FanHouse TennesseeTitans

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- Did someone know what they were doing with Vince Young in Tennessee?

Apparently so. There's no doubt that Young is a different quarterback as a starter in 2009 than he was in 2007 and during that infamous opening week game of '08, when the former Titans' No. 1 draft pick sustained a career and emotional breakdown and was benched for Kerry Collins.

NFL players grow and mature as athletes, leaders and men differently. A rare few come out of the draft as impact players. Of those, fewer still are quarterbacks, the most visible and important member of an NFL franchise.

So while Titans coach Jeff Fisher enjoys some breathing room now that his once maligned and winless team is revitalized following a two-game winning streak, perhaps it's time to give the NFL's longest-tenured head coach some credit: making Young a sideline protégé in 2008 and half of '09 has turned this fourth-year quarterback into a new player.

In case you hadn't noticed, sports these days are all about Goliath. In 2009, the Steelers, Lakers, North Carolina Tar Heels and now the Yankees have all won titles in their respective sports. Cinderella is yesterday's news. The teams that win these days are the teams that always win, and if you think that's boring, well, tough. You can kiss one of Derek Jeter's five World Series rings.

So with that in mind, we need to be really careful about overlooking the Dallas Cowboys.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. All you ever hear about the Cowboys is what's wrong with them. Terrell Owens was a pain. Roy Williams is a loudmouth, too, and isn't good enough to replace T.O. Tony Romo's too concerned with his golf game and his high-wattage love life to ever attain his potential. The new stadium is ridiculous...

You think being 0-2 scares Jeff Fisher? No chance. He's been 0-2 before. Heck, in 2006 his Tennessee Titans were 0-5 before finishing with a flurry that got them back to 8-8 and the fringes of the AFC playoff race.

"That was one of my favorite teams," Fisher said on a conference call earlier this week. "I've never been around a better locker room than that 0-5 team, because they believed in themselves and what they were doing. The key is, you just sell that belief."

That's what Fisher is selling this week, as his tough-luck Titans head to the Meadowlands to face the fast-starting, trash-talking Jets and the very real prospect of being 0-3. The good thing for Tennessee is that there's probably no salesman in the NFL better equipped for the job.

Let's be honest, there are few things more entertaining in sports than when an athlete is absolutely despised by a city. And I don't mean despised in the Michael Jordan-tears-out-Cleveland's-heart-with-a-wooden-spoon level hate. That's rooted in Jordan's superhuman play on the field.

I mean on a level like LenDale White stomping on the Terrible Towel and refusing to apologize -- where the entire city is outraged at one particular player.

The Redskins made the big early splash in this year's free-agent market, inking DT Albert Haynesworth to a seven-year, $100 million contract ($41 million guaranteed). But this latest from Terry McCormick of the Nashville City Paper makes you wonder if Washington needed to pay Hayneworth even half that much:

"Tennessee's final offer to Haynesworth, according to a league source, amounted to a four-year package worth $34 million total, with about $20 million in guarantees, The City Paper learned."

Can't imagine ol' Albert had to think too long about that one.

Another former Denver quarterback is on the move, though I doubt this transaction will register as high on the excitement scale as the Jay Cutler trade to Chicago.

Tennessee has agreed to terms with Patrick Ramsey, who served as Cutler's backup for the past two seasons. Ramsey's only action last season came at the tail end of a 41-7 blowout loss to the Jets -- he completed two-of-three pass attempts for 19 yards. The Titans will be Ramsey's fourth team, following Denver, the Jets and Washington.

I don't imagine that a great deal will come from this meeting. The discourse will probably not be much more expansive than this:

Roger Goodell: Hi Pacman. Welcome to New York.
Pacman: Hello.
Roger Goodell: Wanna tell me what happened?
Pacman: I'm innocent.
Roger Goodell: I had a feeling you'd say that.
Pacman: Mmhmm.
Roger Goodell: I don't believe you.
Pacman: I had a feeling you'd say that.
Roger Goodell: This really isn't going anywhere, is it?
Pacman: Not really.
Roger Goodell: So I guess we're done here?
Pacman: Mmhmm.
Roger Goodell: Where are you going now?
Pacman: Scores.
Roger Goodell: Oh boy.
Pacman: You don't happen to have 5,000 singles on you, do you?
Roger Goodell: I'd be so happy if you were dead.

I really don't see much more coming from the meeting than that. Given the PR headache he's caused, Goodell just has to be hellbent on giving the maximum penalty possible to Pacman. I don't think there's anything that Pacman can say to change that.

Pacman Jones (or at least his publicist) has spoken out for the first time about what went down in that Vegas strip club. The publicist, Cheryl Moss (also an eyewitness of the scene), said that Pacman did not have a trash bag full of money, didn't hit any of the dancers, and doesn't know the shooter. She also says that the club's bouncers maced Pacman's bodyguard, slammed his stylist into a cactus, and choked Pacman.

I don't know who did what, but I know that Pacman should at least be fined for taking a stylist to a night club. Who does that?

Anyway, it's a vastly different story than anything else that's been reported about the incident. As Moss tells it, strippers fought over money, and Pacman ended up getting his ass whooped.

Other reports, of course, have Pacman abusing a stripper, trying to be restrained by bouncers, and allege that the shooter was a member of Pacman's entourage. I doubt it was the stylist. Most stylists don't carry gats.

The publicist also points out that Pacman was preparing to celebrate his daughter's first birthday (just out of curiosity, will daddy make it rain at her party?), and that his parents were staying with him in Vegas. She says that Pacman's "entourage" consisted of herself, the stylist, a bodyguard, a personal assistant, a "model friend," and two other women, and not "some around-the-way homeboys." There are other details, too ... I encourage you to read the story.

Of course, it's important to point out that this woman is a publicist, and that it's her job to make her client look as good as she possibly can. But it's also important to note that Pacman hasn't been charged with any crime, nor do authorities have him under suspicion for any.

Say what you want about Pacman Jones, but he stays on task. If he's in the club, his mind is on the ladies. If he's on a blocking sled being pushed by children, his mind remains on the ladies. Aspiring playas, take note. That is the focus of a champion.

Listen, we all have our vices. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before someone gets shot when DeAngelo Hall throws $81,000 in singles up into the air at a Dunkin' Donuts. Or a shoeshine guy gets bitten when Steve Smith starts emptying a garbage bag full of money. This could happen to anyone.

Anyway, what you saw up there was an unfortunate commercial for Hibbett Sports, starring DeAngelo Hall, Steve Smith, and of course, Pacman Jones. I bet the Hibbett people wish they had a mulligan on that one. I don't know when this was shot. Obviously, it was before Pac-Man got into trouble at that Vegas club, but it may have been after Pac had a couple of incidents where he was accused of spitting on women. If that's the case, the Hibbett people should've known better.

Thanks to Pro Football Talk for mentioning the spot.