Why Vince Young Is My Favorite Non-Eagle Ever: Confession of an Eagles Fan

There is not a single NFL player, besides players on the Eagles, who I admire more than Vince Young. He's not the best quarterback in the league, or even in the top 10.

But he just wins, consistently, and he does it more by himself than people realize.

I fell in love with Vince Young during the 2005 Rose Bowl between USC and Texas. I'll admit that the only reason I rooted for Young was because I had three 2-1 bets on Texas winning the game, Young throwing for 200 yards, and Young rushing for 100 yards.

Behind one of the most dominating individual performances in college football history, Young led the Longhorns to an improbable 41-38 comeback victory.

He threw for 267 yards. He rushed for 200 yards and three touchdowns. And he led a 12-point comeback in the final five minutes, culminating in a nine-yard touchdown dash on 4th and 5 with 19 seconds to play.

Young decided to forego his senior year of college and enter the NFL draft. He was selected with the third overall pick by the Tennessee Titans.

In 2006, Vince Young led the Titans from a 2-7 record to an 8-8 finish, highlighted by some of the NFL's most breathtaking finishes.

He completed an improbable 21-point fourth-quarter comeback against the New York Giants. He led the Titans on a last-minute game-winning drive against the Colts, completing a 14-point comeback for the second straight week. He ran for a 39-yard touchdown in overtime against the Houston Texans. And he led the Titans on a ten-point fourth quarter deficit against the Buffalo Bills.

Young earned NFC Offensive Rookie of the Year honors but played sparingly over the next two seasons, due to on-the-field and off-the-field issues.

In 2009, Young regained his starting job after the Titans started the season 0-6. He won eight of his ten starts, including a game against the Arizona Cardinals that included one of the most memorable comebacks I've ever seen.

Trailing 17-13 with the ball on their own 1-yard line and 2:37 to play, Young led the Titans on an 18-play, 99-yard drive. Twice he converted a pass on fourth down to extend the drive. On the game's final play, a fourth and goal from the 10 with six seconds remaining, Young eluded two defenders and whipped a rocket to Kenny Britt for a game-winning touchdown.

The game's final drive summed up Young's career so far. He completed 9 of 16 passes for 94 yards, and rushed once for six yards. He was never spectacular. Three times he needed to convert a fourth down play to keep the drive alive. He was just accurate and efficient.

Young doesn't have gaudy statistics, and he probably never will. He's actually thrown more interceptions than touchdowns in his short career. He's never even thrown more than 12 touchdown passes in a season. His career passer rating (74.8) is significantly below average.

But Young has been steadily improving every season. Excluding his limited playing time in 2008, his passer rating has improved every season, from 66.7 to 71.1 to 82.8 to 98.8. He's never had a losing season. His legs (5.2 YPC) add a whole new dimension to his game.

I absolutely love VY, but I can't say I was too disappointed to hear that he probably won't be playing on Sunday.

When Vince Young is having an off day, he is one of the most ineffective quarterbacks in the game.

But when he is on, both passing and running, he is absolutely unbeatable, especially in the later minutes of the fourth quarter.