In a recent interview on WDVE in Pittsburgh, ESPN analyst Merrill Hoge blasted Titans quarterback Vince Young, calling Young “a soft baby.”

The full audio is right here.

Among other things, Hoge said that Young was recruited to attend Oklahoma, and that the folks at Oklahoma pulled the plug because he “was the most immature crybaby they’d ever met.”

Hoge also said that, during the Week One game against the Jaguars, when Young reportedly tried to pull himself out of the game and later got hurt, some of the defensive players were happy, since they believed it gave the team a better chance to win the game.

Hoge also dredged up an incident from 2006, when Young missed the team plane for a road game.  Hoge says that, after Young caught up with the team, he pulled his hood over his head and cried in the locker room.

Most importantly, Hoge claimed that coach Jeff Fisher “fought like crazy” to keep the Titans from drafting Young, who was drafted (per Hoge) because Titans owner Bud Adams wanted to stick it to the franchise’s former city of Houston.  The current NFL franchise in Houston, the Texans, had the first pick that year and passed on Young.  Hoge says that Adams then ordered the powers-that-be to take Young.

Not surprisingly, Fisher disputes Hoge’s comments, but Fisher doesn’t make a very convincing case.

“I’ve helped Merril,” Fisher told the Tennessean.  “He has called me and asked me questions.  But we talk football, we don’t talk about life.  If I spent all my time trying to figure out why people say things or do things, I am taking away from coaching my football team.  I don’t want to spend any more time discussing it.’’

For his own part, Hoge has had to address the controversy sparked by his candid, blunt assessment of Young. 

“I know people think that I hate Vince Young,” Hoge told the Tennessean.  “I’ve never met Vince Young and I don’t want him to fail.  I’ve been critical of him, but that’s my job.  Everything he has gone through, I hope he’s able to work his way through it.” 

Possible translation?  “Oh, crap.  You mean when I talk on the radio in Pittsburgh they tape what I said and play it on the Internet?”

Regardless of anything said by Fisher or Hoge after the fact, Hoge said what he said, there was no ambiguity, and if his remarks are even close to being on the money it means that one of the few remaining undefeated teams in the AFC has a major problem that it needs to deal with at some point during or after the 2008 season.