Normally when you hear criticism from one athlete to another, it’s coming from the top. It’s usually a player who is one of the best at a position either talking trash to a player they would go up against, or talking about a player at their same position that could be seen as a threat to their legacy or reputation.

There wasn’t much of any of that involved on either side of this strange story.

https://twitter.com/SInow/status/879686680143429634

In an interview that he did with Sports Illustrated, former National Champion with the Texas Longhorns and Rookie of the Year with the Tennessee Titans, Vince Young, took a shot out of left field at Bucs quarterback, Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Even when he exposes his vulnerabilities, revealing that he’s barely watched any football since he retired, he can’t help but say, “I’d see a quarterback and be like, Dude is garbage, and I’m over here in the kitchen cooking turkey necks!?” He’s reminded that the Cardinals recently signed Blaine Gabbert, a first-round failure who never achieved Young’s success, and he pounces: “Exactly. I hate to name-drop, but [Ryan] Fitzpatrick is still playing!? He leads the league in interceptions, and he’s still f—— getting paid? I mean, what the f— is going on?”

His story with SI was all about him opening up to how his life went from one of the most promising careers we’d ever seen after winning the title at Texas to only being the career that never was. After a nice start winning Rookie of the Year, incidents and head butts with then head coach Jeff Fisher took Young’s career for a nose dive, both on the field and in the public eye.

Young has been trying to come back to football and end his career in a better light – at least in his eyes. After signing with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League, Young’s comeback was cut short last year when he suffered a torn hamstring.

You can read the story for yourself, but the Fitzpatrick mention was completely random. Young threw 46 touchdowns and 51 interceptions across 60 appearances, including 50 starts in his career, which was good for a 74.4 passer rating. Fitzpatrick, who has had a 12-year career, has thrown 166 touchdowns to 133 interceptions with a 79. 4 passer rating in 116 starts. All of that while being a seventh round pick to Young’s No. 3 overall selection.

This little random, yet oddly specific call out has to make you chuckle or scratch your head or shake your head or any combination of the three.