I think we finally saw Vince Young sweat.
Forget the last-minute Rose Bowl prance into the end zone. This wasn’t as easy, but it sure seemed to mean more to the man who sees himself as snubbed by the guys who pretend to be his hometown team. No sir, Vince doesn’t take kindly to being excluded.
With his Tennessee Oilers, ur, Titans needing two touchdowns to pull it out, Vince was just warming up. Sure he got a little help from the sure hands of a beefed-up Ahmad Hall from the Longhorn glory days. Vince then ran for a couple of yards to secure a first down, before handing off the ball to let someone else score. Twice. After the second one, Vince let out a huge puff of air. This wasn’t as easy as college. The guys trying to rip him apart were bigger, faster than in the Big 12. Vince had something to prove
Then the Vince folks in Austin know so well came out of the closet nationwide to reveal his Teflon coating. Zip. Thirty-nine yards. Untouched. Anointed as the next God of professional football. The guy people want to touch in hopes that some of that greatness can rub off.
Rose Bowl-era Vince took his victory-sealing touchdown run for granted. He shook off a hug from a mascot and back slaps from his comrades and slowly trudged to the sidelines. Not this time. This Vince, the professional Vince clad in Love Ya Blue, the colors of the hometown Houston Oilers of his youth, leaped, screamed, rushed to embrace the next generation of Houston dreamers in the stands.
In the end this battle of the Houston Oilers vs. the Houston Texans was about Vince Young taking his place with Earl Campbell as one of Space City’s greats. Too early for that kind of prediction? The Titans/Oilers have won six of their last eight. Vince is only a rookie. And he’s finally worked up a sweat. Imagine that.
This article appears in December 8 • 2006.