Vince Young's AARP Membership

. . . is not valid quite yet. This story blew up over the last few days, as Vince Young was quoted as saying that he had "thought about retiring" after his 2006 season (his rookie year). Those quotes combined with this picture of Vince Young surfacing a few weeks back, and he's had a little bit more attention than he'd like for an offseason.

The Pope hesitates to post on topics that don't need commenting, as wasting readers time is not the Pope's favorite thing to do. To keep it short and sweet, here are the Pope's thoughts:

• Vince Young is 25 years old. In that party picture linked to above, he was drinking out of a bottle with his shirt off. Luckily the Pope is not running for reelection anytime soon, because my shirtless/bottle toting pictures are about a dime a dozen. Media and bloggers are happy to show the picture, but not to mention that the picture was taken in Austin, TX, as Vince Young is back at school this offseason finishing his degree. Signed to a deal worth around $55 Mill ($26M guaranteed), obviously he needs his degree right?


• Vince Young, just like any other kid that leaves the perfect world of college, was a bit shocked as he entered the real world in 2006. Being an NFL quarterback is much more mentally, physically, and emotionally difficult than most every job (and they are paid for it). I'm sure he was a little depressed when he had "thoughts of retiring", but I don't believe him. His doubt was unlike anyone else who is adjusting to the real world out of college.


• Vince Young still is and will be a good NFL quarterback. I think he can be great, but he definitely needs to improve. New offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger is ready to bring Vince back to his 2006 Pro Bowl form.
  

One interesting thing that Vince said recently was that he wanted to be a "Hall of Fame Quarterback", not a "Pocket Quarterback" or a "Pro Style Quarterback". Vince didn't run the ball much last year, and many pointed to NFL defenses adjusting to his style of play as the reason for 2007 not being as successful as 2006 was for Vince. In reality Norm Chow had Vince running his offense, without enough regard to Vince's unique talents. Great article here at the Sporting News about how Vince Young and the Titans could be much improved on offense even without having added a top WR.

In addition to Heimerdinger at the helm of the offense, the Titans have added veteran tight end Alge Crumpler, resigned former Titans WRs Justin Gage and Justin McCareins, and drafted a "speed back" in East Carolina's Chris Johnson, who by early indications is working out well. The plan is that Heimerdinger will be molding the offense around Vince, so hopefully we'll see some more of the Rose Bowl Vince in 2008. Heimerdinger was the O-coordinator for Steve McNair during his prime, and seems to have a good feel for mobile QBs.

Vince's performance in the 2006 Rose Bowl, shown here, is still one of the most impressive individual sporting performances I have ever seen in my life, always worth revisiting: