College Football Resource took the handoff on my post about why Vince Young may be a physical genius and offered some commentary of his own. Okay, a lot of commentary. In his marathon blog entry, CFR seconds my nomination of Vince Young as a physical genius and, unsurprisingly, adds two of his own: Reggie Bush and Pete Carroll.
Just a few points of response to an excellent post that's worth your time to read:
- CFR wonders aloud whether Vince Young has the requisite preparation habits of physical geniuses. Not sure, he asks for help from Texas fans. We're happy to oblige. Long before last season started, when the team was not allowed to formally gather for practice, Vince put a sign on the locker room door asking anyone who wanted to work hard for next season to meet him on the practice field to work on their own. No one told him to do it. He certainly did have to do it. He absolutely could have continued to just thrive on the physical gifts he was blessed with. It was his own drive and desire to improve. He's a workhorse.
- I've seen enough stunning Reggie Bush plays to think CFR is on the mark. I didn't watch every down of USC football, but I've seen enough to know that he has a special feel for running that goes beyond his superb physical gifts.
- Putting Pete Carroll in this group doesn't sit right with me. On the one hand, what Gladwell is describing is clearly a mental function, but it without a doubt cannot be divorced from exceptional physical skills. It takes more than just imagination. It requires execution. Pete Caroll, then, may be -some- kind of football genius, perhaps like Bill Bilichek. But he isn't a physical genius in the way that Gladwell describes. The more compelling argument would have been to flush out a tangential, but different, kind of genius - limited to the mental sphere - that Carroll would qualify for. It's a somewhat subtle distinction, because of the importance of the mental qualities of physical geniuses, but an important one nonetheless.
- Lastly, while CFR does an even better job of expounding the many talents of Vince Young, I do wish he'd commented on the Wonderlic test and its irrelevance to Vince Young's future. But now I'm nibbling at the edges. Vince Young fans will do well to read CFR's arguments.
--PB--