Packers Released Vince Young Because of Financial Issues

Many of you probably don’t remember, but Texas Longhorns legend and former Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young once had a cup of coffee with the Green Bay Packers.

Young was the No. 3 pick in the 2006 draft, the 2006 offensive rookie of the year, the 2009 comeback player of the year and a two-time Pro Bowler. Despite those honors, things went awry for Young after getting injured during the 2010 season. He spent 2011 as a backup with the Philadelphia Eagles’ “Dream Team,” a nickname he coined.

In 2012, Young failed to make the Buffalo Bills. In 2013, he joined the Packers as a potential backup for Aaron Rodgers. Interestingly, this would be the season Rodgers missed seven games with a broken collarbone. The Packers would trot out retreads like Seneca Wallace, Scott Tolzien and Matt Flynn to start games in Rodgers’ absence.

The funny thing to us, at the time, is Young actually played well for the Packers that preseason. He was competing with Graham Harrell and B.J. Coleman for the No. 2 job and outplayed both. We had him on our final roster, but the Packers ended up keeping Coleman as the No. 2 instead of Young.

Coleman was straight-up garbage and didn’t belong in the league, so the move was pretty dumbfounding.

Then in September, the Packers did us one better. They released Coleman and brought in Wallace, who some astute observer pointed out throws like Uncle Rico.

And now we know why the Packers didn’t keep Young around. It apparently had nothing to do with his play.

Young had a ton of financial issues during his career. He was used by a lot of people. He wasn’t paying any attention to his own finances. You’ve heard such stories before.

The Packers apparently released him because of that.

Seeing the numbers and the signatures, he began to understand what Packers general manager Ted Thompson had told the QB during his short stay in Green Bay: In order to play football he needed to “clean all that stuff up.” Young saw the debt collectors seeking to siphon his wages, seize his trophies, his five cars, his Houston mansion and the steak house he’d opened in Austin. This, he rationalizes, is why several teams had released him.

This is obviously Young’s theory, but it makes sense. He outplayed those other clowns when he was with the Packers. He had more talent than a Seneca Wallace, but the Packers aren’t going to put up with off-the-field distractions.

They’re not going to keep guys around who don’t have their lives’ together (unless you’re Letroy Guion, of course).

Young, no doubt, fit into that category.