Size Matters...

So I've been lucky enough in the past few years to talk to Vince Young a couple of times. By talk to please realize that I mean listen to. I'm always pretty amazed by him and his back story. Growing up without a dad. Growing up with only women in the house. Growing up in a tough neighborhood where people were routinely shot and arrested.

But look at him now. Respectable, interesting, funny, a supreme athlete and one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet.

As he posed for pictures with hands on my wife's pregnant belly the juxtaposition was pretty interesting. My baby is about long as your hand and weighs in at a little more than a large muffin. Vince on the other hand is like 6'5, 240 lbs. But I'll tell you this: In person, I stand at 6'4 215 and I feel small next to this guy. Regardless what his actual measurables are, the dude is big.

I couldn't help but think about how at one time THE Vince Young weighed just a little more than a large muffin. As Dr. Suess once said, 'Oh the places you'll go little muffin baby.' OK so it isn't a direct quote but whatever. The point is that when you were a kid and your parents told you, 'You can do anything if you just set your mind to it,' they weren't lying! Just look at Vince. Dude was in a bike wreck that sliced him open like William Wallace in the final scene of Braveheart and he still managed to become an incredible high school, college and NFL quarterback .

I intend on sharing this story with my kid when he finally makes his grand entrance into this world. And then I'll share it again when he actually understands what I'm saying. But I think the story goes beyond just a tiny fetus growing up to be the man who walked on water at the Rose Bowl. The story here is that no matter who you are and what you're doing, you can always keep doing great things until you're dead. Take a lesson from Vince who could have looked around and just given up when he was in elementary school. He could of listened to the naysayers when he started at UT who said he had no business behind center. He could have listened to them when they said his throwing sucked, he ran too much or that he just wasn't smart enough to grasp the NFL game. But he didn't... he kept going, making him self better while proving people wrong. He realized early on that no one kicks you unless you're in front of them and he just kept on running. And don't think for a second that after the Pro Bowl, the cover Madden 08 and the other accolades he's earned that he's anywhere near stopping. In fact, I can say with a fair amount of certainty that the Super Bowl and the Hall of Fame are set firmly in his sights. And good luck to him.

Today Vince Young will have his jersey retired during the game against Florida Atlantic. My kid will be there, listening to the whole thing. Let's just hope he (OK... or she) draws some inspiration.

So because you're not only a great football player, but also someone who has inspired so many of us lesser humans...
Congratulations Vince, you deserve everything you get.