Vince Young’s performance in the 2006 BCS National Championship against USC will forever be remembered by Texas Longhorns fans. I’d venture to guess that all Texas fans can also tell you where they were when Young scrambled into the end zone on a touchdown run with 19 seconds remaining in the game to vault the Longhorns over the defending champion* (USC 2004 title is now something of a disputed issue) Southern Cal Trojans. Young accounted for 467 yards of total offense in that game, as he showed off passing and running skills that had NFL scouts foaming at the mouth.

The Tennessee Titans went on to draft young with their 3rd overall selection in the 2006 NFL Draft. In Vince’s first two NFL seasons he showed more of the same skills that he had wowed Texas fans with during his time in Austin. He helped guide the Titans to a playoff berth, he was named USA Today rookie of the Year, and graced the cover of Madden 2008. In addition to all this Vince Young also had a pro bowl appearance to his name. These were all very impressive accomplishments for a quarterback this early in his career and it seemed as though Vince Young was destined for NFL greatness.

On September 12th 2008 a story arose about Young, which spoke of him having troubles that extended far beyond the football field. The Tennessee Titans called police for help searching for Young. They asked for police assistance because Young’s therapist told Coach Jeff Fisher that in a conversation Young had with her that Vince mentioned suicide several times and that he drove away from his home with a gun. Fisher and Young later went on to say that the report was overblown by the media. In the Titans second game of the season against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Young was booed heavily by Titans fans and appeared unwilling to re enter the game at the time. When Vince did re enter the game he suffered a knee injury only four plays later.

Backup quarterback Kerry Collins took Young’s place as starter while he healed but when Vince was ready to play again Fisher opted to stick with Collins as the starter. Kerry Collins went on to lead the Titans to a 13-3 record and subsequently a playoff appearance. This prompted Fisher to name Collins the starter going into the 2009 season. Fisher said that if Young wanted to become the Titans starter again he would have to “earn his job back.”

Unfortunately for Kerry Collins, the success he enjoyed during the 2008 season did not follow him into 2009. The Titans started the season 0-6 and Fisher announced that Young would replace Collins as the starter. Vince Young would go on to win eight out of his ten starts in his 2009. After Vince had appeared to completely have fallen out of favor with the Titans he once again seemed poised to be their quarterback of the future. Young was named to the 2010 NFL Pro Bowl and was named Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year.

After the 2009 season, Head Coach Jeff Fisher announced that Vince Young would be the teams opening day starter in 2010. The plan seemed simple enough, Young just needed to stay out of trouble in the offseason and work towards continuing the success he had with the Titans at the end of the 2009 season.

Unfortunately with Vince Young things are never that simple.

Vince was issued a misdemeanor assault citation early Sunday Morning for getting into a fight at a Dallas strip club. Surveillance video from the strip club showed Young and several people talking in a small room before Young attacked someone in the room. Vince Young left the strip club before authorities arrived on the scene.
When Young was asked about the incident upon returning to Titans minicamp on Monday he acknowledged that he made a mistake.

"Just made a mistake, made a mistake even being there and let that guy provoke me into doing what I did," Young told reporters after a Titans offseason practice. "Fell into his hands, what he wanted me to do so he could do what he’s doing now. At the same time, let my lawyers take care of it."

Titans Coach Jeff Fisher hasn’t said whether this will affect his decision regarding Young starting week one for Tennessee. Right now though Young knows there is someone he needs to be worried just as much if not more than Fisher about.

“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.” Vince Young said.

It will be interesting to see if Commissioner Goodell punishes Vince for this incident and how that affects his job as starting quarterback of the Tennessee Titans. Young’s NFL career has been a rollercoaster ride of extreme highs and lows thus far. It was nice to see him perform so well last year and come back after some analysts already chalked him up to be dead. He doesn’t really need an incident like this though and he shouldn’t have been at the strip club in the first place. Vince has had off the field troubles before and he didn’t need any more that would jeopardize his playing time. When he is on the field playing I don’t think there are many guys around the league who can stop him, he just has to stop stopping himself.