Vince Young wishes he would have "shut up and just played football"

Texas Longhorns football legend and Longhorn Network personality Vince Young has opened up about his battles with the NFL, filing for bankruptcy and a host of other topics in an interview for "In Depth with Graham Bensinger."

We've got a few excerpts from the piece, which we'll highlight for you here.

On taking on the Shield:

Me, I used to - when somebody messes with your brand or something you have to go to war with that and I think I shouldn't have done that because the brand of the NFL - the brand or the organization or the coach - you don't wanna fight that battle. Or media - you don't wanna fight that battle. So I wish I would've just shut up and just played football...

I know definitely because of the fact I got into it with my boss, my coach [Jeff Fisher], and it kind of spread it through the NFL that I was this guy: I don't work hard, I'm not a good guy... It's kind of hard to fight that battle and didn't nobody want to go to battle with me. I would love to go to war with him to prove the type of person I am - that I am a hard worker...

And I used to hate when me and him in a meeting room like me and you are sitting, and we would talk about some things. And then, soon as practice is over with, the whole media knows what we talked about. So I was like, 'So you throwing me underneath the bus...' And I thought that was a trust factor.

On filing for bankruptcy:

It was embarrassing... So after I got over that, the smoke cloud cleared. I was just happy that I did that now and [didn't] wait until later. And I hope, I pray that some of my friends and peers and people I know make sure that they are taking care - I hope [I] was a great example for them to go pay attention, so these guys wouldn't wait until they had to go through a situation. And I know plenty of guys that have went through the situation that I went through and we all upset because of the fact: people out there are just, it's just ruthless man.

...It was a painful moment because when you have somebody coming to try and take your Rose Bowl rings, your trophies, your cars, your house and you never took a dime from the person... But you suing me? It was painful... I was pissed. I was very pissed because somebody ruled a judgement against me that I had no clue about. So knowing that I have a judgement against somebody now, now I get to give him a taste of what happened to me, for harassing you, making sure that you pay me back the money that you took from me.

On the 2009 death of Steve McNair:

It affected me a lot. It affected me for a while because I didn't have nobody that I could trust and call and talk to like the type of bond that me and him had because he understood me as a young man and knew everything I was going through that he has went through when he was growing up. And it kind of hit me a lot when I heard that information that he was gone.

Bensinger: How did you get over it?

Young: I haven't got over it... Right now to the point that I'm just trying to make him proud as he look down on me. Continue to remember the things that he did teach me, the things that he would say if I was making a decision or something. So I haven't really gotten over it.

And finally, on his current job:

I'm in media now, with the Longhorn Network - I never say anything about those players bad. I let everybody else do that... I know if they're in a position that they're at - playing football or coaching, obviously they doing something right. So let's talk about that. Don't nobody wanna talk about that... UT graduating of athletes is at the highest peak right now. Don't nobody talk about that. So to me, I'm gonna be that spokesman to talk about the good that people are doing in the world because everybody has problems and everybody's easy to go talk about the problem part of it, but don't nobody wanna talk about the good part: what that young man or that young lady is doing. So I'mma be that guy.

As hard as it is to believe, Young's national championship season with the Longhorns is now a full decade in the past. He says he's focused on the positive since coming full circle to work back in Austin.