Former Titans star takes shots at Vols with a series of social media posts after Tennessee’s win over Syracuse
One ex-Titan had some spicy posts about UT on Sunday morning.
Former Tennessee Titans linebacker Keith Bulluck made quite a name for himself in the Volunteer State during his NFL career. The former Titan was a key part of a defense that helped keep Tennessee consistently in the playoff picture in the 2000s, serving as a heat-seeking missile in the middle of the unit.
But Bulluck also was a standout at Syracuse, and he has a particularly sour disposition when it comes to the state’s flagship university, it appears.
Bulluck took to Twitter on Sunday morning following the Tennessee Vols’ 45-26 win against Syracuse, and he had a backhanded compliment for the Vols’ win over the Orange.
“Shout out to all the Vols fans,” Bulluck wrote. “Good win yesterday! 1-0 to start the season again! Syracuse is a rebuilding program and we made too many mistakes against the 5th best team in the SEC. Syracuse has things to work on but Coach Fran definitely has us heading in the right direction.”
But Bulluck was just getting warmed up at that point, with a number of sharper quips to follow regarding the game and Vol fans.
The last one in particular doesn’t make much sense. Heupel is entering year five. It’s not as though this is newfound success for Heupel and Tennessee. And how long is someone supposed to wait before they can brag about their program? Saban-level tenure? And wasn’t that Syracuse program he’s talking about a 10-win program last year with a win over Miami in its regular season finale? It’s not like this is a program coming straight out of the basement.
Bulluck played for the Titans from 2000-2009, earning Pro Bowl honors in 2003. He also led the NFL in combined tackles in 2004 with 152. But perhaps the snark about the Tennessee Vols stems from the fact that Bulluck was on the Syracuse team that fell to UT 34-33 in the 1998 season opener at the Carrier Dome. It appears as though Bulluck still has some animus for a late fourth-down pass interference call against the Cuse on the Vols’ game-winning drive.
Perhaps this is his form of release and/or fun about the game. Some people enjoy engaging with others on social media and stirring it up. But I’d be willing to bet dollars to donuts that the message would be a bit more braggadocious if Syracuse had completed a comeback from being down 38-14 to win the game.
Fortunately, we’ll never know, as the Vols slammed the door shut in the game’s final five minutes to start their season off the right way in Atlanta. We’ll see if Tennessee’s “story ends” how Bulluck thinks it will once the year is over.
