"“He’s a baby. He’s a soft baby… I stumbled across people who recruited him in college. They really tried to get him to go to Oklahoma. One of reasons they stopped their recruiting process was because he was such a baby . . . He was the most immature crybaby they ever met. He was soft; he wasn’t tough.”"
I don’t know if you all have caught this yet, but ESPN’s Merril Hoge has once again opened his fat, unintelligent mouth about injured Tennessee Titans quarterback, Vince Young. Now this isn’t the first time that Hoge has sounded off on his utter disdain for VY, but his comments made on a Pittsburgh radio station may have finally crossed the line. Hoge has been at it ever since the Titans drafted Vince in 2006, and the way that he seems to almost relish in the fact that Vince has struggled this year oozes out of his voice during the interview. Personally, I find it pretty funny that a guy who was a mostly forgettable NFL player, outside of a couple of decent seasons, is so hell-bent on completely trashing a guy that has a chance to be a star in this league. Especially, when the guy right next to him on ESPN’s NFL Matchup, Ron Jaworski, has not only defended Young, but was actually a good quarterback in his own right, spending 17 seasons in the league. Something tells me that Jaws may have a little better idea of what he is talking about. Anywho, I promised myself that A) I wouldn’t go off on some long-winded diatribe about this because Hoge isn’t worth it and because I’m tired of talking about the VY saga when our team is 3-0 and on top of the division, and B) I don’t want to say anything that I may regret. Hoge has always been an idiot, so nothing in the interview was in the least bit surprising. And listen, just so I don’t seem like a complete VY apologist, I’ll admit that some of the criticism levied against him has been fair. He does seem to have trouble reading coverages and with his accuracy, and maybe he is a bit of a pouter sometimes, but to have such a vendetta to see someone fail, just so it proves you are right is pretty disgusting. Get a life Merril. And a haircut… (For the record, I regret none of that.)
On a side note, Titans coach Jeff Fisher has come out and refuted most of what Hoge said in the interview, calling much of it “incorrect” and “so far out of line”. Maybe he’s just doing what most coaches would do, but he seems genuinely pissed in regards to the stuff about VY and the limo, and how adamant he was about the Titans not drafting Young. I mean, why would Jeff Fisher let Merril Hoge inside his “war room” on draft day? That’s pretty privileged info that they don’t really share with guys not named Chris Mortensen and John Clayton, and if the Titans front-office really was that torn, would they really just run around divulging that information to anyone that asked, especially some third-rate analyst? Not positive, but I don’t think so. Enough rambling for now. If you haven’t heard the audio, check it out above and listen to the hatred for yourselves. Let’s get the boards fired up on this one. I’m dying to know your thoughts.