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Team Vince making the wrong reads
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
In the NFL, the quarterbacks who are ultimately the most successful are the ones who are most prepared and make the best decisions.
On both counts, Vince Young is off to a rough start.
Much has been made in the past several days over the former Texas quarterback's Wonderlic test score. Speculation swirled Sunday at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis that Young scored a 6 out of 50 on the 12-minute exam designed to measure logic and cognitive ability. By comparison, last year's No. 1 pick, quarterback Alex Smith, scored a 40 on the Wonderlic.
By Monday, however, there were reports out that Young's test had been improperly judged and new rumors that he had taken another Wonderlic and scored in the 13-16 range on the test.
A more disturbing rumor, if you ask me, is one circulating in Indianapolis that Young's representatives didn't know the test would be administered at the Combine and so the Houston native wasn't prepared.
Who is preparing Young for the most important few months of his life so far? Well, therein lays the problem. Young hired family attorney Major Adams as his agent, despite the fact that Adams has only negotiated one NFL contract. Houston attorney Joe Jamail, a prominent Texas booster, has been hired to advise Young during contract negotiations. Young's uncle, Keith Young, a former computer software representative who is now a teacher at Paul Revere Middle School in Houston, has been hired as Young's business manager. Together, the group is called "Team Vince," a moniker that is drawing derisive laughs in NFL circles.
Adams told The Dallas Morning News last month that Young would interview and throw for teams at the combine. Of course, Adams made those comments before Young traveled to Florida to participate in the College All-Star Challenge. Young lost a long-distance throwing competition to former Alabama quarterback Brodie Croyle and a throwing-target contest to former UCLA quarterback Drew Olson, helping to negate the buzz from Texas' Rose Bowl win over Southern Cal and apparently scaring Team Vince to not touch a football last weekend in Indianapolis.
Former Dallas Cowboys scouting director Gil Brandt helped set up a meeting between Young's team and Reebok officials in Detroit on the Saturday before Super Bowl XL. Young's team never showed for the meeting, and it had to be rescheduled. Brandt also gave Young, Adams and Keith Young tickets to a party thrown by NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue before the Super Bowl. Brandt did the same for USC quarterback Matt Leinart.
"Leinart was there, dressed nicely and making a big impression on everyone he met," Brandt told The Dallas Morning News. "I didn't see Vince there. Everybody who's anybody is at the commissioner's party. When you impress somebody, it opens a lot of doors. All these things, Vince has kind of missed the boat on."
Throw in the fact that Young showed up at the White House wearing a sweat suit top and jeans while the rest of his teammates wore suits and ties and some are comparing Young's pre-draft blunders to the myriad of costly mistakes made by former Texas running back Ricky Williams several years ago.
"I felt like my family members know me," Young recently told the Dallas newspaper. "They know what I want, the things that I believe in. They know where I'm trying to go, the things I want to do for the community.
"Those other guys, I don't feel like they could live up to the expectations that I want. I feel like they're too political. They're too much for me. I love my family members. I know that they love and understand me. I know they want the best for me."
Young has a reputation, deserved or not, that he's not easily coached. There are concerns about his arm motion, something Young has said he will not change, and worries that Young hasn't taken enough snaps from center at Texas, where the Longhorns operated almost exclusively out of the shotgun formation.
"I'm not going to change nothing," Young told the assembled media in Indianapolis. "I've been winning ballgames. Why try to change something that not only is helping myself but helping the guys around me and the team? All I know is I just want to play football."
Young is so athletically gifted that he'll certainly get that wish. But he's bungled the past two months enough to raise red flags around the NFL and in a league where preparation and good decisions equate to wins, Young has bigger problems than incorrect answers on a multiple-choice exam.
Contact Neal McCready at:
nmccready@mobileregister.com
Team Vince making the wrong reads
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
In the NFL, the quarterbacks who are ultimately the most successful are the ones who are most prepared and make the best decisions.
On both counts, Vince Young is off to a rough start.
Much has been made in the past several days over the former Texas quarterback's Wonderlic test score. Speculation swirled Sunday at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis that Young scored a 6 out of 50 on the 12-minute exam designed to measure logic and cognitive ability. By comparison, last year's No. 1 pick, quarterback Alex Smith, scored a 40 on the Wonderlic.
By Monday, however, there were reports out that Young's test had been improperly judged and new rumors that he had taken another Wonderlic and scored in the 13-16 range on the test.
A more disturbing rumor, if you ask me, is one circulating in Indianapolis that Young's representatives didn't know the test would be administered at the Combine and so the Houston native wasn't prepared.
Who is preparing Young for the most important few months of his life so far? Well, therein lays the problem. Young hired family attorney Major Adams as his agent, despite the fact that Adams has only negotiated one NFL contract. Houston attorney Joe Jamail, a prominent Texas booster, has been hired to advise Young during contract negotiations. Young's uncle, Keith Young, a former computer software representative who is now a teacher at Paul Revere Middle School in Houston, has been hired as Young's business manager. Together, the group is called "Team Vince," a moniker that is drawing derisive laughs in NFL circles.
Adams told The Dallas Morning News last month that Young would interview and throw for teams at the combine. Of course, Adams made those comments before Young traveled to Florida to participate in the College All-Star Challenge. Young lost a long-distance throwing competition to former Alabama quarterback Brodie Croyle and a throwing-target contest to former UCLA quarterback Drew Olson, helping to negate the buzz from Texas' Rose Bowl win over Southern Cal and apparently scaring Team Vince to not touch a football last weekend in Indianapolis.
Former Dallas Cowboys scouting director Gil Brandt helped set up a meeting between Young's team and Reebok officials in Detroit on the Saturday before Super Bowl XL. Young's team never showed for the meeting, and it had to be rescheduled. Brandt also gave Young, Adams and Keith Young tickets to a party thrown by NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue before the Super Bowl. Brandt did the same for USC quarterback Matt Leinart.
"Leinart was there, dressed nicely and making a big impression on everyone he met," Brandt told The Dallas Morning News. "I didn't see Vince there. Everybody who's anybody is at the commissioner's party. When you impress somebody, it opens a lot of doors. All these things, Vince has kind of missed the boat on."
Throw in the fact that Young showed up at the White House wearing a sweat suit top and jeans while the rest of his teammates wore suits and ties and some are comparing Young's pre-draft blunders to the myriad of costly mistakes made by former Texas running back Ricky Williams several years ago.
"I felt like my family members know me," Young recently told the Dallas newspaper. "They know what I want, the things that I believe in. They know where I'm trying to go, the things I want to do for the community.
"Those other guys, I don't feel like they could live up to the expectations that I want. I feel like they're too political. They're too much for me. I love my family members. I know that they love and understand me. I know they want the best for me."
Young has a reputation, deserved or not, that he's not easily coached. There are concerns about his arm motion, something Young has said he will not change, and worries that Young hasn't taken enough snaps from center at Texas, where the Longhorns operated almost exclusively out of the shotgun formation.
"I'm not going to change nothing," Young told the assembled media in Indianapolis. "I've been winning ballgames. Why try to change something that not only is helping myself but helping the guys around me and the team? All I know is I just want to play football."
Young is so athletically gifted that he'll certainly get that wish. But he's bungled the past two months enough to raise red flags around the NFL and in a league where preparation and good decisions equate to wins, Young has bigger problems than incorrect answers on a multiple-choice exam.
Contact Neal McCready at:
nmccready@mobileregister.com
