Posted on 01/08/2006 2:01:03 PM PST by Racehorse
Vince Young announced Sunday that he is skipping his senior season as quarterback for the national champion Texas Longhorns and will enter the NFL draft.
"I've decided to enter the draft this year and go to the NFL," Young said in a news conference on the University of Texas campus. "I know that everybody is behind me, and I thank God for that. I won't let ya'll down."
Young said he made the decision after meeting with his pastor and family. He vowed to complete the requirements for his college degree.
"I want to thank God for this opportunity to be in the position I'm in today," Young said. "Hard work has paid off, a whole lot."
Young thanked UT coaches, staff members and teammates, as well as his mother, Felicia, whom he called "my superwoman."
Four days after leading Texas to its first college football national title since 1970, Young became the first Longhorn with eligibility remaining to leave early for the NFL in Mack Brown's eight-year tenure as coach of the Longhorns.
"I'll always be a Longhorn," Young said.
(Excerpt) Read more at statesman.com ...
That is why I agree with you, and at the same time disagree with you.
Young could do all of that, and if the cards are right he can lead UT to another victory, become an even greater hero in Texas (if that is at all possible since right now Young probably qualifies as a deity ov'rthere), and raise his stake in the draft (from what will probably be, this year, no.3 to a no.1 if everything was to go perfectly).
In the process he would come out a year later, and after accomplishing all that (if everything goes perfectly) he can even get a higher signing bonus that he will by coming out this year. Thus I agree with you that he can higher returns if he stays one more year (and if everything goes perfetly), and 'if life is all about money then he should be smart enough to get as much as he can.'
However all of the above is based on an 'if.' Many things can go wrong, things that would totally sabotage his chances for a really lucrative career (whether or not that career lasts many years, in which case it would be TRULY lucrative; or whether it lasts a single season, in which case he would still leave with a multi-million dollar signing bonus). In my prior post I gave the example of Jason White, someone who would be a multi-millionaire right now (even if he still went ahead and fizzled) had he come out after 2003 instead of going for his 'second' final year (and having his highest professional accomplishment being a couple of days as a free agent in the Titans). Young could take the same approach as Jason White (or to another extent Leinart) and instead of being a 'super-hero' this year become a 'hyper-ultra-superfragilistic-hero' next year. Instead of being a probable no.3 pick this year he could become the numero uno pick the next. However all of that could all disappear due to an injury during the first day of practice, due to mojo running dry, due UT playing like squirrels in heat.
Young should be smart enough to get as much as he can get. However he should also be smart to play the cards right and not leave a sure guaranteed deal today for the sake of a sightly better deal a year from now (especially when the future return could be totally taken away from him).
If I have an investment today that will pay me, say, 5 million ....guaranteed .....and by waiting a year that investment can give me 9 million, it is worth for me to wait. After all I am getting a whole 4 million extra just for waiting 12 months. That is a good return.
However if in those 12 months there is a chance that I can lose all of that due to some mishap on the field. Moreover if during that year I will be partaking in activities that, everytime I do them, have a probability of taking all that away. In that case it would not only be prudent to take the 5 mil (guaranteed today) in lieu of the 9 mil (dependent on a perfect flow of events), it would be absolutely insane to not do so.
Just my 2 cents .....maybe with a nickel thrown in. However this decision finally rests in the hands of Young, and it seems that he has made it. May it work out perfectly for him.
The Texans have a running back with major potential but could use someone like Young. What they really need is an offensive line, but that's not going to happen unless they trade their pick for an entire O.L.
Runningbacks who also play QB tend not to do well in the NFL.
Look at the hype around Vick, who is spending more time in the pocket.
Young is another Vick. Not that much better, just more recent.
He will get physically creamed in the NFL, just like McNabb, Vick and Steward before them.
>> "I'll always be a Longhorn," Young said.
At least for the next semester. But seriously...as Rick Reilly pointed out even longtime/retired pros show more loyalty to their college than to their 'employer' in the NFL.
Pathetic.
Perhaps some NFL veterans will teach this kid how to dress properly.
Or Young could get hit by a bus or otherwise suffer a career-ending injury before he even gets to sign an NFL deal.
It's really Young's decision but I don't blame him for jumping to the NFL now and ensuring his future financial security while he is healthy and able. So what if he ends up sitting on the sidelines for a season or two like what Tom Brady and others had to do?
OK this a stupid thing to argue about. So I apologize for my initial rude comment. Perhaps I was too defensive toward your criticism of my school. But UT is a university to be proud of and I defend it. The liberals here are loud, obnoxious, and ignored by the many conservatives here who stick to research in subjects that are actually worth something. And the football (and baseball) team is the best.
I commend you for standing up for your school. I hope you understand that hatred of one school by another goes with the territory of being a top performer in any sport.
The same things happen between my school (University of Minnesota) and Wisconsin, right now the respective #3 and #1 ranked hockey programs in D-1 hockey. They say nasty things about my school, I say nasty things about theirs.
But the best response possible (and I had the pleasure of using this in back to back championship seasons in 2002 and 2003) is simply saying...
"SCOREBOARD!"
Yeah- you are right.
The problem I have with jumping to the NFL early is that it seldom works out in the NFL. In the NBA- it usually works out well. In the NFL- it normally does not.
We'll see. Either way, I still think he needs to back up a great quarterback for a little while. Riding the bench for a year in the NFL is not a horrible thing. Most great quarterbacks in the NFL rode the bench for a little while- I think it is good for them. I think this young man has alot of talent- I would hate to see it go to waste, by being thrown to the sharks too soon.
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