The Titans career of quarterback Vince Young ended in 2010, when an altercation between Young and former Titans coach Jeff Fisher ended with Young declaring, “I’m not running out on my teammates. I’m running out on you.” Young now realizes that, as a practical matter, his NFL career also ended in that moment.
“I definitely do regret getting into it with Coach Fisher down in Tennessee,” Young told In the Loop with Nick & Lopez of SportsRadio 610 in Houston. “It kind of left a bad rap with me and the perception that I’m a bad guy.”
Young insists he’s not a bad guy (then again, how many bad guys admit it?). But he said the reputation made it harder when he arrived in new cities.
“Once something gets out to one guy, it spreads like a virus,” Young said. “When I was playing for different teams, the first thing is the perception they already have.”
It’s unclear how much that perception ultimately doomed Young in his handful of post-Tennessee stops. He shot himself in the foot upon arriving in Philly, applying the ill-fated “Dream Team” label. It didn’t get much better when he got a chance to play.
In Buffalo the next year, the Bills decided after spending plenty of offseason and preseason time with Young to move on, despite giving him a $350,000 signing bonus.
The Packers gave him a training-camp look-see last year, but he didn’t do enough in a short time frame to earn a roster spot. The Browns let him show what he can do during the offseason, quickly opting to sever ties.
In past years, part of the problem seemed to be that Young wasn’t willing to embrace the role of a backup quarterback, stubbornly believing he was still good enough to start. He spurned chances to play in Canada, either because he felt he was too good to play north of the border or because he was worried that maybe he wasn’t.
Regardless, it’s now finally over for Young. And his permanent exit from football traces to his permanent exit from the Titans locker room.