Vince Young says he would have stayed at Texas if he knew Houston wouldn't draft him

Was the allure of Houston the reason that Vince Young declared for the NFL draft after he led Texas to the 2006 BCS Championship?

Young left Texas with a season of eligibility on the table and his hometown Texans had the No. 1 pick in the draft. In an interview with 104.9 The Horn on Wednesday, Young said if he didn't know the Texans weren't going to take him, he would have stayed in school.

The Texans ultimately took NC State DE Mario Williams at No. 1. Young was selected at No. 3 by the Tennessee Titans.

"It was very close … The Texans had the No. 1 pick and that was a place I wanted to play in. I wish they would have told me they wasn’t picking me because I would have stayed my senior year," Young said with a bit of a chuckle. "But it didn’t happen like that so I had the opportunity to play for a long, long … being a kid, watching the Oilers all my life and having the opportunity to play for them it was a dream come true as well."

Alex Loeb then asked Young if he would redo his decision if he had the opportunity. If the Texans were at No. 1, Young said he probably would still go pro.

"Yeah, the same scenario. If the Texans was the No. 1 pick again I probably would have took the chance of trying to make that team as well but the good point about it is that you can always come back and finish. I was happy I kept coming back to school and finish to graduate."

(Click here to listen to the full interview.)

Young graduated from Texas last May. And while his pro career was nothing like the national title-winning season he had at Texas throughout the course of 2005 and early 2006, we can't blame Young for making the same decision if the exact opportunity was presented again. Athletes don't have too many opportunities to play in their hometowns. (His comments make the Titans' selection of him a bit ironic given their roots as the Oilers before moving to Tennessee.)

Young starts as a member of Texas' Division of Diversity and Community Engagement on September 1. In his new role with the university he will fundraise for programs for low-income and first-time family college students.

For more Texas news, visit Orangebloods.com.

(H/T Deadspin)

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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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