Former Vols fan favorite drops quote that will anger a lot of fans in the state of Tennessee, but he’s not wrong
Former Tennessee Vols defensive back Alontae Taylor dropped some comments this week that won’t sit well with a lot of fans in the Volunteer State. But he’s absolutely right.
Former Tennessee Vols cornerback Alontae Taylor got real about football fandom in the Volunteer State this past week, and his comments won’t sit well with some fans.
Even though he’s right.
The former Vol appeared on In The Bayou With Tyrann Mathieu and was asked, “Who runs Tennessee?” between the Vols and the Titans.
Taylor, who spent the first four seasons of his career with the New Orleans Saints before signing with the Titans earlier this offseason, didn’t hesitate to say that it’s the Vols.
“The Tennessee Vols, for sure,” said Taylor. “You go to Nashville, you’ve got straight Volunteer fans. And when we (Saints) played them last year (in Week 17), there were more Tennessee Volunteer fans at the game than probably Tennessee Titans fans.”
There are a lot of Titans fans who double as Vols fans, so given that the Titans were 3-12 going into that matchup with the Saints last season, maybe those fans just chose to support the Volunteers that particular day.
It’s also worth pointing out that Illinois and Tennessee met in the Music City Bowl in Nashville two days after the Saints game, so there were more Vols fans in town than normal.
But either way, there’s no doubt that UT football has the bigger in-state fan base — and that’s mostly because the Titans have been around for just under 30 years while the Vols, obviously, have been around for generations.