Wondering why the heart and soul of the Tennessee Titans is out in the cold? Read on.Sports is a business I understand. Black and white version: produce on the field and you get paid in gold bricks; fail to get the job done and you end up driving trucks for UPS.
Achievement in a minor league or university setting rewarded on draft day, though “measurable” potentiators of size, speed and “it” factor are often tantamount to on-field prowess (apologies: Mike Hass).
And over the course of a player’s career, injury, age and the next crop of youthful hopefuls infuse a profound sense of stupidity at the summit of a franchise’s hierarchy.
Nobody’s frequented the Schmuckville Kool-Aid fountain quite like Tennessee Titan’s general manager Floyd Reese, the man who won’t let Steve McNair come to work.
At 7:57 PM ET on April’s final stanza, McNair’s agent, Bus Cook, reported that the Titans were considering releasing his client or trading him to Baltimore, with the possibility of finality Monday.
A few hours later, Reese admitted discussing trade offers with the Ravens, but talks died quickly when he deemed their offer insufficient. Which isn’t exactly earth-shattering news; I’m sure the Ravens low-balled with their initial offer given the dire circumstances surrounding McNair.
Let’s recap:
On April 3, the Titans’ brass kicked McNair out of their training facility, citing concerns over the potential for training-induced injury obligating the team to pay McNair his entire 2006 cap figure, a bloated, bonus-laden $23.46 million.
On April 7, the NFL Player’s Association filed a grievance and has attempted to schedule an expedited hearing before an arbitrator to grant McNair his unconditional release.
On April 29, Tennessee selected former Texas quarterback Vince Young with the third pick of the first round, a decision many insiders feel was made by Reese against the wishes of Titans’ offensive coordinator Norm Chow, who molded USC’s Matt Leinart into a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback in 2004 while holding the same position with the Trojans, and undoubtedly lobbied for his prized pupil on Saturday.
On May 1, McNair will likely be headed to Baltimore.
And that’s a flat-out joke.
Because McNair isn’t just a reigning Pro Bowler. Or a former league co-MVP (2003). He isn’t just a former D1-AA player who finished third in the Heisman voting despite playing for tiny Alcorn State. And he surely isn’t a “numbers alone” guy, despite passing for 27,141 yards and rushing for 3,439 more with 192 combined visits to the end zone.
“Air McNair” is THE reason that pro football in Tennessee even exists.
Over the course of his career, the concessions McNair made for the betterment of the team – including subscribing to their Woody Hayes, “three yards and a cloud of dust offense” in his prime and playing through myriad injuries that made his playing status a favorite on Vegas odds boards – cost him any legitimate shot at the Hall of Fame. But his unquestioned toughness, leadership and willingness to sacrifice his body made winners of a transplanted organization.
The symphonic grace of his game catapulted a bastard Houston Oilers franchise that played it’s “home” games before high school-sized crowds in the crumbling stadium at Vanderbilt University into one of the league’s finest in the late 90s, highlighted by their appearance in Super Bowl XXXIV where McNair’s heroic performance brought the Titans within a single yard of the championship.
But from the moment St. Louis’ Mike Jones wrapped up Kevin Dyson at the one-yard-line as time expired, the Titans’ organization began to morph into a bottom-line-driven monster. A series of high-profile salary-cap casualties ensued.
Eddie George, the franchise’s all-time leading rusher was released in 2004 after a bitter contract dispute. Ditto for stalwart defensive end Jevon Kearse, who signed with Philadelphia.
And while cases could be made against George’s impending breakdown (his career on a rapid downswing after averaging 342 carries per year over eight years, a meager 3.3 yards per carry in 2003) and Kearse’s injury risk factor (a sprained and broken foot resulted in12 missed games in 2002 and 2003 combined), McNair is coming off a trip to Hawaii as an AFC Pro Bowler.
In 2005, he returned to co-MVP form, passing for 3,161 yards and 16 touchdowns.
Admittedly, you can’t blame Tennessee for wanting to move on, to start over with Young, a player who possesses many of the same talents McNair brought to the league in 1995.
But should it be McNair’s fault that the Titans mismanaged their salary cap so profoundly, the $23.46 million number in 2006 isn’t even the most outrageous part of his contract? As it currently stands, for McNair to be extended, a $50,000,000 option would have to be picked up to keep him in a Titans’ uniform through 2009.
Because as this made-for-blogging drama continues to unfold and Floyd Reese firmly adheres to this especially moral code of salary cap constraints, he’s in danger of defining integrity.
A lack thereof.
One reply on “Air McNair Grounded”
McNair He has had a great career, but his Pro Bowl appearance last season was a joke. More deserving players such as Carson Palmer and Tom Brady, who were voted in, were unable to play because of injuries. McNair is rapidly deciling, and, while I think the Titans have treated him unfairly, he will never return to top form.