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I know that I come across as the ultimate Vince Young lover, but I must continue to address this issue, because when Vince Young was out of favor with the media, they bashed him like nobody’s business.
But oh, how the tables have turned! Analysts, hosts and all sports personalities (except for Collin Cowherd) are impressed with Vince Young’s 5-0 return to the quarterback position.
However, there is something that bothers me when it comes to the media’s sudden infatuation with VY. All of a sudden, his success is being attributed to his “maturity” as a person. Now, I don’t claim to know Vince Young personally, and I certainly can’t attest to who does know him and who doesn’t. But I do know one thing; attributing all of Young’s success to his newfound “maturity” is essentially saying that he was immature before, and that somehow, that immaturity was a detriment to his team.
And when it comes to such a notion, I beg to differ.
Sorry, guys, but this “maturity’ thing falls flat on its face. First of all, Vince Young has always won. His so-called “immaturity” prior to this season did not seem to affect his team’s ability to win football games. He had an 18-11 record coming into this season, which is something a lot of franchises would die for right now. Yes, he threw more interceptions than touchdowns, but that is something that, as a former football player, I would attribute to his experience rather than some off-the-field notion of his “maturity” level.
Secondly, when was Vince Young so immature? Are we talking about when he reportedly considered suicide? Last time I checked, thoughts of suicide are often attributed to mental imbalances or psychological issues, not a person’s “maturity” level. Plenty of well-known, mature people have committed suicide, included elected officials whose lives are picked apart and prodded before they ever take office. So if the notion behind essentially calling Young immature prior to this season comes from his momentary contemplation of suicide, then that is the most blasphemous thing I have ever heard before in my life—well, not really, but hyperbole is in order here.
Lastly, the same people saying that Vince Young came into this season more prepared and more mature because of being benched and in light of Steve McNair’s tragic death, are the same people that were ripping or laughing at him when he said in an interview that he believes he will one day be in the Hall of Fame. Many of those same people called him naïve, silly and of course, immature. But now that he’s winning games and throwing more touchdown passes than interceptions, he has morphed into a “mature” being in just a matter of weeks.
In the words of Chris Carter, “Come on, man!” I don’t know what Vince Young has to do to earn some respect around here, but let me be one of the first to give credit where credit is due.
Young is not better because all of a sudden he has this newfound maturity, he’s better because he has more experience, and he’s no longer a rookie or sophomore player trying to learn the little details of the game.
Maturity is about adapting to circumstances in an appropriate manner, but Vince Young has always done that. He did that at Texas, he did that his rookie year, and he did that when he took his team to the playoffs in 2007.
Now he’s just building upon those experiences and growing as a football player, not as some adolescent teen that doesn’t think saying penis is funny any more. So to hell with maturity! Young’s success is due to experience and his ability to build upon it. Anyone who tells you otherwise—well, just tell them a penis joke.
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