Nighthawk
Rookie
This is an essay more than a msg, but bear with me. I’m trying to sort out the Vince Young, David Carr, Reggie Bush thing, and what it comes down to for me (and I suspect some others) is that Vince Young looks like he might be a once in a lifetime player, a great player, not just an excellent player. Bush looks like he might be an excellent player (like all the running backs he’s been compared to, save Sayers). And Carr looks like he might be a pretty good player, once Kubiak coaches him up.
And that is what the talk is all about, the _possibility_ that Vince Young is the rare remarkable player like (but not in the same way as) Earl Campbell. But on that level.
When I think about Houston teams I cared about, it’s always the teams with standout players, players who are singular, not to be repeated or replaced, one of a kind guys. They just make the game interesting in a way it isn’t if all you’ve got is a really “good” team. I hesitate to say this now, with Kubiak in the fold, because he’s on record as favoring the team concept, and what that means, usually, is no superstar players. No heroes, no one of a kinds.
Look at Denver now. Sure, it’s a good team, but I’m not sure you can care too much about ‘em, win or lose. Now think back to the Oilers of Earl and Pastorini, and Burroughs and Renfro. Earl was the bigger than life guy, it did not matter what he did, every single time he touched the ball it was exciting. He made 5 yards the most exciting five yards in football, almost every time. You wanted Earl and the rest of those guys to win because Earl was special. To a lesser degree, lots of others on the team were special, and Earl made them more special. Without Earl I’m not sure we’d have cared so much. In his way Moon was like that, too. Great passing, an attack that for a while terrified everybody in the league, and might have gone further except for the Buffalo tragedy. Some bad PR you can't escape, and when the D went in the Dumpster, well that was it for the Run & Shoot. Football guys still say you can't run that offense in the pros. Don't tell Moon. 547 yards in that game--was it against Denver? I forget.
So this is why I think the Texans ought to draft Young, on the chance, and pretty fair chance at that, that he turns out to be that Earl Campbell kind of player, the one that sparks the rest of the team, the city, the whole world of professional football.
And that's what it comes down to for me. Would I rather win a superbowl with a solid but dull team or have an astonishing team that didn't quite get there? I'll take astonishing every time. Frankly, I don't care that the Oilers did not win a super bowl with Earl Campbell, and I would not trade the Earl Campbell years for a super bowl ring for the Oilers. Ask yourselves if you would. Make it a simple exchange: give up Earl, win a super bowl. Would you?
Kubiak might build a good, solid team without Young. And Bush might be a quicker fix (though, frankly, that’s just speculation, no more or less likely than Vince Young coming in and burning up the league). But I don’t care about a quicker fix. I want to see astonishing and wonderful players who stand out from the crowd, who are NOT just excellent NFL players, but are the remarkable players. Players like Earl Campbell, who take your breath away. Players about whom you can say there hasn’t been a guy like him before or since.
Am I sure Vince is that guy? No. But he seems like our best shot at it.
And that is what the talk is all about, the _possibility_ that Vince Young is the rare remarkable player like (but not in the same way as) Earl Campbell. But on that level.
When I think about Houston teams I cared about, it’s always the teams with standout players, players who are singular, not to be repeated or replaced, one of a kind guys. They just make the game interesting in a way it isn’t if all you’ve got is a really “good” team. I hesitate to say this now, with Kubiak in the fold, because he’s on record as favoring the team concept, and what that means, usually, is no superstar players. No heroes, no one of a kinds.
Look at Denver now. Sure, it’s a good team, but I’m not sure you can care too much about ‘em, win or lose. Now think back to the Oilers of Earl and Pastorini, and Burroughs and Renfro. Earl was the bigger than life guy, it did not matter what he did, every single time he touched the ball it was exciting. He made 5 yards the most exciting five yards in football, almost every time. You wanted Earl and the rest of those guys to win because Earl was special. To a lesser degree, lots of others on the team were special, and Earl made them more special. Without Earl I’m not sure we’d have cared so much. In his way Moon was like that, too. Great passing, an attack that for a while terrified everybody in the league, and might have gone further except for the Buffalo tragedy. Some bad PR you can't escape, and when the D went in the Dumpster, well that was it for the Run & Shoot. Football guys still say you can't run that offense in the pros. Don't tell Moon. 547 yards in that game--was it against Denver? I forget.
So this is why I think the Texans ought to draft Young, on the chance, and pretty fair chance at that, that he turns out to be that Earl Campbell kind of player, the one that sparks the rest of the team, the city, the whole world of professional football.
And that's what it comes down to for me. Would I rather win a superbowl with a solid but dull team or have an astonishing team that didn't quite get there? I'll take astonishing every time. Frankly, I don't care that the Oilers did not win a super bowl with Earl Campbell, and I would not trade the Earl Campbell years for a super bowl ring for the Oilers. Ask yourselves if you would. Make it a simple exchange: give up Earl, win a super bowl. Would you?
Kubiak might build a good, solid team without Young. And Bush might be a quicker fix (though, frankly, that’s just speculation, no more or less likely than Vince Young coming in and burning up the league). But I don’t care about a quicker fix. I want to see astonishing and wonderful players who stand out from the crowd, who are NOT just excellent NFL players, but are the remarkable players. Players like Earl Campbell, who take your breath away. Players about whom you can say there hasn’t been a guy like him before or since.
Am I sure Vince is that guy? No. But he seems like our best shot at it.