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What the Hell Happened to Vince Young?

Chuckie Finster

By Chuckie Finster
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Pig Bellmont

Pig Bellmont 8691

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It’s a good article but I was expecting it to address his post NFL life a bit more. He had a job for life with LHN and I guess doesn’t care or need it? Stories of him showing up drunk to fan events or not showing up to work don’t seem like someone at peace in life

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Bartles

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22 minutes ago, Pig Bellmont said:

It’s a good article but I was expecting it to address his post NFL life a bit more. He had a job for life with LHN and I guess doesn’t care or need it? Stories of him showing up drunk to fan events or not showing up to work don’t seem like someone at peace in life

Same here. The narrator of that story, so confident, intelligent and ambitious...can't just leave it at "I don't know" or "Think what you want". That narrator will surely find his way to happiness and stability, right?

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JFKFC

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"He slept in front of the door. He sat up in the tree. He visualized it. He made it happen. He protected his family. He got ’em out."

This was his goal. He needed to save his family. He got them out. We can all say what we would have done with his talent, with his options, but we aren't him.

People are mystified by the choices some athletes make. Aaron Hernandez had every option in the world, but he couldn't drop the thug life. Being king of the gangster hill was his ultimate goal, not being an NFL player. That was the whole world to him. When Tannehill was drafted, he couldn't say what teams are in the NFC or the AFC. What ever that guys really wants to do, it isn't to be playing football, and he still took a team to a conference title game. 

A lot of people on this board see Vince as a failure. To him, he rescued his family. He won. 

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cactusflinthead

cactusflinthead 27594

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It's good to hear from him. It's not the goal we might have had for him, but if getting his family out of a bad situation is what he'll hang his hat on, I'm not going to fault him. The NFL highway is littered with the debris of busted careers. He can probably get another gig if he can stay out of the bottle and show up when he's supposed to. 

I don't mind if my favorite players have faults. They're only human. I wish him well. 

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orange dream

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Enjoyed the article, well written or narrated or whatever.

Not everyone's goals / motivations are the same.  I'm glad he feels like he achieved his and hopefully the new goals he sets for himself will push him to continue to grow and learn like we all should.

He clearly must have read the "VY destination thread" on shaggy as the most true statement in that whole article was this...

"Jeff Fisher. Bud Adams. The mistakes I made. The mistakes they made. We could talk about it all day, and I don’t think I’d convince anybody to think any differently than they do now.

You see Vince Young the way you see Vince Young."

This is the VY I choose to see

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Hookah Horns

Hookah Horns 3078

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8 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

If some of those pix of him are recent, like the one at the top on the rusty blocking sled, he looks a lot healthier than he has in a while.

I assumed the pics were from when he was a recruit because of the thin face. But I believe they were in fact taken for this piece. Great to see him looking healthier. 

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bejezuz

bejezuz 329

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The stuff about Steve McNair was really interesting.  You can see the love for McNair is very deep.  VY didn't just tell us that he called him Pops and that he was a father figure, he told us wny he called him Pops, why McNair was a good man.  

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crash_davis

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I think I understand him better. He loved football for what it meant, an escape from reality. High school football, college football, there is still innocence in those fields for the escape. NFL is all business. It's no longer an escape, instead it's work and drama. It's no longer fun. And when Pops died, his drive died.

Or at least that's how he rationalizes it. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. I think he really tried in the NFL, he cared for a while anyway. It didn't come as easily as it did in HS and college. He probably dealt with adversity that he'd never dealt with before in football. And for the first time, he couldn't out athlete everyone. He didn't have the drive to or couldn't learn to overcome his inability to be a better athlete than everyone. So it further drove his resolve that NFL is no fun. And then Pops died.

In any case, he's found peace and helped his family. That's all that matters to him, his family. He doesn't care about what anyone thinks about him and the NFL. In the grand scheme of things, that shit don't matter. People will always remember 4th and 5. Fuck the NFL.

Long live VY, long live 4th and 5.

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TwiceHorn

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4 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

I think I understand him better. He loved football for what it meant, an escape from reality. High school football, college football, there is still innocence in those fields for the escape. NFL is all business. It's no longer an escape, instead it's work and drama. It's no longer fun. And when Pops died, his drive died.

Or at least that's how he rationalizes it. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. I think he really tried in the NFL, he cared for a while anyway. It didn't come as easily as it did in HS and college. He probably dealt with adversity that he'd never dealt with before in football. And for the first time, he couldn't out athlete everyone. He didn't have the drive to or couldn't learn to overcome his inability to be a better athlete than everyone. So it further drove his resolve that NFL is no fun. And then Pops died.

In any case, he's found peace and helped his family. That's all that matters to him, his family. He doesn't care about what anyone thinks about him and the NFL. In the grand scheme of things, that shit don't matter. People will always remember 4th and 5. Fuck the NFL.

Long live VY, long live 4th and 5.

And, although things haven't worked out the way he or we would have liked, it still got him "out."

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crash_davis

crash_davis 23084

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1 minute ago, TwiceHorn said:

And, although things haven't worked out the way he or we would have liked, it still got him "out."

Even more importantly, he got THEM out. They no longer have to wonder who's going to come over tonight and what drama is coming with it. No more gangs, no more drunk uncles, no more drive bys.

As a man, that's all that matters. Protect and provide for your family. He did it.

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AnTiM

AnTiM 1659

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I remember the day a friend and I saw him break a long run in Austin right up our sideline toward us for a score.  We looked at each other with our mouths hanging open, knowing we had never seen one like him.  To watch him in action was always amazing for the moves he made, the hits he took, and the injuries he shook off.  Thank you Vince for the joy you brought to so many.  I hope the rest of your days are filled with hope, joy and love.

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closetojumping

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22 hours ago, orange dream said:

Enjoyed the article, well written or narrated or whatever.

Not everyone's goals / motivations are the same.  I'm glad he feels like he achieved his and hopefully the new goals he sets for himself will push him to continue to grow and learn like we all should.

He clearly must have read the "VY destination thread" on shaggy as the most true statement in that whole article was this...

"Jeff Fisher. Bud Adams. The mistakes I made. The mistakes they made. We could talk about it all day, and I don’t think I’d convince anybody to think any differently than they do now.

You see Vince Young the way you see Vince Young."

This is the VY I choose to see

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Amen, brother.

22 hours ago, Doc Reeves said:

One of the greatest ever but still just a man, like all of us.

Maybe. The closest I have ever to come hero worship of another man, historical, current, personal or distant, is Vince Young. I watched him weekly in HS, then at Texas and then in the pros. The Fisher bullshit pulled at the wrong seams for the guy and he unraveled, and I choose to look past all of it. I've never felt more validated as a fan of anything than I have as a fan of Texas football with Vince Young running the offense and winning the title. It is and will forever be the greatest experience I have as a fan of any sport. I choose to ignore all of whatever flaws he carries and hope he wins big going forward. He's more than a man to many of us.

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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31269

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3 minutes ago, Spider2YBanana said:

I'll always appreciate what he did for Texas, but man, his life choices are baffling. I can't bring myself to say anything bad about the guy, tho. He's not a thug or some shit, he just made poor choices. I hope he finds peace in life. He'll always be a legend. 

See, I think this is where something akin to "white privilege" really comes home to roost.  Just like his life choices have been incomprehensibly bad to many of us, the circumstances from which he came and the utter lack of preparation to possess anything more than a pot to piss in are equally incomprehensible.

I don't really like the term "white privilege" or "privilege" more generally.  They're needlessly combative terms.  But I think it helps to understand how completely unprepared a guy like Vince is to navigate even a middle class life.

You can know these things "intellectually," but seeing it live and in your face on Last Chance U and Cheer among other places really drives the point home.

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Funk Doctor Spock

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1 minute ago, TwiceHorn said:

See, I think this is where something akin to "white privilege" really comes home to roost.  Just like his life choices have been incomprehensibly bad to many of us, the circumstances from which he came and the utter lack of preparation to possess anything more than a pot to piss in are equally incomprehensible.

I don't really like the term "white privilege" or "privilege" more generally.  They're needlessly combative terms.  But I think it helps to understand how completely unprepared a guy like Vince is to navigate even a middle class life.

You can know these things "intellectually," but seeing it live and in your face on Last Chance U and Cheer among other places really drives the point home.

I agree with everything you said. I was going to add I didn't walk in his shoes so I can't understand all that he went through, but from the things I've read (DUI, pouting, etc) just makes me scratch my head. Also, fuck Jeff Fisher. 

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TwiceHorn

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1 minute ago, Spider2YBanana said:

I agree with everything you said. I was going to add I didn't walk in his shoes so I can't understand all that he went through, but from the things I've read (DUI, pouting, etc) just makes me scratch my head. Also, fuck Jeff Fisher. 

Judging from that story, he probably has an addictive gene running around, so he's probably susceptible to turning to chemicals to self-medicate.  And his parentage and family life weren't exactly conducive to building a healthy emotional intelligence.  Kind of the whole "children raising children" thing that is so common in "the ghetto."

Like Chris Pine's character said in Hell or High Water "it's a disease, passed down from generation to generation."  Hopefully Vince broke the cycle.

I've long thought that poverty may have mental health components, either from genetics or environment or both.  It appears that science is bearing the environmental aspect out, at least.

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Funk Doctor Spock

Funk Doctor Spock 11923

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Just now, TwiceHorn said:

Judging from that story, he probably has an addictive gene running around, so he's probably susceptible to turning to chemicals to self-medicate.  And his parentage and family life weren't exactly conducive to building a healthy emotional intelligence.  Kind of the whole "children raising children" thing that is so common in "the ghetto."

Like Chris Pine's character said in Hell or High Water "it's a disease, passed down from generation to generation."  Hopefully Vince broke the cycle.

I've long thought that poverty may have mental health components, either from genetics or environment or both.  It appears that science is bearing the environmental aspect out, at least.

I think you're correct about addictive gene and self-medicating. And yeah, I'm also hoping he breaks/broke the cycle (assuming there is one). I wish him success, and hopefully he's learned from it and is able to move forward. 

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Your Mom

Your Mom 4796

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I'm glad he and McNair connected but he was in need of a lot more than than both early in his life and later.   There are plenty of exceptions, successful people who grew up without a dad, but this story reiterates how important it is to have your dad around not only in your young formative years but into adulthood as well.   No kid should ever have the burden of needing to be the adult without a proper example to follow.  

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Nivek

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I think you're correct about addictive gene and self-medicating. And yeah, I'm also hoping he breaks/broke the cycle (assuming there is one). I wish him success, and hopefully he's learned from it and is able to move forward. 

Self-medicating is the symptom of mental illness/distress.
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Funk Doctor Spock

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11 minutes ago, ChiTownDoc said:

Definitely.  Even anxiety is a medical diagnosis / illness listed in the DSM-5.  And tell me you don’t know anyone who boozes or gets high when anxious...

Wow. Shit. I'm diagnosed with anxiety and take meds for it, and yeah, I do know people who booze and smoke weed (I don't, personally, but it doesn't bother me). That's interesting info, man. Appreciate it, Doc. 

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TwiceHorn

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21 minutes ago, ChiTownDoc said:

Definitely.  Even anxiety is a medical diagnosis / illness listed in the DSM-5.  And tell me you don’t know anyone who boozes or gets high when anxious...

Or depressed.  It's always been morbidly hilarious to me that people self-medicate their depression mostly with depressants (alcohol, opioids, marijuana).

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