YOUNG and the Restless

Vince Young was released by the Titans yesterday and is no longer Tennessee's starting quarterback. The news was recently rumored to happen earlier this week, but now that it has happened, I'm mildly shocked.

Why? Well because inside the circles of the Titans brass and ownership it was no secret that team owner Bud Adams highly favored Young. He was even quoted ("VY is my guy") to show his allegiance to Vince leading up to the 2006 draft. If anything you would think Jeff Fisher, the leagues longest tenured coach with one team, wore out his welcome and would be the one to leave if given the choice.

Precedence has been set in the NBA that players run the league and have major influence in the General Management office (think Magic getting Paul Westhead fired in the 80s, Isiah engineering the Mark Aguire for Dantley trade, etc). Even in the NFL, high profile players have some latitude and seniority when it comes to business decisions. Usually, the highest of those high profile players are quarterbacks. When John Elway was drafted by the Colts in 1983 and refused to play there, he got his wish (his rights were subsequently traded to Denver). Years later he didn't get along with then Broncos Head Coach Dan Reeves and it was Reeves who got the pink slip! Even in the contemporary NFL, organizations are prone to rock with the "franchise" quarterback opposed to the coach when their team falls on hard times.

And what were the hard times in Nashville? A sensitive quarterback who exposed his thin skin under controversy a couple of years ago when the home team boo'd him; an immature young man get in a fight outside of a strip club; rumors of alleged suicide; habitual tardiness to team meetings. I can't say those are the qualities you look for in a franchise qb, but Hov told us this: men lie, women lie, numbers don't. And the numbers for Young are very impressive: 30-17 as a starting quarterback, 2 pro-bowl appearances, a playoff appearance, Rookie of the Year and he's still in his prime at the ripe age of 27! Conversely Jeff Fisher, who I previously said was the longest tenured coach in the NFL---that's saying a lot in these fickle, musical chairs days of head coaches----doesn't have much to brag about. Yeah he's the all-time winningest coach in franchise history, but when you've been there since 1994, what do you expect? He doesn't have a Super-Bowl ring and save for one year, really hasn't threatened deep into the playoffs. Allegedly he's a stand-up guy and player's coach but my eyes have shown me differently in his mis-management of Vince Young. I saw a coach reluctantly accept Young as his quarterback and never fully commit to him and show support. He smashed an already fragile ego with Vince in his darkest hours and hung him out to dry numerous times (ie leaking behind the scene details and negative information to the media).

Maybe a new start and scenery will be refreshing for Vince Young. Hopefully he'll regroup and focus on what's important, which is being responsible and a leader on/off the field. That's what franchise qb's do (Brady, Manning---Roethlisberger is a different animal) It's very seldom you see both the head coach and quarterback get the boot, but this time maybe different.