Steve Young Mentoring Vick

[I OWN THIS]

Just finished reading an article on how Steve Young plans to go to Falcons camp in July for a few days if not more to mentor Micheal Vick.

Dan Reeves invited Young to mini camp on July 10-12... and Young will more than likely take his knowledge to the Camp and see if he instill something to the young Vick.

If anything maybe he can show Vick how to balance his passing and running ablities and not rely so much on his elusiveness and speed, which causes him to leave the pocket too early.

And who better to help Vick out on these matters than Young? He was very elusive with good speed, but he had what Vick lacks....accurate throwing ability and consistency in the pocket. Although, Young did have more options offensively no doubt, but I think Vick can learn quite a bit during the days he spends with Steve.

Vick has great potential...but what do you guys think...will he ever pan out? I like him and the new rookie tailback Duckett they just drafted, and I feel as though Vick will make more strides this year in his game. And if he could have a more accurate throwing arm he would be so deadly.

The youth movement is looking good for Atlanta, but that movement may take longer to catch on than it did in San Francisco.

Joey

[Marc]

This move speaks volumes, it's a GREAT move for Vick's benefit. Not only is he getting a classy guy and football legend, but someone who will set a good example to him and keep him in line to some extent.

What do I think of Vick? I think he is more of an athlete than pure QB, but he has the potential to be a great QB.

[#47]

I think Michael Vick will be a great QB down the road. He is a young kid still playing the most mentally demanding position in sports.

It is great that Young will be there to help Vick a bit, but what will help Vick the most, is just playing the game. It takes time to be a QB, with everything that goes into reading defenses, recognizing coverages, when to audible and when not too, knowing what personnel is on the field when making aubdibles, getting the team to the line of scrimmage quickly, it takes more then just practice to get this down.

The physical aspect will be far easier for him then the mental part. He will gain accuracy and touch over the course of time, but athletes like this are rare, they must be patient. Let him learn and progress, yet make sure he stays confident thru the tough times. Not too many QB's jumped into the mix and were great players right away.

Michael Vick will be fine.

[I OWN THIS]

I totally agree with you #47, but question will be will Micheal Vick have the patience to stick with it and not lose his confidence throughout this learning process.

I think he is very confident young man, who has always done well in sports. Now he is coming to this reality that this is much more difficult, but I think your assessments are correct in that getting the actual game speed repetitions is where his progress will come.

He will be fine... and I can't wait to watch his athletic ability on Direct TV Sunday Ticket this season.

Joey

[TheWittyOne]

The problem is that confidence is not gained by always doing well, but by overcoming hardship.
In the NFL today QBs have only slightly more job security than head coaches, and getting into hardship is often enough to cost them their jobs.

[Marc]

I think that Vick understands he is expected to step-in and be productive, but no one is expecting a Super Bowl victory. The situation is a good one for him. And I think he'll have the opportunity to overcome plenty of hardship in Atlanta.

[Clutch]

Thursday, July 11

Young looking forward to meeting with Vick

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Steve Young
ESPN.com


Editor's note: Steve Young talked recently with ESPN.com about his scheduled workout with Michael Vick.


Before the Super Bowl was played in New Orleans, a reporter from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution asked me what I thought about Michael Vick. I said I could imagine what he was experiencing as a mobile NFL quarterback because I went through the same thing during my career. I also expressed an interest in meeting Vick.


Atlanta Falcons coach Dan Reeves must have read the story because he later called me and asked if I wanted to coach. While I wasn't interested in coaching, I told Dan I would love to sit down and talk to Mike if I could ever get to Atlanta.


It just so happens that my foundation -- the Forever Young Foundation -- along with the NFL, Sun Microsystems and Foundry Networks is opening a youth education town center next month in Atlanta. So I called Coach Reeves and told him I would be in Atlanta sometime during the Falcons' minicamp from July 10-12, giving me an opportunity to meet Michael.


Mike probably has more raw ability than any quarterback who has ever played in the NFL. Coach Reeves and I talked about some of the issues Mike faces as he transitions from a playmaker into an NFL quarterback, and Coach felt it would be helpful for me to share my insights with him.


My biggest problem when I was younger was trying to balance my ability with what the team needed me to do to officially run the offense. Every coach wants his quarterback to move the chains and to throw a touchdown pass. Over time, I learned that how a quarterback moves the chains and leads his team to touchdowns is about as important as whether he actually does it or not.


While it's great for a quarterback to have athletic ability, his goal is to get the ball out of his hand, orchestrate the offense and not allow his ability to stand in the way of the offense running efficiently. For example, if the fullback was open, I could throw to him for five yards. I knew I could run faster and gain more yards, but over the long haul operating the offense the right way was more important than gaining yards any way I could.


I appreciate what Mike has said about me, that I was his idol growing up. My hero was Roger Staubach. I had a poster of him from 1977. I learned to throw a football using the grip Roger had on the poster. When I came out of college as a young quarterback, if Roger had said to me, "Let me give you some tips," I would have said, "That's fine. Sounds good to me!"


I'm willing to share my experiences with any young quarterback. Over the last few months I have been meeting with Brandon Doman, whom the 49ers drafted in the fifth round from BYU. He is in San Francisco, and I know his family.


All I want to do is to start a dialogue with Mike. The meeting will not be an end-all; it's just the beginning, the first day I'll be able to spend time with him. It's not like I'm leading him to the Holy Grail, passing on a secret that will guide him to the Super Bowl next season. But there are some issues for him to deal with as an athletic quarterback.


If the meeting goes well, I hope to continue the relationship with Mike, over long distance or some other way.

Vick is definitely going to be a beast. Do you think Young can help his game any?

[Marc]

[Threads Merged]

I think this can only be good for Vick. He is going to be taught how to be a winning QB by a man who knows.

[Brad O.]

I agree that Young's assistance can only help Vick, but I'm very skeptical about Vick's chances this year. He's an incredible athlete and he has amazing arm strength, but also the least accuracy of any starting quarterback in the NFL. Young will have to help with that if Vick is to have any chance this year.

It's also going to be tough in that Vick doesn't really have anyone to throw to. Their receivers are awful. Warrick Dunn should help out of the backfield, but Vick's real strength is ability to throw bombs, and Atlanta doesn't have anyone to run under them. I think Vick is going to struggle - a lot - this year. I wonder if his career might not parallel Kordell Stewart's to a degree.

[Marc]

The Falcons just signed Willie Jackson, coming off his best year in New Orleans. That significantly helped Vick's WR corps. And nice to see you here, Brad.

[Brad O.]

Okay, now they have a receiver.
Well, that should help quite a bit. Jackson excelled as a #2 receiver, but he's a legit #1. That does significantly help Vick's WR corps.