On Vince Young

The NFL draft is all about numbers, and all the future NFL studs or duds could tell you this first hand. The breaking point between a first round signing bonus equal to the net gross product of many countries, or exile to the second day and later a practice squad can be the difference of a few tenths of a second in the 40 yard dash. Talk about pressure.

But with all the stats and figures, one number stands out in the crowd: 6. Six, as in the alleged score of Vince Young’s wonderlic test, and also as in the amount of yards he ran on fourth down, for six points, in the greatest football game ever played. That is the dilemma that NFL executives are pondering above the concerns of Brian Calhoun’s poor 40 time, Jay Cuttler’s arm angle, and Matt Leinart’s mobility. All that matters is six.

Wikipedia defines: The Wonderlic Personnel Test (often referred to as Wunderlich) is an intelligence test primarily known for being administered to prospective players in the National Football League since the 1970s. The Wonderlic is a twelve-minute, fifty-question exam to assess aptitude for learning a job and adapting to solve problems for employees in a wide range of occupations. The score is calculated as the number of correct answers given in the allotted time. A score of 20 is intended to indicate average intelligence (corresponding to an intelligence quotient of 100). It is rumored that at least one player has scored a 1 on the test.

Young’s agent has adamantly denied claims that his client had scored so low, and contrary reports suggest that Young retook the test and received a 16 for his troubles. The question is, does the suggested 6 on the test suggest that he would be a bad player in the NFL, absolutely not. People like Akili Smith have scored a 37, and gone on to be utter and complete busts. So let some of Vince’s other numbers paint you a picture of future NFL success: 30-2, 81, and 2. That is VY’s career record at Texas, his total touchdowns in three years, and the number of Rose Bowl MVP trophies Mr. Young has received. The true number is 1, as in the kind of a player he is, one of a kind.

All I know is that Vince Young might be the best player to come out of the Draft since Peyton Manning, and if I was an NFL GM in the mid region of picks, I would hope this talk of Young’s intelligence never ends. Maybe you could have a great face of your franchise fall into your lap. What has the NFL turned into? The Wonderlic test, which the average joe on the street could not do correctly with the time constraints, is now more important than anything you have done on the field? I don’t know about you, but that is the sign that enough is enough, and in the end, all that matters is how you go out and play football. That’s how it was back in the hey-day of football, and for all of the hullabaloo about this being the NFL’s golden age; I see nothing golden about it. TO and the CBA have made the league greater than itself, and that is why it needs to get back to basics. The only six that matters is that six on the board after your team scores a touchdown. That’s the glory of football. This is not. Six…