Let me say this up front since this is a college football blog, I hope the revisionist history never stains Vince Young's legacy at Texas. But I'm afraid it will, at least a little and that is sad. In the past couple of days, I had talked to people in Indy trying to dissect Young and what he did or didn't have to do at Texas, and it had me thinking the big QB is going to be in for a rocky ride. (I'll be the first to admit I don't think he's going to be a great NFL QB. It bothers me that he throws "fair catch" balls, and the linebackers are so much more physical and the safeties in the pros are so much sharper. He won't be able to rely on his legs anywhere near the same degree.) Still, I keep thinking about all the other terrific college players (Ty Detmer, Ron Dayne, etc.) whose reps have been tainted because they didn't shine "at the next level."
It's a weird deal, kinda like they become like that beautiful girl from your days in high school who later put on 30 pounds. When you see her at the 10-year reunion, you smile and you recall that she was pretty good looking, but you really don't care if you talk to her now. You just watch from afar and start thinking, "How did that go so wrong, and what was I thinking back then?"
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Bruce Feldman
