No matter what anybody says look at his winning record. If Fisher would have given VY the same slack other QBs get today then Fisher might have a Superbowl win instead of a crappy career. If Trent Dilfer can win a Superbowl then VY sure should have if in the right situation.
It is disingenuous to say that his being released/retired from the CFL was based on his play (or lack thereof). He sustained an injury during pre-season and was unable to even play in his first pre-season game up there. That is very different from the player putting up mediocre numbers or not grasping a system. Saskatchewan actually retains his rights in retirement according to one article I saw...
Check out this interview from Dec. 2015 where Vince says he should have "kept my mouth closed" when asked if there was anything he'd do differently. Clearly, he still hasn't learned.
Of course he would have done things differently if he would have known Fisher wouldn't cut him any slack and derail his career. He was young and should've been handled the same way Cam Newton was. Nobody says VY is blameless but handled correctly early on, he would have had a good career. His W/L record and rookie of the year speaks for itself. He's a winner no matter how you look at it.
My point is that he's in his mid-30's and still handling it the same way (eg. comments on Fitzpatrick). At some point you have to grow up and take responsibility.
Agreed, but what is unbelievable is how valuable NFL QBs are and you give up on your top pick who wins football games. I'm not sure if that's ever happened.
However unartful his comments might be, he isn't wrong about the fact that the likes of Fitzpatrick continue getting head-shaking contracts long after they should have been put out to pasture.
Fitzpatrick is fools gold. There was a stretch in 2015 that he was one of the best QBs in the league. His limited time in 2014 was even better. 5 of the last 7 years Fitzpatrick has had a rating above 80. VY did that in only 2 of the 6 years he played. That really has no bearing on VY though and his complaints simply validate that he's not mature enough to lead an NFL franchise. Time to move on with his life. I'm sure he has a lot to contribute in life in ways other than on the football field.
VY is ranked # 20 all time winning percentage among QBs with a minimum of 15 wins. The last few losses were when he was the backup. At least he was the QB for arguably both the greatest college football team and championship game of all time.
Nobody can take away VY's NFL winning %. Of course, football is a team game and VY was part of those teams. His NFL statistics simply don't measure up, even to the aforementioned Fitzpatrick. He was electric in college and deserves any accolades heaped on him for his time in Austin. As a Husker fan, I still think Tommie Frazier was one of the best players to ever grace a college football field even though his blood clotting issue prevented him from even signing with an NFL team. Even without the health condition, Frazier had no place in the NFL. I'm OK with the understanding that the skills/traits that make a player great in college don't always translate to the NFL. This is why players like Tom Brady can go from an average QB at Michigan to the GOAT in the NFL.
*sigh* The "he just wins!" crowd continues to know something that 32 NFL GMs and HCs and the rest of the known world seem oblivious to. I'd go further and state that the "Colt should get a chance" group falls under the same category. It's ok to love VY for what he did as our QB, but there's really no rationale for how/why/when he should have been given yet another chance back in 2012. He was a poor QB after his last injury, regardless of his one 400-yard game (aberration) and his highlight-reel drives that were interspersed with a whole bunch of nothing in between. The man was good at limiting mistakes but bad at basic routes. This is why, when everyone says "look at his receivers' ypc!" you can just do the reverse and say "well how did they do from 7-14 yards?" In the NFL, you take the 2010-15 Fitzpatrick over VY any day of the week. Consistency. This isn't college football and the 2006 season, as strange as it was, isn't really a fantastic jumping point for his career. He won RoY because of his game winning drives late in the season (in spite of his 69 passer rating and 12-13 TD/INT ratio) and he got a Pro Bowl invite after three other AFC QBs turned it down.
What I'm saying is that if his career early on was not derailed for whatever reasons, he would have won a lot more games and probably would still be in the league. There was nothing he did that was much different from some other young QBs but he was blacklisted. Was Cam Newton treated that way? After that he wasn't the same which is mostly on him for not coming back strong enough to prove himself again which shouldn't have happened in the first place. What moron gives up on a top pick and winning QB? Fisher, and he never did anything since.
I don't doubt that Fisher is a moron. Anyone with half a brain and any viewership of the LA Rams series on Amazon can see that. But to imply that Fisher stunted VY's growth as a player because he's dumb ignores the common sense that VY wasn't exactly handcuffed by play calling or anything like that. If he could hit a 12-yard out, he would. If he could make a play with his brain/arm instead of his feet, he would. Kevin Mawae called VY the worst QB he centered for, and that dude went to 8 Pro Bowls and snapped to Quincy Carter at New York. So having highlight reels and needing comeback drives or tied-game drives for almost half of his wins somehow makes him better? I'll agree that it shows gumption but the fact is that he needed those drives to begin with. Matt Schaub had just as many over a similar period of time.
Tennessee had a pretty stout defense while VY was there. Late game heroics always begs the question "where was this play all game?" Had the consistency been there he'd still be in the NFL.
Horns11, not sure if Mawae said exactly that. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/12/14/kevin-mawae-vince-young-is-not-a-leader/ “It might be time for a change of scenery,” Mawae told ESPN.com’s Paul Kuharsky regarding Young. “I played with Warren Moon, I played with Vinny Testaverde, I played with Kerry Collins, I played with Chad Pennington and the one thing all those guys had in common is that they were all field generals and leaders on the field. “And there is one name missing that’s very obvious. And there is a difference in those four players versus the one that plays for the Titans.” Mawae made a point to say that Young wins games; that you can’t take Young’s record away from him. Still, despite a lot of flowery pieces that indicated Young turned a corner last season, it’s clear he has a long way to go in his development. “As far as being the consummate pro like some of the other guys in the league,” Mawae said, “it’s disappointing that he hasn’t taken that step.”
I remember the article you're talking about, but there was some msg board stuff going around back in 2008-09 about a fight that they had when Mawae was retiring and it being one of the reasons VY wasn't trusted any longer in Tennessee. I can't find it with a bunch of different Google search terms.
Not saying it means anything, but VY's competition at Saskatchewan is 38 years old. Watching their game tonight and it appears that the 'Riders offense is designed for VY.
And THAT may explain why they elected to retain his rights even following the retirement announcement...it WOULD be interesting to see how a HEALTHY VY could do in that environment.
