Portal:College football/Selected article/May, 2007

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Vince Young is an American football player. He is a dual-threat quarterback, and the current starting quarterback for the National Football League Tennessee Titans. Young was drafted by the Tennessee Titans as the #3 overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft on April 29, 2006. He was awarded honors in his rookie season: NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and a roster spot on the AFC Pro Bowl team. EA games announced on April 14, 2007 that Vince Young will be on the cover of the Madden football video game for 2008.

Young played college football for the University of Texas Longhorns before turning professional. As a college junior, he was one of three finalists for the 2005 Heisman Trophy, finishing second to Reggie Bush and ahead of Matt Leinart in the final vote. Young was named the best college football player of 2005 by College Football News, based upon their statistical analysis. Following the Heisman voting, Young led his team to a BCS National Championship on January 4, 2006 in a classic thriller against the defending BCS national champion University of Southern California Trojans in the 2006 Rose Bowl. The game featured two Heisman Trophy winners as Young's opponents: both USC quarterback Matt Leinart and USC running back Reggie Bush. The game was called one of the most-anticipated games in the history of college football. In perhaps the most spectacular individual college football performance ever, Young completed 75% of his passes for 267 yards and also managed to run for more yards than Bush; he totaled 200 yards at 10 yards a carry.

Young decided he would forgo his last year of NCAA college eligibility and become a professional player by entering the 2006 NFL Draft. This decision made him the second player in Longhorn coach Mack Brown's eight year term as head coach of the Texas Longhorns to enter the NFL with eligibility remaining.