20 most hyped college football recruits of all-time
By Dustin Hull
17. Vince Young
There was a time when Vince Young made the news for far different reasons. And man, how fun it was to watch him play growing up.
Young was the number one overall recruit according to Rivals when the site released its first rankings in 2002. Parade and Sporting News thought the same. Young could run like a thoroughbred but was also built for elusiveness, all while standing at the perfect quarterback height of 6’5”.
He was also a track star, a solid baseball player, and could’ve easily played at a competitive D-I university for basketball, but chose football over it all. And why wouldn’t he have? He was the man of the year, or even quarterback of the decade in Texas, a place he’d only leave once he made the pros.
LSU in the SEC, Florida State and Miami in the ACC, and several other big-time schools were on Young’s list. But for all the hype that followed him, he made his college choice rather easily, deciding to make the two-and-a-half-hour trip west from Houston to Austin.
His hype nearly matched that of Chris Simms when he first arrived at Austin, but Young would easily exceed the results of the former Texas quarterback, and go on to win a national title. It’s unfortunate that his reaction to NFL hype didn’t pan out as smoothly.
Next: Dan Marino