There are a lot of dreams that run through the minds of young men as they grow up, in the United States one of the biggest is to someday become a football superstar. Some people have the talent to actually make this happen while others, like myself, don’t quite have what it takes to elevate enough to get into college, much less the NFL. The most popular position for kids is always Quarterback, everyone wants to be the signal caller. There are some amazingly talented players at quarterback that have come through the ranks of NCAA football names like Tim Tebow, Michael Vick, Peyton Manning, Steve McNair, and even Vince Young. (bleacherreport.com) Sometimes the player hits on the highest level, like McNair and Manning, and sometimes they don’t, like Tebow or Young. This summer we’ve seen a player chasing the dream of being an NFL player after having been locked behind bars based on a lie, trying to come back from some of the most insurmountable odds possible. (nydailynews.com) A few weeks back another comeback story started to unfold, not quite as extreme as the one in Atlanta but this was still a pretty longshot dream possibly coming back to reality.
The Green Bay Packers took a chance on a potential new backup quarterback, a man who showed a ton of promise in the past but didn’t have the maturity to handle his new role as the face of an NFL franchise. (profootballtalk.nbcsports.com) While playing in Tennessee Vince Young showed flashes of the talent we saw from him while playing college ball with the Texas Longhorns, but it wasn’t on a consistent enough basis to keep the fans from tearing him apart. (usatoday.com) Young went into a bit of a downward spiral after losing his starting position, eventually finding himself out of the league entirely and facing lawsuits for unpaid debts. (deadspin.com) While Young has been beat down repeatedly, he’s never really given up and shown a will to battle on in hopes of landing another job on an NFL roster. Earlier this year he worked out at the Texas Longhorns Pro Day with the hope of showing teams that he’s still had the skills to be on their roster. (sbnation.com) Many people thought that this would just be another former star thinking they had the ability to make a roster, only to be turned away again, much like Terrell Owens or Chad Johnson. As of this moment that appears to be incorrect, as Green Bay has cut the incumbent backup to Aaron Rodgers making Vince their official number two on the roster.
The spot of backup quarterback isn’t quite the spot he once occupied; going from being out of the league and essentially without money, being the backup for one of the best quarterbacks in the league isn’t a bad place to land. Only time will tell if Young truly has what it takes to one day lead another franchise as the veteran for an incoming rookie prospect. I’ve always been a fan of Vince Young, I’ll admit this much, and it was an easy transition as a massive Steve McNair fan. There’s been a shift in the playing style at quarterback in recent years, which could benefit someone like Vince Young. With the way the league has been evolving in recent years there’s a chance Young may have a chance to re-establish himself as a star in the NFL before his playing days have ended.