Athletes - Vince Young

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	Athletes - Vince Young

Vincent Paul Young, Jr., commonly Vince Young or "VY", (born May 18, 1983 in Houston, Texas) is a dual-threat college football quarterback who played for the University of Texas Longhorns. He is remembered in Longhorns lore for bringing the school its first national championship in football since 1970.

He was one of three finalists for the 2005 Heisman Trophy, finishing second to Reggie Bush in the final vote. He has been named the best college football player of 2005 by College Football News, based upon their statistical analysis. Young led his team to a victory in the BCS National Championship Game on January 4, 2006, in a classic thriller against the defending BCS national champion University of Southern California Trojans in the Rose Bowl Game.

On January 8, 2006, Young declared he would forego his last year of NCAA eligibility and enter the 2006 NFL Draft. This decision makes him the second player in Mack Brown's eight year term as head coach of the Texas Longhorns to enter the NFL with eligibility remaining. January 10th was proclaimed "Vince Young Day" in his home town of Houston, Texas. Since declaring for the draft, Young has been the subject of much speculation about how high he might be drafted. A controversy over his score on the Wonderlic Test, given to all new NFL recruits, has added to the speculation.

Personal

Young was primarily raised by his mother and his grandmother. His father, Vincent Young Sr., is currently in prison for a 2003 burglary conviction. Young credits his mother and grandmother for keeping him away from the street gangs he briefly got involved with in his early adolescence. At the age of 7, Young was struck by a vehicle while riding his bicycle at the corner of Tidewater and Buxley streets in his Houston neighborhood. The accident nearly killed him and left him hospitalized for months. Today, he credits this event for making him into a tougher man.

High school career

Young was coached by Ray Seals at Madison High School in Houston, Texas. He started at quarterback for three years, and compiled 7,624 yards of total offense during his career.

Among the honors he received:

PARADE 's and Student Sports ' National Player of the Year after compiling 3,819 yards and 59 TDs as a senior
2001 Texas 5A Offensive Player of the Year
The Sporting News’s top high school prospect
Received the Pete Dawkins trophy in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl
Led his Madison High School football team with the highest SAT score of 880.

He was also a varsity athlete in numerous other sports. He was a four-year letter winner and two-time all-district performer in basketball as a guard/forward (20+ points per game career average), a three-year letterwinner in track and field and member of two district champion 400-meter relay squads, and an outfielder and pitcher for the baseball team for two years.

College career

Young signed with Texas in 2002 and redshirted rather than playing his first year. As a redshirt freshman in 2003, Young played in 12 games, including seven as the Longhorns' starting quarterback. He had a 6-1 record as a starter.

As a sophomore in 2004, Young started every game and led the Longhorns to a 11-1 season record, a top 5 final ranking, and the school's first-ever appearance and victory in the Rose Bowl against the University of Michigan.

In the 2005 regular season, Young led the Longhorns to an 11-0 record. The Longhorns held a #2 ranking in the preseason, and held that ranking through the season except for one week when they were ranked #1 in the Bowl Championship Series.. Texas then won the Big 12 championship game and still held their #2 BCS ranking, which earned them a berth in the National Championship Rose Bowl game against the USC Trojans. Before the game, the USC Trojans were being discussed on ESPN and other media outlets as possibly the greatest college football team of all time. Riding a 34 game winning streak, including two consecutive National Championships (one AP, one BCS), USC featured two Heisman Trophy winners in the backfield, including quarterback Matt Leinart (2004 Heisman winner) and running back Reggie Bush (2005 Heisman winner) who was widely discussed as being possibly the best running back in the history of college football.

In the Rose Bowl, Vince Young put on one of the most dominating individual performances in college football history, accounting for 467 yards of total offense (200 rushing, 267 passing) and three rushing touchdowns (including a 9 yard TD scramble with 19 seconds left) to lead the Longhorns to a thrilling 41-38 victory. This performance led to him winning Rose Bowl MVP honors for the second consecutive season. After the game, former USC and NFL safety Ronnie Lott said "Vince Young is the greatest quarterback to ever play college football." "Without question," said Trojans coach Pete Carroll, "that was the best I've seen by one guy."

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Athletes - Vince Young

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