He is currently a dual-threat quarterback for the National Football League Tennessee Titans, having been selected by the Titans as the #3 overall pick in the NFL Draft on April 29, 2006.
Previously he played college football for the University of Texas (UT) Longhorns before turning professional. He is remembered in Longhorns lore for bringing the school its fourth national championship in football and the first since 1970.
As a college junior, he was one of three finalists for the 2005 Heisman Trophy, finishing second to Reggie Bush in the final vote. Young has been named the best college football player of 2005 by College Football News, based upon their statistical analysis. Young led his team to a victory in the BCS National Championship Game on January 4, 2006, in a classic thriller against the defending BCS national champion University of Southern California Trojans in the Rose Bowl Game to capture the national championship.
On January 8, 2006, Young declared he would forego 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 Mack Brown's eight year term as head coach of the Texas Longhorns to enter the NFL with eligibility remaining. January 10, 2006 was proclaimed "Vince Young Day" in his home town of Houston, Texas. After declaring for the draft, Young was the subject of much speculation about how high he might be drafted.
Young grew up in Houston, Texas where he was primarily raised by his mother and his grandmother. His father, Vincent Young Sr., is currently in prison for a 2003 burglary conviction. Young credits his mother and grandmother for keeping him away from the street gangs he briefly got involved with in his early adolescence. 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 and left him hospitalized for months after the handle bar went into his stomach. Today, he credits this event for making him into a tougher man.
Young was coached by Ray Seals at Madison High School in Houston, Texas where he started at quarterback (QB) for three years and compiled 7,624 yards of total offense during his career. During his senior season he led his Marlins past the previously undefeated North Shore Mustangs, in a game that would go down in Texas football history as one of the greatest ever played.
Young signed with Texas in 2002 and redshirted rather than playing his first year. This means that he participated in drills and practices, but did not play in any games. This allowed him a full year to learn the playbook and to develop his skills before being asked to play in a game situation. A redshirt season is not counted by the NCAA as one of the four years of his college eligibility, meaning he could still elect to play for the team for up to four seasons after the redshirt year.
As a redshirt freshman (as opposed to a true freshman who has not sat out a redshirt year) in 2003, Young played in 12 games, including seven as the Longhorns' starter. He had a 6-1 record (6 wins and one loss) in the seven games where he started the game as quarterback.
As a redshirt sophomore in the 2004 season, Young started every game and led the Longhorns to a 11-1 season record, a top 5 final ranking, and the school's first-ever appearance and victory in the Rose Bowl against the University of Michigan. He solidified his reputation as a dual-threat quarterback who can advance the ball well either by passing or rushing. This makes it more difficult for the defensive team to account for all possible plays from scrimmage.
In the 2005 regular 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."
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.
