It was a beautiful day for football in Nashville, and the perfect time to snap a two-game skid. The lowly Washington Redskins were in town on a short week, as Donovan McNabb was just throttled by his former team in the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football, 59-28. This day also marked the first home game for new Titans wideout Randy Moss, who was claimed off of waivers less than three weeks prior.
However, fans had no idea they were about to witness the death of an era. Not only did the Titans fall to Washington in an ugly affair, 19-16, but the day ended with quarterback Vince Young throwing his jersey and shoulder pads into the stands, and storming out of the stadium in what would be his final appearance as a Titan. It was the crescendo of a long and tiresome feud that was recently covered in Netflix's "Untold: The Testimony of Vince Young." The documentary gave us a behind-the-curtain look at the infamous internal conflict between a young star quarterback with maturity issues and a grizzled veteran coach that was seemingly never in his corner.
"Bud Adams was obsessed and consumed with drafting Vince." - Jeff Fisher (Netflix) Young was -- and is -- one of the best players in college football history. The Texas legend famously led the Longhorns to a national title in the 2006 Rose Bowl, rushing in the game-winning touchdown against the USC Trojans on a fourth-and-5 with 19 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. It's considered the greatest college football game ever played, and Young was the star of the show.
He completed 30 of 40 passes for 267 yards, and rushed 10 times for a whopping 200 yards and three touchdowns to out-score a legendary Trojan offense that featured Heisman Trophy winners Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush, plus LenDale White and Dwayne Jarrett. Young then declared for the 2006 NFL Draft. As the Titans evaluated prospects that year, the franchise was divided between three quarterbacks.
Norm Chow, Tennessee's offensive coordinator who came over from USC, liked Leinart, while Fisher was interested in Vanderbilt's Jay Cutler. For Titans owner Bud Adams, however, the decision on who to select at No. 3 overall was simple. Adams had moved his NFL franchise from Houston to Nashville in 1997 following a highly-publicized stadium dispute.
He wasn't going to pass up on the electrifying playmaker born in Houston that just lit the sports world on fire from a national stage. It was actually more than just Young being a Texas star. As Fisher explains it in the Netflix doc, the bad blood with Houston Mayor Bob Lanier took it to another level.
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