For nearly a week, University of Texas quarterback Vince Young has had his intelligence discussed, dissected and demeaned in the wake of reported Wonderlic test scores at the NFL scouting combine. Young, who was honored Friday at the 69th annual Maxwell Award ceremonies, would not answer specific questions about the Wonderlic test but did acknowledge how upsetting the reports have been. "It hurts a little bit, and I think it's very disrespectful. But it's cool, it's cool," Young said. "I know what I can do, and I'm going to continue doing what I'm doing." Young's agent, Major Adams, brushed off criticism of Young, saying some of it was expected. "People are going to try to bring him down between the Rose Bowl and the draft day," Adams said. "They will try to take shots at him, and he hasn't done anything wrong, so we just take it with a grain of salt."
The 6-foot-5, 230-pound Young led Texas to a 41-38 Rose Bowl victory over USC in college football's national championship game. He could be a potential No. 1 overall pick by the Houston Texans in next month's NFL draft. "A rumor is a rumor to me, it's just like high school, they say you kissed some girl, but you really didn't, so that's how I feel about it," said Young, referring to the reported Wonderlic test scores. Young has kept his sense of humor, and relied on advice from players like Steve McNair, who also faced his share of doubters coming out of college. He's also gotten the support of reigning NFL MVP Shaun Alexander, a fellow honoree at Friday's Maxwell Awards. "Tests are tests to me," Alexander said. "The key thing with any football player is, what can he do when he gets on the field." Scouting directors around the league have emphasized the Wonderlic is just a small part of their overall evaluation of Young, and are giving him plenty of tests of their own.
"I don't really care about the criticism, because I'm pretty much used to it," young said. "There's always something about Vince. ... I feel like I've overcome all of that, turned out pretty good, so I want to continue to do that in the NFL as well."
