Vince Young strolled onto the field of Lehigh University wearing his new #9 jersey, which he selected in honor of his former friend and mentor Steve McNair. The crowd greeted him with a huge cheer, which Young said was exciting to hear.
"Definitely exciting. You hear a lot of history about Eagles nation. Just to be a part of it, I'm very happy to be here and be a part of a great, great organization."
He was later asked what he thought of all the Eagles offseason moves so far...
"Dream Team. From [CB] Nnamdi [Asomugha] to [CB Dominique Rodgers-] Cromartie, and from [DE] Jason [Babin] to myself, I know they're going to do some more things. It's beautiful to see where we're trying to go. I'm all for it. Whatever they ask me to do, to be scout team quarterback or quarterback learning, do whatever it is. I just want to be here to help and be a part of a team. I'm just happy to be a part of the Philadelphia Eagles."
While many assumed that the presence of Michael Vick is what drew Young to Philadelphia (and it helped), Young says that really it was the chance to play for Andy Reid.
"[Head Coach] Andy Reid. The respect I have for him, I met him a long time ago. Some things that stand out about him are the respect he has across the league as well as the players who talk about him and have respect as well. I really feel like it was a really good fit for myself. I had a lot of opportunities, but I felt this was a great opportunity for me to get back as a quarterback to learn from him as well as all the other quarterbacks here like Michael Vick and the rest of team."
"I feel like being in contact with Marty [Mornhinweg] the offensive coordinator as well as the guys like Andy Reid that is very smart and knows quarterbacks, I really feel that they're going to do a good job expanding my career a little bit more and getting a little more knowledge and bringing my game to where I want it to be at."
Although that's not to say that Young's relationship with Vick didn't help.
"Me and Vick talk a lot and already have a history before this. I talked to him when I was in Nashville when we played preseason games. We had some emails back and forth, you know ‘Hey, keep your head up.' That's what quarterbacks do. That's not only just with Vick, that's with quarterbacks across the league. We just keep in touch. That's just type of camaraderie we have with each other. Just to get here and learn from him, know a lot of things that he's been through along with the same things that I've been through. It's good just to be around a person who's fought through it and had the success that he has right now.
The former #3 overall pick says that he feels that the problems he had in Tennessee are behind him.
"That's definitely behind me. It was a learning experience and I'm a working product. There isn't no one perfect in the league. As you see as guys get older and more mature, they start to take off so I'm kind of in that mode right now. I definitely wouldn't take anything back. I've learned from all of my mistakes. I'm basically just ready to just move forward and do what I can to get the Eagles to a Super Bowl. That's what I'm here for. I'm very excited to be here and a part of a great tradition of a football team."