FanHouse Bud Adams

Ask anyone who played with or coached Steve McNair, and you'll always hear him described as an incredibly hard worker, a tough-as-nails quarterback and a devoted teammate. In the wake of a terrible tragedy where McNair was found shot to death, those who knew McNair are left saddened and in shock. Just take a look at some of the reactions to the 36-year-old's death.

This morning the Titans and Kerry Collins were "far apart" on a new contract and the team was ramping up efforts to re-sign their other backup, Chris Simms.

This afternoon NFL Network's Adam Schefter reported that the two sides are now very much on the same page -- Collins has agreed to a two-year, $15 million contract with $8.5 million guaranteed. Not necessarily earth-shattering news, as head coach Jeff Fisher indicated several times this offseason that the team would like to have Collins back as its starter.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the AFL, the Titans will wear Houston Oiler jerseys in the Hall of Fame game against the Buffalo Bills. Is it really a great idea to start your season with a jersey choice that will remind everyone of the biggest chokejob in NFL playoff history?

ESPN's Chris Mortensen might not always get the facts right, but he is persistent. After reporting that the Chiefs were in talks with Mike Shanahan about the head coaching vacancy, Mortensen later backed off the story after NFL Network's Adam Schefter kindly set him straight.

But you can't keep Mort down for long. Today one of his sources (hopefully not the same one who fed him the Shanahan-to-the-Chiefs scoop) spills the beans on Kerry Collins' future: Titans head coach Jeff Fisher wants Collins back as the team's starting quarterback in 2009.

Last year, Deadspin highlighted the issue of wimpy team nicknames and highlighted these as the wussiest. It was an incredibly popular subject, and Deadspin's commenters found some truly awful names. Recently I gave some thought to what the worst team nickname of all--high school, college, professional sports included.

I think the worst name in sports is the Tennessee Titans. Before you disagree with me, here's the video evidence to prove it (maybe a little NSFW):


Video Link

I sat near the Titans sideline during the crazy Titans-Texans game which is kind of nice because you can watch the game within the game. If Titans quarterback Vince Young is going to miss many other games with his quad injury, he might want to pay attention to his demeanor on the sideline. When the Titans offense was on the field, Vince Young stayed to himself, not talking to people, not feigning holding a clipboard or talking to coaches much at all. He might have "It" and be the face of their franchise, but quarterbacks are under a microscope, and standing away from his team during the game is the sort of thing fans look at when a quarterback struggles.

Nationally, people believed that the Texans should have picked USC running back Reggie Bush with the first pick of the 2006 draft. In Texas, people believed that the Texans should have picked Texas quarterback Vince Young. I was one of those people, until the Texans chose to pick up David Carr's option in the February before the draft, making it salary cap prohibitive to take Young.

In Tennessee, Titans owner Bud Adams was happy to stick it to Houston by picking native Houstonian Vince Young. However a number of the Titans fans wished that they picked Vanderbilt quarterback Jay Cutler. With Vince Young going to the Pro Bowl in his rookie year, and winning 11 out of 18 games as a starter, the Titans choice seem vindicated. The Titans with Vince Young were 3rd in the league in 3rd downs this year, and Young helps open lanes for the running game by keeping defenses honest.