I think we can all agree that it’s truly heartwarming to see Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young risk his NFL career to defend the honor of his alma mater, the University of Texas.
Loyalty is in far too short supply these days, whether it pertains to family, country or your favorite college football team.
So when some rude, crude chap at a Dallas area strip club decided to turn the “Hook ‘Em Horns” sign upside down within Young’s general direction early Sunday morning, it was almost understandable that InVinceable bloodied the bum’s lip.
Almost.
For however touching his continued affection for all things Longhorn, Young’s chief loyalty and top priority these days should be the Titans. For starters, he’s their starting quarterback, which means he’s supposed to be the team’s ultimate leader and role model, not to mention the calming influence in all storms.
Beyond that, they’ve made him a millionaire many times over while forgiving him at least a few acts of stupidity over the past four years that would have earned him a pink slip in almost any other occupation.
Finally, owner Bud Adams has twice forced Young on the front office and coaching staff when they questioned, among other things, his maturity and judgment. You just don’t bite the hand that feeds you or embarrass the hand that signs your paycheck. Especially in his home state of Texas.
About the only good thing you can say about Young’s total lack of wisdom in going to a strip club, then being drawn into an argument there — really, does anything good ever happen to Titans in strip clubs? (re: Pacman Jones) — is that his handlers did a nice job assisting Young with his Monday apology.
Said Young of the misdemeanor assault citation he received from the Dallas police: “I just made a mistake. I made a mistake even being there, and I let the guy provoke me into doing what I did. I pray to God that (NFL commissioner) Roger Goodell doesn’t come down hard on me, because I definitely want to be here for my teammates.”
And no doubt he does. Young almost always has said he’s sorry for those times he’s let the Titans down.
He was sorry for the video that reached the Internet after his rookie year that saw him partying like a freshman frat boy rather than a second-year NFL QB. He was sorry when he reportedly refused to return to the field during the opening game of his third year after a couple of bad plays had led a few Music City fans to boo. He was sorry two days after that when his mother phoned the Nashville police to tell them she was afraid her son was about to commit suicide because he was so depressed over the way the coaches and fans were treating him.
Now he’s sorry for behaving far more like Pacman than Peyton, whom he needs to emulate if the Titans ever are going to pass the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC South.
And that’s the problem with Young. He’s got the common sense of suspended Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger without the accurate arm or twin Super Bowl rings. He’s basically Ryan Leaf with fleet feet, which means if the Titans didn’t already have so much invested in him this might have been the final straw.
This isn’t to say Young shoving an obnoxious fan is remotely as serious as the two sexual assault charges that have been leveled at Roethlisberger, though neither has been proven. Nor is his overall behavior as colossally tragic and senseless as Leaf’s.
But heading into his fifth and arguably most important season, Young again has sabotaged his own coronation, creating needless doubt among the fans, if not the players and the coaches.
Said Titans coach Jeff Fisher on Monday: “Becoming a leader is a process … and in the process you hope there are not setbacks, and this may be a setback. But in the long run I don’t think this is going to affect him.”
It may not. The players ribbed him about it before Monday morning’s practice, a hopeful sign. The Titans have always liked Young, even as they’ve sometimes cringed at his decisions.
But something else Young said is less hopeful.
“It’s past. It’s over with,” he said. “Now I am letting my legal folks and the process go on about it, let them take care of that.”
The last time Young let someone else take care of his mess, reserve quarterback Kerry Collins stepped in to lead the Titans to the best regular-season record in the AFC.
If Goodell decides not to let this pass, Young’s career with the Titans could be over with, done in by his numerous immature mistakes.