The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Vince Young selected third overall by Titans in 2006 NFL Draft
04.29.2006 | Football
NEW YORK -- From the moment he turned his focus to sports in his Hiram Clark neighborhood as a middle schooler, Vince Young captivated the city of Houston and quickly became star among stars in the Lone Star State. Honing his skills just blocks from the AstroDome turf that served as a launching pad for Friday Night Lights fame to a college football phenom, he overcame many obstacles in quest of his dreams.
First, it was college football's "Holy Grail," the National Championship, and today it's hearing his name called in the first round of the NFL Draft.
"I never thought this day would get here," Young said. "It seems like forever. But, after all I've been through in life and the lessons I've learned, I was definitely prepared to be patient and to handle the ups and downs that go with the NFL Draft."
Young, like every highly-rated NFL Draft prospect, experiences a roller coaster of emotions in the months leading up to draft day. There is 24-hour coverage with hundreds of draft experts spewing wide-ranging opinions and hot new rumors circulating by the minute. Then there is the combine, pro day and numerous individual workouts where teams prod, pull and push every prospect mentally, physically and emotionally.
"All of the talk and buildup to the draft is really hard to handle because all you want to do is get out on the field and show people what you can do," Young said. "But you can't. You know you're going to have your chance but you just hope you can keep everything in perspective and show teams the type of character you have and that what they saw you do on the field wasn't a fluke."
For a guy that was a two-time Rose Bowl Offensive MVP and ran and passed for 200 yards in leading the Longhorns to a dramatic come-from-behind 41-38 win over USC in the National Championship game in January, it seems shocking there would be much left to prove. He was 30-2 as a starter at Texas, aided by six fourth-quarter comebacks, and finished his career with a 93.8% winning percentage which is currently sixth all-time in NCAA history. He also won the Davey O'Brien (nation's top QB), Maxwell (nation's top player) and Manning (nation's top quarterback) awards and was a consensus first-team All-American in 2005.
"Vince made the most progress I've ever seen in a quarterback from mid-season of his sophomore year until now and we think there is another jump coming as soon as he gets to the NFL," explained Texas head coach Mack Brown. "He took the teachings of Greg Davis, really committed himself to the film room and used all of that to get better every week over that 19-game stretch."
Young finished his career as Texas' all-time leader in total offense with 9,167 yards after going 444-of-718 (61.8%) for 6,040 yards (No. 5 on UT's all-time list) and 44 TDs (No. 4 on UT's all-time list) through the air. He also ran for 3,127 yards (No. 10 on NCAA all-time QB rushing list/No. 1 on UT's all-time QB rushing list) and 37 TDs (No. 4 on UT's all-time list) in 37 games. In 2005, Young turned in one of the all-time great seasons for any Texas player, which resulted in him being named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and the Big 12 Championship Offensive MVP. He posted 4,086 yards of total offense, breaking Major Applewhite's single-season record of 3,211 yards, finished third on UT's single-season list with 3,036 passing yards and tied for first on UT's single-season list with 26 TD passes. His 164.0 passing efficiency rating was third in the nation. In addition, Young rushed for 1,050 yards and 12 TDs in leading Texas to the 2005 National Championship. During the season, he became only the fifth player in NCAA history to rush and pass for at least 200 points in a career.
Despite his storied college career, Young still had to deal with the ups and downs of the NFL Draft process. But, after running the NFL Draft gauntlet, Young passed with flying colors and the Tennessee Titans selected him with the third pick in the NFL Draft. That equals the highest draft position for a UT quarterback, matching Hall of Famer Bobby Layne, who was selected with the third pick in the 1948 draft. Those two are also the only UT quarterbacks to be selected in the first round.
"The Titans are really lucky to have Vince because he has the potential to make an immediate impact for them, just like he did for our program at The University of Texas," said Brown. "He's got future NFL Hall-of-Famer written all over him. Vince can help on and off the field with his attitude, his confidence, his smile and his heart. He can be a guy to build a championship program around for the long haul."
Amazingly, since the NFL Draft was initiated in 1936, and despite now having a player selected in a NFL-record 69 consecutive drafts, Young is only the fifth Longhorn quarterback to be chosen by an NFL team. Ironically, two of them have come in the last four years, with Chris Simms, now the Tampa Bay Buccaneers starter, being drafted by the Bucs in the third-round of the 2003 draft.
Simms' career started to blossom in his third year with Tampa Bay when he started the final 10 games of the season and led the Bucs to an NFC South division title. In his 11 games and 10 starts during the 2005-06 season, Simms completed 191-of-313 passes (61.0%) for 2,035 yards, 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions, with a passer rating of 81.4. He threw just three interceptions over his last eight games, at one point tossing 127 consecutive passes without a pick. He proved particularly adept at the deep ball and had five touchdown passes of 24 or more yards.
"Greg Davis has a tremendous track record in developing quarterbacks," added Brown. "All of the guys he's worked extensively with at Texas have had a chance to play professionally."
"Chris is starting at Tampa Bay, Major Applewhite decided to enter the coaching ranks instead of trying to make it in the NFL and now he's one of the bright, young coordinators out there, Chance Mock is playing in the Arena Football League and now Vince is starting his NFL career."
Prior to Simms' selection in 2003, the last Longhorn QB drafted was Rick McIvor (third round, St. Louis Cardinals) in 1984. The only other Longhorns drafted by a NFL team to play quarterback came in 1948 when UT's consensus first-team All-American signal caller Bobby Layne was picked in the first round by the Chicago Bears and his backup, Paul Campbell, was a second-round selection of the Philadelphia Eagles.
McIvor served as the backup and played in four games behind All-Pro selection Neil Lomax as a Cardinals rookie in 1984. He also played in two games in 1985, but he only attempted four career passes without a completion.
Layne, a future NFL and College Hall of Famer who finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy balloting in 1947, was involved in a whirlwind three-team deal (from Detroit through Pittsburgh) that sent him to the Bears with the third overall pick.
Layne went on to lead the Detroit Lions to three NFL titles in the 1950s and threw for 26,768 and 196 TDs in 15 seasons. He was enshrined in the NFL Hall of Fame in 1967 and the College Football Hall of Fame in '68.
In addition to the five quarterbacks that have been drafted, Tommy Wade went undrafted before signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1964. UT's starting QB in 1962, who also played on the Horns' 1963 National Championship squad, Wade played for the Steelers from 1964-65. He completed 34-of-69 passes for 470 yards and two TDs in five NFL games over his two seasons.
Nine other former Longhorns quarterbacks either have been drafted or played in the NFL at another position. Eight of them were called on draft day (four projected as defensive backs and four projected as running backs) and one was signed as a free agent.
Dozens of Texas greats have caught passes, taken handoffs, cleared paths, intercepted passes, made tackles and sacked quarterbacks in recent years of NFL play. Prior to Simms arrival in the NFL, it had been decades since a Longhorn quarterback had completed a pass, but with the Titans' selection of Vince Young, there is a strong chance that two former Texas signal callers will be taking the snaps on Sundays for a very long time.