Andre Johnson isn't much of a talker by most accounts, though Cortland Finnegan got his attention last Sunday. During the Texans' 34-31 win over the Titans, Johnson and Finnegan were yapping at each other the entire day, which eventually turned into a brawl after Johnson threw Finnegan into the players on the Texans sideline.
The other sideline is a dangerous place for any player to be during a brawl, and, according to this report from Jerome Solomon of the Houston Chronicle, one unnamed Texan took a chunk of Finnegan's red hair off the field as a souvenir of the fight. Titans defensive tackle Jason Jones was ejected from the game for throwing a punch and one of the smallest Texans, wide receiver David Anderson, was assessed an offsetting 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Once upon a time, the Titans and the Steelers were division rivals. And they hated each other in a respectful kind of way. It actually goes back to the 1970s, when Earl Campbell and company met up with Jack Lambert and all for three physical games in 1978 and 1979. The Raiders and the Steelers tried to intentionally injure each other for sport; the Oilers and Steelers injured each other unintentionally through hard hits. If not for the Steelers, the Oilers would have made two Super Bowl appearances. For what it's worth, those Steelers admit that the Oilers were their toughest competitor.
Training camps have wrapped up, the NFL season is right around the corner, and it's still hot as sin outside. But instead of cooling you off with a warm island song, FanHouse break out ye old heat check for our 2009 NFL Season Previews. " We'll rate each club in 5 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.
Let's rewind back to March 2008: I joined a couple buddies of mine for a Spring Break excursion to Las Vegas. We had an outstanding time, and the day we were to leave, we headed down to the sportsbook to lay down some futures bets. One of my friends had an interesting wager. His Super Bowl bet? The Tennessee Titans.
It's July, the slowest month of the year for the NFL, and it's driving you nuts. You need a fix. A hit. Anything NFL to pull you through the dog days. FanHouse is here to help with an in-depth look at each division that should have you plenty prepared for training camp. We're calling it the Summer Scramble, and today we look at the AFC South's looming position battles.
In "Rough Draft," lawyer-turned-writer-turned-football-player Clay Travis recounts his experience training for the 2008 NFL draft alongside some future pros. The following is Part 10 of 10 (read Chapter 9 here) installments that FanHouse will roll out every weekday leading up to the 2009 NFL Draft on April 25.
At 6:35 in the morning, gray mist encircles the stone barracks of West Point. First-year cadets stand in the hallways counting down the minutes until formation, Cadet Caleb Campbell tucks in the corner of his bed, the green cover tight and without wrinkles. He adjusts his hat and steps outside of Eisenhower Barracks room E313. It's 6:39 in the morning. Look quickly across the timeless cadet procession standing in the courtyard, past the parade ground bleachers that say Beat Navy, and it could be any year, any time, but only one place: West Point at morning.
In "Rough Draft," lawyer-turned-writer-turned-football-player Clay Travis recounts his experience training for the 2008 NFL draft alongside some future pros. The following is Part 9 of 10 (read Chapter 8 here) installments that FanHouse will roll out every weekday leading up to the 2009 NFL Draft on April 25.
The corner of Craig Stevens' left eye is twitching. He can't stop it. We're sitting across the table from one another and again and again the eye twitches, a metronome of ocular discomfort.
"Can you see it?" he asks.
"Yeah," I say.
He nods, flexes his arms on the table, "I can't get it to stop. I was really worried about it, but then my girlfriend told me that sometimes your eye can start twitching when you get really stressed."
"Has your eye ever done this? Before a big game or anything like that?" I ask.
"No," Stevens says, "I think it's going to stop as soon as I finish the combine."
With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call The Perfect Draft.
When you put together the league's best record and bring back most everyone from that team, you don't have many pressing needs. Even after losing Albert Haynesworth to a massive deal in free agency, the Titans still have a very solid defensive line, an above-average secondary and a solid group of linebackers.
In "Rough Draft," lawyer-turned-writer-turned-football-player Clay Travis recounts his experience training for the 2008 NFL draft alongside some future pros. The following is Part 4 of 10 installments (read Part 3 here) that FanHouse will roll out every weekday leading up to the 2009 NFL Draft on April 25.
As the days dwindle for Michael Oher (right) to decide whether to leave school early or return to Ole Miss, we end another workout and gather in front of the television. The Program, the 1993 college football movie starring Omar Epps, Halle Berry, and Craig Sheffer, as quarterback Joe Cane, is on the television.
For the first time I feel old since most of these guys were in first or second grade in 1993, when the movie came out. In fact, the majority of the guys haven't ever seen the movie before. As we watch, in one scene the starting quarterback, Joe Cane, complains because his father has never come to see him play a football game. Sitting in a large red chair to the left of the television, Big Mike Oher reacts. "Never come to see him play a football game?" asks Oher, scoffing. "I've only seen my own dad about four times."
In "Rough Draft," lawyer-turned-writer-turned-football-player Clay Travis recounts his experience training for the 2008 NFL draft alongside some future pros. The following is Part 2 of 10 installments (read Part 1 here) that FanHouse will roll out every weekday leading up to the 2009 NFL Draft on April 25.
The night before the first day of combine training, I can't sleep. It's Sunday January 6, and all of the college players are being picked up at the airport and brought to their apartments. By now I know a couple of their names, Frank Okam (far right) defensive tackle from Texas, Caleb Campbell safety from Army, and a few other vague designations, a tight end from Cal, a linebacker from Illinois. Late at night, unable to sleep, I climb out of bed and go downstairs to the computer where I spend over an hour scanning through player rosters and player bios.
When the Titans host the Ravens on Saturday, it appears they won't be stuck bringing the B-team defense to the game.
Albert Haynesworth (knee injury) and Kyle Vanden Bosch (groin) will return to practice today and should be ready to play on Sunday. Haynesworth missed the Titans season finale, while Vanden Bosch hasn't played since Dec. 7 in an injury-plagued season.
It's not that Jason Jones and Jacob Ford haven't been very solid replacements, but with a spot in the AFC Championship game on the line, and the Ravens' relying heavily on their running game, Haynesworth is probably the most important player on the Titans team this week. If he can shut down LaRon McClain and Willis McGahee, the Titans' secondary should be able to handle Joe Flacco--they picked him off twice in their regular season win.
The bigger injury concern seems to be center Kevin Mawae. Mawae is questionable with an elbow injury. Backup Leroy Harris is physically talented, but asking him to figure out the infinite combination of Ravens blitzes would be a very difficult job in only his second career start.
Andre Johnson isn't much of a talker by most accounts, though Cortland Finnegan got his attention last Sunday. During the Texans' 34-31 win over the Titans, Johnson and Finnegan were yapping at each other the entire day, which eventually turned into a brawl after Johnson threw Finnegan into the players on the Texans sideline. 
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When the Titans host the Ravens on Saturday, it appears they won't be stuck bringing the B-team defense to the game.
