This story doesn't look like it's going to have a happy ending. I'm starting to get worried about Vince Young's well-being.

OK, this is beyond odd. I would say Vince needs to go talk to some people at this point to get himself an evaluation. At least he's got a few weeks off to do so. Hopefully he won't take the Ricky Williams route, join an ashram, and wander into the sunset.

this really sounds like the Titans have Vince Young on a suicide watch.

Lets not jump to conclusions here (i.e. "OMG T.O. tried to kill himself!")

This story doesn’t look like it’s going to have a happy ending. I’m starting to get worried about Vince Young’s well-being.

My reaction is exactly the same.

I'm going to be politically incorrect here, not to hurt anyone's feelings but to move forward with a point. It's probable that Vince Young is simply not intelligent enough to play quarterback in the NFL. I don't know... but it certainly seems like that *could* be the case.

But what's much worse, Young knows it, and it's pretty clear by now that Young is extremely hard on himself. Potentially suicidally hard on himself.

I find it almost impossible at this point to imaging Vince Young, NFL Quarterback, working out well for him or for the Flaming Thumbtacks. I wonder if it might not be best for the team to move him to WR or defensive back, return kicks, let him do what he does best.

But then again... even if the team wanted to do that, could they do it without magnifying Young's personal problems and inferiority complex a hundredfold and making the problem even worse? You probably can't. The Flaming Thumbtacks are in a very tough situation here.

Put him on IR, now. This is going to be a huge distraction for the team, and will only exacerbate his mental state. Take it off the table.

3: That's how it sounded to me, too.

When you think about it, it's kind of surprising that there aren't more mental health-related incidents involving professional athletes. I'm sure that there are some that we just don't hear about, but considering the immense pressure these people live with, I find it astonishing that news like Shawn Andrews' struggle with depression is the exception rather than the rule. I know that if MY job performance were watched by millions, and scrutinized and second-guessed to no end, and even in my free time I couldn't go out in public without being hassled (either with positive negative sentiments) ... well, I'd probably have a hard time coping, too.

I agree with #4. So far, the only known facts are that he considered retirement a year ago, left his house without his phone, and some family/friends were concerned.

The NFL season has started again. There are plenty of good storylines that don't center on a players mental health.

If there are any real problems, they will be dealt with by the player, his family, his friends, and the team. Seems like it should be a private issue.

FTA: After a meeting between police, Fisher and Young, the Titans said it was determined that initial concerns by friends and family were "unfounded" and Young "returned home without incident."

Seriously, you're all jumping to wild conclusions.

Well, frankly the PR people would say that whether the concerns were founded or not, for all the obvious reasons.

But what I'm operating from here isn't so much just what happened last night (we have only the vaguest notion of what happened); but I think there's definitely a pattern here that suggests Young's general frame of mind is fragile.

People don't call the cops to 'express concerns about the well being' of someone unless they're seriously worried, in my experience. I think that's a fair thing to observe, but to say anything more than that would be unfounded speculation.

this is like ricky williams pre-freakout. a gifted athlete who doesnt like the spotlight and doesnt like being treated like garbage when he fails. in the sports world we call that a "pussy" but in the bigger picture hes a guy in need of some spiritual and emotional guidance.

Re 7:
Self-selection bias probably.

This may not be fair to VY to mention, and I'm definately not an expert on this, but since we are a speculating here...It's worth noting that Bi-polar disorder usually sets in when you reach your 20's. A recent example would be the Britney Spears meltdown, and her random meeting with Mel Gibson (who has bipolar).

Re 12:

I was thinking the same thing, most people with depression or other mental illnesses probably don't make it to the NFL, or don't become stars.

Texas exes have a really spotty track record, in terms of emotional development. That sounds like a reach, but Williams, Benson, and now Young have exhibited erratic, moody behavior. I've read on the Texans blog that Mack Brown encourages an attitude of entitlement among his players and a gives a great deal of latitude for head cases. To be honest, I sort of expect that this would be the norm in major college programs, but it's obviously a disturbing trend. Best of luck for Young, and, if he needs help I hope he gets it

I'll add that it sounds like he suffers from depression. It is a debilitating, physiological disease.

If that's what it is, he has my complete sympathy. It's not a matter of 'intelligence' or 'heart' or 'machismo'. It's a horrible struggle totally independent of any success or failure that a person experiences each day.

Yes, this is all wild speculation, but isn't that what the internet was invented for?

OK, that and porn. But, since there's no porn here, on with the speculation.

Pure speculation, but I wonder if maybe Young might be gay?

Not to add too much to the already out of control speculation, but I heard he might actually be Canadian.

You LIE!!!!

Re #5 - That score of 6 on his Wonderlic would indicate that he is not very smart. Even on his retake he only scored 14 (if my memory is correct) and that is really low for a NFL QB. Chow lost his job because he let it be known that Young pouted when he was corrected rather than trying harder.
Re #18 - He lacks a sense of humor so I doubt it.

So the consensus here at FO is that, given the information we have, Vince Young is mostly like a depressed, bi-polor retarded homosexual canadian who doesn't take criticism well. And all this is because of Mack Brown's management at Texas.

(J/K, I know most of you were joking).

That's right, Temo, and we've only begun to scratch the surface here. I wonder if it'll go as deep as JFK, as I'm beginning to fear...

I'll be honest, while I consider him an awful QB, I find this whole thing very odd. People don't call the cops because you leave your cell at home, or don't pick up. I think poster 3 is correct, in that Vince might well be figuring out that he doesn't have what it takes to play in the NFL.

Sorry, meant poster 5.

This is poster 3 here- I should probably clarify- it's a big leap to say someone is suicidal... rather what I intended to say was that from the tone and bare facts of the article it sounds like a suicide watch. If I was to play armchair psychiatrist i'd tend to side more with #24

two cents here: I charted the second half of the game...

Vince really didn't play poorly here, aside from the INT he gifted the Jags DE. White, McCareins and Crumpler all had rather unkind drops... I'm sure Vince thinks every boo is directed at him, but they're not. (Also, c'mon Titans fans... your team is WINNING, do NOT go boo-bird please!)

He does seem extremely hard on himself and it was difficult to watch the sideline shots after the INT... I buy the hypothesis that he's figuring out he can't win with the same skill-set he won with in Austin, but I really doubt he's suicidal, or critically depressed.

Of course, watching the bozos on SportsCenter talking about him for the next 4-6 weeks, is not going to help one bit. And the Titans are going to be at least 4-2 :-) so there's that. Sigh.

I feel terrible for Vince, I really love the guy and the nat'l champs game was the most fun I've ever had watching a College game... I hope the Titans fans show a bit more respect when he gets back on the field.

Time to teach Vince a new position?

Are you kidding me? He's throwing to Justin McCareins and Justin Gage! Randy Moss made Dante Culpepper an MVP candidate! Vince is three times the quarterback that Culpepper is. Vince nearly took the Titans from basement to playoffs in his rookie year and then finished the job in his second season. He obviously knows how to win games. Titans, go get Anquan Boldin or someone that can actually get open and catch the ball. The attitude will change if he has someone to throw to.