Vincent Paul Young, Jr. (born May 18, 1983 in Houston, Texas), commonly Vince Young, or "VY", 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. On April 17, 2007, EA games announced that Vince Young would be on the cover of their NFL video game franchise Madden NFL 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.
Early years
Young grew up in a tough neighborhood in Houston, Texas where he was primarily raised by his mother and his grandmother. His father, Vincent Young Sr., missed much of Vince's college career because he was in prison for a 2003 burglary conviction. Young credits his mother and grandmother for keeping him away from the street gangs. At the age of 7, Young was struck by a vehicle while riding his bicycle at the corner of Tidewater and Buxley, streets in his Houston neighborhood. The accident nearly killed him, leaving him hospitalized for months after the bicycle's handle bar went into his stomach. Today, he credits this event for making him into a "tougher" individual. Vince Young wears the number 10 to show love and respect for his mother, Felicia Young, whose birthday is June 10th.
High school career
Young was coached by Ray Seals at Madison High School in Houston, Texas where he started at quarterback (QB) for three years and compiled 12,987 yards of total offense during his career. During his senior season he led his Madison Marlins past the previously undefeated North Shore Mustangs. During his last year, Young led his Madison Marlins to the 5A Division II state semi-final game versus Westlake High School of Austin, Texas, in which he completed 18-of-30 passes for 400 yards and five TDs and rushed for 92 yards (on 18 carries) and a TD. Among the honors Young received in high school were:

* being named Parade's and Student Sports' National Player of the Year after compiling 3,819 yards and 59 touchdowns (TD) as a senior,
* being named 2001 Texas 5A Offensive Player of the Year,
* designation as The Sporting News's top high school prospect,
* and the Pete Dawkins Trophy in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

He was also a varsity athlete in numerous other sports. In basketball he played as a guard/forward and averaged more than 25 points per game over his career. This allowed him to be a four-year letterman and two-time all-district performer. In track and field he was a three-year letterman and member of two district champion 400-meter relay squads. In baseball he played for two seasons, spending time as both an outfielder and pitcher. He also made the all-state team in football and in track.
College career
Young signed with Texas in 2002 and redshirted rather than playing his first year. This allowed him a full year to learn the playbook and to develop his skills before being asked to play in a game situation.

As a redshirt in the 2004 season, Young started every game and led the Longhorns to an 11-1 season record (losing only to rival Oklahoma), a top 5 final ranking, and the school's first-ever appearance and victory in the Rose Bowl in which they defeated the University of Michigan. He began to earn his reputation as a dual-threat quarterback who can advance the ball well either by passing or rushing by passing for 1,849 and rushing for 1,189 yards. The Texas coaches helped facilitate this performance by changing the team offensive scheme from a I-formation to a Shotgun formation with 3 wide receivers. This made it more difficult for opponents to defend against all offensive plays that were possible from the new formation.

Before his junior season, Young appeared on the cover of Dave Campbell's Texas Football alongside Texas A&M quarterback Reggie McNeal.

In the 2005 season, Young led the Longhorns to an 11-0 regular season record. The Longhorns held a #2 ranking in the preseason, and held that ranking through the season except for one week when they were ranked #1 in the Bowl Championship Series. . Texas then won the Big 12 championship game and still held their #2 BCS ranking, which earned them a berth in the National Championship Rose Bowl game against the USC Trojans. Before the game, the USC Trojans were being discussed on ESPN and other media outlets as possibly the greatest college football team of all time. Riding a 34 game winning streak, including the previous National Championship, USC featured two Heisman Trophy winners in the backfield, including quarterback Matt Leinart (2004 Heisman winner) and running back Reggie Bush (2005 Heisman winner) who was widely discussed as being possibly the best running back in the history of college football. In the Rose Bowl, Vince Young put on one of the most dominating individual performances in college football history, accounting for 467 yards of total offense (200 rushing, 267 passing) and three rushing touchdowns (including a 9 yard TD scramble with 19 seconds left) to lead the Longhorns to a thrilling 41-38 victory. This performance led to him winning Rose Bowl MVP honors for the second consecutive season. After the game, former USC and NFL safety Ronnie Lott said "Vince Young is the greatest quarterback to ever play college football." Trojans coach Pete Carroll said "that was the best [performance] I've seen by one guy." Young finished the season with 3,036 yards passing and 1,050 yards rushing.

Early in his collegiate career, Vince Young had been criticized as "great rusher...average passer", and his unconventional throwing motion had been criticised as being "side-arm" as opposed to the conventional "over the top" throwing motion typically used by college quarterbacks. However, by the 2005 season most of the criticism had faded, and he developed into a consistent and precise passer. Young concluded the 2005 regular season as the #1 rated passer in the nation. Including the Big 12 Championship game and the Rose Bowl, he finished as the #3 rated passer in the nation, with a quarterback rating of 163.9.

Young reached a win/loss record as a starter of 30-2, ranking him #1 of all UT quarterbacks by number of wins. His .938 winning percentage as a starting quarterback ranks sixth best in Division I history. Young’s career passing completion percentage is the best in UT history, 60.8%. During his career at Texas (2003-05), Young passed for 6,040 yards (No. 5 in UT history) and 44 TDs (No. 4 in UT history) while rushing for 3,127 yards (No. 1 on UT’s all-time QB rushing list/No. 7 on UT’s all-time list) and 37 TDs (No. 5 on UT’s all-time rushing TDs list/Tied for No. 1 among QBs).
College career statistics
Year Passing Rushing
Comp Att Yards TDs Int Att Yds Avg TD
2003 84 143 1,155 6 7 135 998 7.4
2004 148 250 1,849 12 11 167 1,079 6.5 14
2005 212 325 3,036 26 10 155 1,050 6.8 12
Totals 444 718 6,040 44 28 457 3,127 6.8 26
NFL career
2006 NFL Draft
Throughout the 2005 season Young had indicated that he planned to return to the University of Texas for his senior year in 2006. The day after Texas won the BCS National Championship, Young accepted an invitation to appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. When Leno asked Young whether he would stay for his senior year of college or declare for the 2006 NFL Draft, Young replied that he would discuss the matter with his pastor, his family, and coach Mack Brown. On January 8, 2006, Young announced he would enter the NFL draft, where he was expected to be drafted early in the first round. Even after his Rose Bowl performance, some observers said he may have difficulty in the NFL because of his unorthodox sidearm throwing motion and the different style of play in the NFL. After Drew Brees signed as a free agent with the New Orleans Saints, Young was predicted by most experts to be the third overall pick in the draft belonging to the Tennessee Titans, where he would reunite with his close friend and mentor Steve McNair, but McNair was soon traded to the Baltimore Ravens. With the second overall pick, the Saints (now with Brees) were now likely to pass on drafting a high-rated quarterback, and Young was no longer thought to be a consensus top five pick. Some had speculated that he would not even be picked in the top ten.

A "controversy" regarding the Wonderlic, a standardized test given to all recruits, also arose before the draft. On February 25, 2006, during the NFL Combine, unconfirmed sources reported that Young scored a six, out of a possible fifty points, on his Wonderlic Test. The test questions are designed to indicate a player's ability to learn a complex NFL playbook. However, on February 26, 2006 combine officials said the reported score of six was incorrect. According to NFL Spokesman Steve Alic, “I can tell you absolutely that the score that has been reported on the Internet is inaccurate. I spoke to the person who graded the test, and he assured me that that number was not correct.” The next day, the test was properly readministered and Young scored a 16, the same score as Dan Marino . Wonderlic scores are released to NFL teams for draft purposes, but are not supposed to be released publicly. A few media outlets apologized for running the highly improbable first result. But most media did not correct the story and continued to wonder whether the first (now inaccurate) score would lower Young's draft selection and faulted his agent, Major Adams, for not preparing Young ahead of time with practice tests.

Many NFL personnel and observers dispute the significance of the Wonderlic at predicting a recruit's performance. Sean Jones of the Oakland Raiders' personnel department, said:

“All I need to know about Vince Young is that he came up with one of the greatest performances ever in the Rose Bowl. In the fourth quarter, I saw (USC coach) Pete Carroll throw every kind of blitz at Vince. I saw Vince read the blitz and beat the blitz. I don't care what his Wonderlic score is. The only score I care about is 41-38.”

The NFL draft was held on April 29-30, 2006. The Tennessee Titans drafted Vince Young with their first round pick (3rd choice overall), confirming the predictions of many draft experts. He was the first quarterback taken in the draft, with the Titans choosing him instead of Matt Leinart. The Titans general manager, Floyd Reese, said Young's upside was the deciding factor in his being chosen. Reese said, “Last night at 11:35, I was on my knees praying ... he will rewrite the position. This guy physically is such a combination of arms and legs. People want to make him out to be a Michael Vick. He's not that. He's different.” He started his NFL career on August 12, 2006 in a preseason match-up against Reggie Bush and the New Orleans Saints.

Pre-draft measureables
Wt 40y 20ss 3-cone Vert BP Wonderlic
228 lb 4.58s X X x X 16*
* represents NFL Combine
Tennessee Titans
2006 rookie season
On July 27 2006, Young agreed to terms on his initial contract with the Titans. Terms of the deal were reported to include five years with a sixth year team option and as much as (US$58 million overall including $25.7 million in guaranteed money. As a quarterback, Young was able to reach a deal similar to that signed by the draft's #1 overall pick, Texans defensive end Mario Williams. On August 12 2006, Vince Young made his preseason debut, and on September 17, he threw for his first career touchdown against the San Diego Chargers. Young made his first career start versus the Dallas Cowboys on October 1 2006 completing 14 of 29 passes for 155 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. He achieved his first NFL victory (against the Washington Redskins, 25-22) on October 15 2006.

On Sunday November 26, 2006 Vince Young led his first NFL fourth-quarter comeback, against the New York Giants. With the Giants leading 21-0, the tide suddenly changed after New York quarterback Eli Manning threw an interception to Pacman Jones. Young subsequently led a scoring drive, throwing a touchdown pass to ex-Longhorn teammate Bo Scaife. After the Titans forced a three-and-out, Young ran an option play for a touchdown on the next drive. Another successful stop led to Young throwing his second touchdown of the quarter. After another Eli Manning interception to Pacman Jones, this time with only 30 seconds left in the game, Young calmly led his team down the field for Rob Bironas' game-winning field goal; the final score was 24-21 over the Giants. It is statistically the best performance of Vince Young's NFL career: he went 24/35 for 249 yards and two touchdowns, with a 107.9 passer rating. He also rushed 10 times for 69 yards and a touchdown. This win was the largest fourth-quarter comeback in the Titans franchise history, the largest fourth-quarter comeback by a rookie quarterback, and the largest comeback with under ten minutes left in a game in NFL history.

A week later, Young led another come-from-behind victory over the Indianapolis Colts who, prior to the game, held a 10-1 record. Rob Bironas iced the game with a 60-yard field goal. The 14-point comeback marked the first time in NFL history that a rookie quarterback led two 14+ point comebacks in the same season. The following week, Young capped off a Houston homecoming by running for a 39-yard game-winning touchdown in overtime to defeat the Texans by a score of 26-20.

On Sunday December 24 2006, Vince Young led yet another come-from-behind victory over the Buffalo Bills who, along with the Titans, had a 7-7 record and were competing for a AFC wild card playoff spot. This time the comeback was from 9 points down after Rian Lindell kicked a 24-yard field goal at the end of the 3rd quarter to make the score 29-20 in favor of the Bills. Young then led the Titans on a 9-play, 62-yard drive that spanned 4:16 and ended with a 29-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Jones to make the score 27-29. After a three and out by the Buffalo Bills, Young again led his team on a 7:15, 14-play scoring drive that culminated in a 30-yard field goal by Rob Bironas, putting the Titans on top 30-29. Bironas' kick would prove to be the winning points. Young ended the day going 13-of-20 for 183 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions, with a rating of 127.7. He also rushed 8 times for 61 yards and 1 touchdown.

Young holds the NFL record for rushing yards by a rookie quarterback with 552, breaking the old record of 408 yards set by Bobby Douglass in 1969. He won the Associated Press NFL Offensive Rookie of The Year honors at the conclusion of the 2006 NFL campaign, becoming only the third quarterback to win the award, along with Dennis Shaw and Ben Roethlisberger. On Saturday February 3, Vince Young was named to the 2007 Pro Bowl to replace Phillip Rivers whose foot injury kept him out of what would have been his first pro bowl appearance. Young would throw one interception in limited play time in the Pro Bowl.

Of the rookie QB class of 2006, Vince Young has the best record as a starter, surpassing the only other three starting rookie QB's: Matt Leinart, Jay Cutler, and Bruce Gradkowski. During the 2006 season, Vince Young led the Tennessee Titans to eight wins including six straight wins where he posted an 8-5 record as a starter. Of the wins, four of them were fourth quarter comebacks, including three straight fourth quarter comebacks. His passer rating was 66.7.

Vince Young has also appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated six times: once in the 2005 College Football season preview issue, on a December issue prior to the Big 12 Championship game versus Colorado, on the weekly edition after the 2006 Rose Bowl and also the Commemorative edition following the 2006 Rose Bowl, once for the 2006 NFL Draft preview issue, and most recently after his Titans won 4 straight games in the 2006 NFL season.
2007 Season
For the first exhibition game against the Washington Redskins on August 11, 2007, Titans Coach Jeff Fisher benched Young after he broke one of the team rules. Though Fisher declined to mention the rule Young broke, Young later hesitantly admitted that he left the team hotel the previous night in order to sleep at his home without informing Fisher. Young apologized for his behavior and was allowed to play for the next game.

During the Titans first game, a 13-10 win against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Young threw for 78 yards and ran for 22 yards, including a TD. In Week 2, the Titans lost 22-20 to the Indianapolis Colts at home. Vince threw for 164 yards and a TD and ran for 53 yards on 5 carries. During Week 3, the Titans played the New Orleans Saints in the first of their 2 appearances on Monday Night Football in the 2007 season. The Titans thrashed the Saints 31-14 behind Young’s 185 total yards (21 rushing, 164 passing) and 2 TDs.On Sunday October 7th, Vince Young and the Titans took to the field in Nashville as they took on the Atlanta Falcons. Despite a bad day, the Titans and Young came away with the victory 20-13. Young was 20-33 with 153 yards and 3 INT's.
Personal
As a result of his strong on-field performance and his ties to the Houston area, January 10, 2006 was proclaimed "Vince Young Day" in his hometown of Houston, Texas. He is dating his high school sweetheart, who also attended UT. Vince has been in a number of television commercials for Madden 2008, Reebok with Allen Iverson,a Vizio television commercial, and Campbell's Chunky Soup with his mother. He also appears in rapper Mike Jones's video, "My 64". Vince was also interviewed by 60 Minutes for an episode that was aired on September 30, 2007