Philadelphia Eagles: Is Vince Young Finally on the Road to Redemption?

This weekend the Philadelphia Eagles signed both Nnamdi Asomugha and Cullen Jenkins, picked up Dominique Rogers-Cromartie in the Kevin Kolb deal and also managed to find a backup for Michael Vick by the name of Vince Young.

Yes, that Vince Young, national champion at University of Texas, Tennessee Titans Rookie of the Year...

He now joins Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart and Jay Cutler as the final can't-miss star of the 2006 NFL Draft to "relocate" in just a few short years of coming into the league.

What happened?

All four showed strong potential to become stars coming out of college from top programs in major conferences (I know Vandy isn't a top program, but they do manage to play against them week after week). Right now they should be hitting their prime, but instead all four have worn out their welcome with their original clubs and are still trying to put the pieces together.

All four were drafted by either teams with strong continuity in the coaching spot (Denver, Mike Shanahan; Tennessee, Jeff Fisher) or franchises putting the pieces together for what would later lead to Super Bowl runs (Arizona and New Orleans). So it wasn't like any of them were expected to revive the Cincinnati Bengals or Cleveland Browns. 

On the field, each has shown flashes of brilliance and yet the second we start to believe in any of them they either get hurt, mentally check out and sometimes manage to succumb to both. Yet it's really hard to consider any of the four a flat-out bust with no chance of reviving their career based on poor attitude, physical failings or complete lack of work ethic, as we've seen from the likes of Ryan Leaf and JaMarcus Russell. 

Have all of the extracurricular activities managed to get in the way of these guys actually playing football?

For ages now college football and the NFL draft have churned out over-hyped players that washed out for a variety of reasons (injuries, drugs, gambling, inability to read pass coverages, etc.), so this is nothing new.

Players dating supermodels, actresses, celebrities and Playboy playmates isn't really groundbreaking either. Nor is it new for players to branch out beyond the field of play. Hall of Famers Jim Brown, Joe Namath, Merlin Olsen, Alex Karras and OJ Simpson all tried their hand at acting; however, each managed to do so after they were established stars.   

At this stage of their career what is motivating each of them? Do they really want to win or simply keep up appearances?  Has being set for life financially left them with a sense of complacency?

Where do they stand right now?

Matt Leinart

This year it seemed that Leinart had another chance to reinvent himself with, of all people, his old college coach Pete Carroll in Seattle, but instead opted to re-up with the Texans.  

Competing against the likes of Charlie Whitehurst and Tavaris Jackson, Leinart arguably had a decent shot at the starting job. Why not go to Seattle and win the dog fight there rather than take a back seat to Matt Schaub?

Reggie Bush

Bus was traded to the Miami Dolphins this past week, where he will likely be No. 1 on the depth chart as Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams appear to be gone. For the first time in his career there is no one in front of him or behind him.

Can he stay healthy and focused with his talents now in South Beach? 

Jay Cutler

Cutler led the Bears to the NFC Championship Game, but will likely be haunted by not finishing after getting hurt. He also just broke off his engagement to reality TV star Kristin Cavallari.  

Will Cutler be able to put the past six months behind him? 

Finally...Vince Young

After winning Rookie of the Year, Young never managed to stay on track and was released by the Titans last week. Now he is in the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles and will be mentored by Michael Vick to put his career back together. 

Will the Eagles and Vick be able to help Young find his way? 

As fans it's hard to root against this group given how much promise and grit each of them showed in college. Time and again each of them willed out performances that we thought we would be telling our kids about.

Yet in many ways it's just as hard to root for this group as they've never put it together long enough for us to believe in them as we did before having failed to deliver upon their promise. 

Is the 24-7 news, sports, celebrity cycle to blame? Have the trappings of Twitter and "reality TV" world collectively left these players with the false belief that they have achieved something or are entitled to our adulation?

I tend to think that each of them have fallen prey to this in some way or another. We now live in a world that rewards attention seekers and each has exhibited behavior that falls into this whether dating enablers like Kim Kardashian and Kristin Cavallari, or disappearing and threatening to retire.

Each seems to be living a fantasy in which they think we care, but the reality is that most of us find this behavior tiresome and borderline childish. 

At the end of the day we want athletes to compete, to win our hearts and minds by leaving everything on the field. No easy task, but one they are well compensated for to try.

For the Eagles this is a low risk gamble that in the grand scheme of things will barely register on the media's radar compared to their other moves this offseason. For VY, with so much attention focused on the likes of Vick, Asomugha and the rest of the cast, perhaps he can finally have the space he needs to learn the QB position. 

Of the four, I believe he has the best chance of resurrecting his career with his new team this season and next as Andy Reid and his staff have a solid track record of mentoring quarterbacks.  Beyond that it's up to Young and whether he can dedicate/focus himself to separate himself from this inglorious pack, but here's hoping he's already made the first step to a bright new future.