoccurring piece of print journalism going right now. It's called What I've Learned, and it's tidbits and life lessons from people as diverse as Francis Ford Coppola (featured in last month's edition, which is laying by my desk as I type this), Gore Vidal, Christopher Walken and many more very influential people from the worlds of politics, entertainment, intelligencia.
Now, we get the news that the September issue of Esquire will feature What Vince Young has learned, and I have to say I'm pretty moved by a few things he said. VY is really starting to show some maturity in the press, and I really hope it translates on the field. I can't see how any Titans fan couldn't be rooting for VY to fulfill his potential. Here are a few of the ones that really stuck with me:
Quarterbacking Is all in the legs. You don’t even need a good arm. Of course, I work on it all, but it’s all in the legs.
It’s hard to express in words how important Steve McNair is to me.
One thing I will say about my mom is that even though she did her dirt -smoking, drugs, alcohol- she always woke up and went to work the next morning after she had that long night.’
I saw everything There was a hole in the door that closed off my room from the living room. I used to always-my little bad self - peek through that little hole – and see my mom and the whole neighborhood. My grandmom worked the graveyard shift, and everybody knew that after she left and the kids were in bed, the party was at our house. Every night. Smoking, dancing, having sex, and there I was, couldn’t sleep for the noise, looking through that little hole at a strange world, man. People so strung out that they’re stuttering, a-a-a-a-a-a. I didn’t know what strung out was, but I knew they were strung out. That was my window on the world. And I thought to myself, I don’t know what else is gonna happen to me, but I do not want to be like that.
I’d wake up in the middle of the night, make sure everything was locked up, make sure my mom’s keys were hidden because my uncle used to steal the car all the time, peek in on my sisters’ room to make sure nobody was bothering them, make sure their windows were locked. The garage door was broken from my uncle, so got to check that, too. He’d break in and steal what he could carry. I must have lost four Nintendos to him, microwaves, you name it. I love my uncle, I forgive him, but I couldn’t respect him as a man. He was stealing from us, his own family, and that’s no way for a man to behave, you know? I was about ten
I started getting in trouble, and I thought, I’m gonna be just like my mom.
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That was excellent
Hopefully this year it can be about football with him again. He definitely sounds like he’s grown up a lot.
interesting...ill root for him...when its his time..until then..
hes the most famous 2nd string quarterback around.
Once upon a time you dressed so fine
You threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn't you?
People'd call, say, "Beware doll, you're bound to fall"
You thought they were all kiddin' you.
-Bob
Fascinating read.
I really hope he looks good this weekend.
DannoE
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
Thanks for the link
That was a good read. I’ve been pulling for him and I hope he’s our starting quarterback by the start of the season. I like Kerry Collins but the future of the Titans is Vince Young. If Collins quarterbacks the whole season and goes all the way, that’d be great and he is capable of doing that. So if Vince Young can win the starting job back from him it means he has something and we’ll have a career blossom right in front of us.
Great read.
Vince has always been my favorite since he came into the NFL, and, as a Texas fan, I have followed his career closely. VY can and will win the job back from Collins, as this could be Collins’ last year.
by SharksFanEst.1994 on Aug 5, 2009 6:49 PM CDT reply actions
Good stuff.
This is encouraging:
The last year’s been rough — the injury, the controversy, being booed by our own fans, people saying I’m suicidal, losing the starting position. But I’ve seen worse.
We will all be flat on our backs at one time or another. That’s when you figure out what you’ve got inside.
…
I’m in the best shape of my life. I’m back to playing my game and not worrying about what everybody else thinks. That was my mistake: worrying too much about critics. I’m only twenty-six, man. If you think you can write me off, just watch.
good to hear
he still has more to prove to me before he gets my respect back after the sideline incedent, i cant wait to watch him on sunday ill be rooting for him and i hope i dont have to grimmice to often. a few mistakes o well hes been rusty i can over look that. but as long as he tries iam all for vince young being our qb.
i hope he does so good we have a qb controversy ha ha.
Young will not win back the job
Collins will be our starter for the next two years, young won’t win back the job from collins because collins is our starter. Kerry Collins will once again play well, lead us to the playoffs, and throw for over 3,000 yards and 20 tds. You all can doubt me all you want, but we’ll see at the end of the season who is right. Vince Young is done in Tennessee, and thank god for that.
You're not wrong walter, you're just an asshole.
Ain't happenin'
Kerry has only thrown for more than 20 TDs 3 times in his career. Each of those times he threw the ball over 500 times. A “Titans” team hasn’t had a quarterback throw more than 500 passes since Warren Moon in 1993. And he wasn’t exactly lighting up the score board either, last year. His 2.9% TD percentage was the 3rd lowest of his career. But, his 1.7% INT percentage was the lowest of his career as well.
Kerry will protect the ball and minimize turnovers, and that’s fine. It fits the Titans MO. If we’re winning ball games, expecting 20 or more TDs isn’t realistic.
All in the legs?
Then what’s his excuse?
by pigskinpundits.com on Aug 5, 2009 10:02 PM CDT reply actions
I'm pretty sure he meant in footwork
I would say, for example, that shooting a basketball is “all in the legs.” That doesn’t mean it has to do with jumping ability or quickness. It has to do with the fundamentals of bending your knees and using them to make your follow-through more natural so you aren’t “pushing” the ball at the basket. This is why at the end of basketball games, you see a ton of shots start falling short. It has nothing to do with the arms; the fatigue grips the legs first, and people stop using their legs to give their shot the natural arc it needs.
Obviously, other things like shooting form and rotation apply, but I get what Vince said.
by TheElusiveShadow on Aug 6, 2009 9:31 AM CDT up reply actions
i am just saying iam for giving him a chance before hes shipped out.
i just dont want yet another top draft pick be wasted, dont forget he showed some majic pulling those games out of his ass his rookie season.
dont get me wrong iam not a vince young groppie by a long shot! but for the sake of tossing yet another top draft pick to the curb we have to atleasat find out if he has shown some improvment in his attidtue and play with his time off. imagine if he played every game like he did those few his rookie season when he pretty much pulled the entire team to victory. those games landed him at the pro bowl and on the cover of madden.
if he gives up and pouts and pulls his bs then iam all for cutting the losses and will be sending hate mail to whoever made the decesion to pick him over cutler.
V.Y. will likely not be a starter with the Titans this season unless Collins gets hurt.
I do feel sorry for his upbringing and I am happy to hear that he wants to rise above a life of drugs and such. Good for him ! His mother was not a good role model. It is very unfortunate that she chose such a lifestyle.
He had a LOT of growing up to do and he did some of it last year. He has a ways to go to prove to me he has matured into a true NFL qb. Kerry is doing better than just managing the game, he has taken the Titans to a playoff game last season. I don’t see a qb controversy this year unless Collins gets injured or starts stinking it up..
Joy Kat
C'mon
Kerry is doing better than just managing the game, he has taken the Titans to a playoff game last season.
Kerry did no such thing. I’ll agree that he managed the ball better than Vince. But, his role was marginally more important than Vince’s in 2007 when the Titans made the playoffs as well. Chris Johnson and the defense led this team to the playoffs.
He's showing a lot of character
But i disagree with the first quote. If quarterbacking was all in the legs he would already be one of the alltime greats. Thats a disturbing comment to me.
Who doesn't want to be a promiscuous dope fiend?
I think this is getting taken out of context.
The way I took it was that you get all your throwing power from your legs. Like most sports movements, the legs are the base and you drive from there. I don’t think he was referring to scrambling.
by SuperHorn on Aug 6, 2009 8:22 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions
Quarterbacking is not all in the legs.
It’s all in the head. The QBs who are football-smart do well as long as there’s a little talent there. It’s all between the ears. Tom Brady doesn’t win because he’s a freak athlete. He wins because he knows what to do and when and he’s got mental toughness.
he doesn't mean scrambling
he means setting your feet and keeping a wide base, etc. Bill Walsh and Joe Montana really made that saying popular.
Music City Miracles blogger and official Jon Bovi tour manager.
Alex Smith disagree with everything you just said.
DannoE
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
How does anyone here actually know what he truly meant by that?
On first blush it sounds like scrambling ability is what he is referring to, and if that is what he is talking about then where did that ability get him lately? Nor far…
Also, the part about him being the next black qb to win a superbowl is bothersome as well. What if Cutler said he will be the next white qb to win one, imagine the controversy over that remark. I am NOT racist by any means but I find it completely uneeded to mention his race in such a statement. Why not say I will be the next qb to win a superbowl, or I will take any team I play for to a superbowl. ? I just don’t get it. Or If you want to go down that road, personally I like T. Jackson at Minnesota’s chances better than VY. Or Michael Vick to come back and lead a team with greater success.
Joy Kat
First, welcome back, JK!
Okay, that said, it’s clear that he was talking about throwing from a solid base because we already knew that he spent a significant amount of time last offseason working on his fundamentals with M. Heimerdinger.
One of the knocks on VY when he came into the League was his throwing mechanics, specifically that he has a tendency to throw on the run without setting his feet. This was less of a problem in college because his WRs tended to get more seperation via superior athletic ability, but in the NFL it made him a turnover machine, especially in 2007. Seriously, pull up some YouTube and look at his game. You can see him throwing on the run, and half the time the ball either gets away from him—and goes high, ala the time Bo Scaife took one in the spleen from a super-high toss—or the it goes straight into the dirt at his check-down’s feet.
This is compounded by the fact that Vince gets visibly nerevous in the pocket when he’s feeling pressure. When he scrambles, that’s fine, but he needs to set his feet. But what we saw a lot was him not wanting to scramble, probably because he’s overthinking it, and then he takes a sack because he’s holding the ball too long. Either way, it all comes down to the footwork. When he sets his feet and fires, he’s usually fine. When he ges nervous and/or excited, the ball can get away from him.
DannoE
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
Not quite right
If you noticed Heimerdinger was not around when VY was getting sacked, it was Norm Chow. He tried to teach him to be a pocket passer, which VY is not. The delay was the indecision between his instincts and his new coaching. I say let him run like McNair did. That is his specialty and what makes him unique. He can get 10 yards on defenses all day by himself, without throwing the ball.
Fail
Quarterbacking is all in the legs. You don’t even need a good arm. Of course, I work on it all, but it’s all in the legs.
Clearly, he’s talking within the context of throwing. He’s obviously not talking about scrambling. Anyone who thinks so needs to read more carefully or stop fishing for little stupid things to jump on Vince for. Goodness gracious. Even the harsher Vince critics on this site seem to get this.
Or If you want to go down that road, personally I like T. Jackson at Minnesota’s chances better than VY. Or Michael Vick to come back and lead a team with greater success.
If that happens, I’m going to request you do some well-wishing for me to win the lottery.
by TheElusiveShadow on Aug 6, 2009 10:32 AM CDT up reply actions
"How does anyone here actually know what he truly meant by that?"
because no QB works on scrambling. They all work on footwork, setting and driving the throw through their hips.
Music City Miracles blogger and official Jon Bovi tour manager.
I thought you were banned??!
“what if Cutler said he will be the next white qb to win one, imagine the controversy over that remark.”
It wouldn’t be controversial …people would think Cutler is an idiot because a white qb has won the past 19 superbowls! What would be so historic about another white qb winning the super bowl.
Ppl are so quick to....
jump all over vince, the man only played 2 seasons. everybody wants him to just be great right off the bat, does everybody forget that its a big transition from college to NFL? and a good number of years before an nfl qb starts to figure things out is more than 2, what happened last year happened, move on and start thinking of what VY COULD become. he’s a winner in the NFL, though may all not be pretty but at the end of the day its another W in the win-loss column, more than the QB draft class he came out with. VY all the way, im fine with KC having the keys to the car right now but let’s not forget when they were takin from his hands in the first place and given to VY, can’t wait for him to come back and prove everybody wrong.
"Waiting for the return of the Mac"
Too bad he side arms it
Not sure how much his legs help then
Who doesn't want to be a promiscuous dope fiend?
by BonzosMontreaux on Aug 6, 2009 11:21 AM CDT reply actions
Helps with accuracy and velocity
Although Vince has a strong enough arm to rip the ball with just a flick of his wrist, improved footwork will allow him to drive the ball accurately into those smaller NFL windows. That helps sidewinders too. The fact that he throws in this manner is a different point, one that is more concerning if he’s getting a lot of balls batted to the ground.
by TheElusiveShadow on Aug 6, 2009 1:20 PM CDT up reply actions
=)
Good to see supporters of VY seems like everyday I’m arguing his point with other Football critics!
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