More often than not, the right choice is a bold choice. Problem is, only one bold choice is usually the right choice, and while it’s easy to see which choices are bold, it can be pretty hard to figure out which one of those is right. Thus, most people opt for a safe choice — something neither wrong nor particularly right.
This happens in all walks of life, and particularly in the high stakes world of pro football.
After the NFL draft in April, I wrote a post titled Dumbest Texans Around, a label applied to Houston Texans owner Bob McNair and then-GM Charley Casserly. Staring them down in the draft were two franchise-making players: a sure-fire offensive star in RB Reggie Bush and the biggest football hero at any level in Texas, Longhorn QB Vince Young. To make matters more interesting, they had the option to walk away from their underhwelming current QB, David Carr, with no salary cap penalty.
Reggie Bush felt like a can’t-miss selection, but Young would’ve been the bold choice. After they passed on both for defensive lineman Mario Williams, I wrote:
The only hope McNair’s team would ever have of passing the Cowboys in state importance lay in the possibility of Vince Young finding stardom in a Texans uni. Houston-born and raised, the kid is already a folk hero there, and building around him would have bought the team eternal loyalty from hundreds of thousands of locals.
And:
Young will be taking snaps for Tennessee — you might remember them from such franchises as the Houston Oilers. Should Young make the Pro Bowl in the traitorous Titans jersey, Bob McNair might as well fold up his retractable roof stadium and head for the hills; the locals will never let him live it down.
After a record-setting comeback 2 weeks ago and another last-second comeback against the 10-1 Colts last week, Vince hit the trifecta Sunday by coming home to Houston and running away with a victory in front of a very pro-Vince Texans crowd. I say “running away” because the man took off for a breath-taking 39-yard game-winning TD scamper on 3rd and 14 in overtime:

The worst fear of the Texans has been realized, and it’s happened sooner than expected. Along with Drew Brees (another Texas high school product, by the way), Vince Young is the hottest QB in football. His scintillating performances have left other players, coaches, and beat writers using the kinds of superlatives reserved for athletes like Magic Johnson — those unorthodox, once-in-a-generation talents who change the game while inspiring teammates to raise their play to another level.
Young will torture the Texans for years. He plays in the same division. He plays for the team that deserted Houston. He signifies everything the Texans franchise lacks, including inspiring leadership and game-breaking talent. And maybe Tony Romo’s catching up, but I bet VY is still the most popular football player among Texas residents. If you need evidence, look at what the Texans’ best player, WR Andre Johnson, just said about Young:
I mean, when I first got here, I heard about Vince and couldn’t wait to meet him myself. He’s a star here.
It would’ve been difficult for the Texans to dump the QB they’d been grooming since the franchise’s launch to draft Vince Young. If Young bombed out and Carr became a capable QB for another team, the team would’ve been humiliated. But anyone who’d observed Vince Young’s psychological impact on the previously soft and scared Longhorns should’ve been able to see precisely why he was more than the bold choice; he was the right choice.
Young’s inspirational x-factor has always been underappreciated by the football punditry. That’s probably because there’s really no comparison in his sport. Honestly, other than maybe Joe Namath for a single game, has any other football player ever made his teammates feel as invincible as Vince’s?
At every level, VY’s teams have played with absolute certainty they will win the game. His joke-cracking in the huddle, his exhilarating play, and his difficult-to-replicate cocktail of humility and confidence transformed the Longhorns from underachievers into winners of the most exciting college football championship game in modern history. Now, in 10 NFL starts, he’s turned a talent-light Titans squad into the scariest team on anyone’s schedule.
As silly as it might seem, Vince Young inspires me, too. Whenever I watch him make another improbable game-altering play, a giddy, irrational optimism washes over me. Anything seems possible. I’m like a wide-eyed, hope-filled kid again, and I honestly didn’t know I could ever feel that way as an adult. Maybe I should feel that way about someone more important than a football player, but I can’t help myself.
The Texans landed a solid defensive end with the #1 selection in the 2006 draft. Twice a year in person (and every day in the division standings) for the next decade, Texas Football Jesus will never let them forget it.
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