YOUNG IS WORTH SHOT
Little risk for the Riders
On June 14, 2014, at the age of 31, Vince Young called it a career.
“It’s definitely official, I think, in my book,” Young said. “Unless we get a great opportunity, something guaranteed.”
By that time, the former Texas Longhorns quarterback and key figure of the one of the greatest NCAA championships ever played in the 2006 Rose Bowl, had seen his star dim considerably.
After five seasons with the Tennessee Titans and one miserable campaign with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2011, the Buffalo Bills decided they didn’t need Young in the summer of 2012, releasing him at the end of training camp in August.
The Green Bay Packers did the exact same thing one year later.
When the perpetually QBneedy Cleveland Browns cut him following a two-week stint in
May of 2014, the writing was on the wall.
That’s the last time we saw the Houston native employed by a football team.
But earlier this month, a chance meeting with super-agent Leigh Steinberg, the inspiration behind the movie character Jerry Maguire, at Super Bowl 51 in his hometown has Young on the comeback trail in a place many have long thought he’d be tailormade for.
Instead of the Montreal Alouettes, who owned the rights to Young via the CFL’s negotiation list for years until he was taken off in the wake of his retirement, it’s the Saskatchewan Roughriders considering giving the 6-foot5, 232-pounder a platform to get his career back on track.
It’s not a quiet campaign, either, with Steinberg typing to his 100,000-plus Twitter following that they have “opened discussions” with the Riders late last week, telling the world his client is ready to play again.
It’s the latest step in a process that started about three weeks ago with a whisper when the Riders played a hunch and added Young to their neglist around the time it was rumoured he was considering taking part in a startup spring league south of the border, which may ultimately still end up being an option.
Figuring out what’s in this CFL due diligence for Young is a bit of a mystery at this point.
Despite reports a few years ago that Young had fallen on hard times financially, he’s been working in the alumni relations department at the University of Texas and Steinberg claims money has nothing to do with it.
Steinberg also says it’s not a means to an end, and Young doesn’t view the CFL as a necessary
(Young) wasn’t good enough from the pocket to be an
NFL starting quarterback.
step in order to get back to the NFL in his mid-30s.
Young, apparently, just wants to play football.
The question for both sides is whether Young can compete at a high enough level to be a factor.
Whether that’s factoring into the conversation as a legit difference-maker, a veteran backup, or simply as a footnote is another story.
The Hail Mary is a part of football, and the Riders, a franchise that has won just eight games over the past two seasons as they get set to move into a luxurious new building, are about to heave what could either be a game-changer or a non-story six months from now.
Young will turn 34 in May, about two weeks before CFL training camps open.
In QB years, it’s not ancient. B.C. Lions backup Travis Lulay will turn 34 in September.
Darian Durant, the longtime franchise quarterback the Riders traded away for a draft pick this winter, will turn 35 in August during his first season with the Montreal Alouettes.
Mike Reilly, a player considered to be right in the middle of his prime with the Edmonton Eskimos, just turned 32.
Even the quarterback currently sitting atop the Riders depth chart, Kevin Glenn, will turn 38 before the 2017 season begins.
The almost-retired Ricky Ray is 37, while recently retired Grey Cup MVP Henry Burris is 41.
When Steinberg claims Young isn’t old, he’s right.
If Young has kept himself in some semblance of football shape, the right arm should still work and throwing a football will be the least of his worries.
Accurately, however, is another story.
Young threw NFL passes 1,304 times in his career and completed just 57.9 per cent of them.
He threw 46 touchdown passes, negated by 51 interceptions.
Let’s remember, the reason Young’s NFL career washed out was the fact he wasn’t good enough from the pocket to be an NFL starting quarterback.
His legs were what provided the highlights, but 1,459 career rushing yards and 12 touchdowns didn’t offset his deficiencies as a quarterback.
If Young isn’t the same type of athlete, it’s going to be hard to find the CFL success some are maybe envisioning as a possibility at this early stage.
There’s a chance even a diminished Young could be naturally gifted enough to give the Riders an option at backup quarterback, but then the conversation turns to motivation.
Even though Young has little hope of ever returning to the NFL, he’s still a name-brand star with an impressive resume, one that might be overqualified to be a CFL backup, especially when he finds out what kind of salary comes along with it.
It’s the reason most former NFL quarterbacks — definitely ones who have made first-round money — don’t reside on CFL neg-lists.
It’s worth asking if Young will have the motivation to do all the necessary work to learn the nuances of the three-down game and a completely new playbook for CFL starter money, let alone the $100,000 or so base salary he’d likely earn as a backup.
That’s what Steinberg and the Roughriders brass will investigate through this process, something Young’s agent believes should take about a week or two.
Right now, it’s a lottery ticket for the Riders, a find-a-franchise-QB-for-free card, but that zero-investment aspect could change if Young needs to see some dollar signs up front in order to give this a shot or strings are attached that tie the franchise to anything more than a look-see.
Everyone seems to realize the odds of this working aren’t good, but Young wouldn’t be the first player to arrive in a CFL training camp as an underdog.
If it even gets that far.