Orakpo, Fisher endorse Young

Brian Orakpo and Vince Young were teammates at Texas and there are rumors that they might be teammates again in Washington. Orakpo was asked about Young before the charity golf tournament that the Redskins linebacker hosted on Monday. At first his response was rather tepid:

As far as football and what he’s gonna do in the future, haven’t really gotten that aspect of it, but I wish him the best and we’ll see. I mean, it’s all speculation. We really can’t tell what’s gonna go on.

A little later on, though, his praise for Young, who led the Longhorns to the BCS title following the 2005 season, warmed up a bit.

He was a great player, great leader for our team for the time when I was there in Texas. He’s so athletic and he’s a great, great competitor, man, a great playmaker. Obviously things haven’t been going well for him in his NFL career, but he’s still a young kid, a young guy, and he still has a future ahead of him. Any team that picks him up, man, I know what type of player [he is]. Once you get the best out of the man, and forget all the hoopla surrounding him, he’s gonna be a hell of a player.

Although one would expect Orakpo to offer an endorsement of a fellow Texas alumnus, this seemed sincere rather than perfunctory. Players, of course, don't make these decisions but if Mike Shanahan does decide to take a chance on Young, someone like Orakpo could be critical to helping to sell the move to the rest of the players in the locker room. Former Titans coach Jeff Fisher, who had numerous clashes with Young during their five years together in Tennessee, was positive about his former QB's future in the NFL as well. Here is what he told NFL.com:

Vince has won a lot of games; he’s led teams to the playoffs before. I believe he can (win in the NFL). It’s just a matter of him finding a place that suits him and be in the right place and work hard. But he certainly has that ability.

It would be a mistake to read too much into this as it is likely that Fisher was just taking the high road. Rest assured that Fisher and Shanahan will have an extended conversation about VY prior to the Redskins making any decision about offering him a contract.