This means that I don’t write as often as other football bloggers, especially in the offseason. Aside from being busy, I recognize that other Titans blogs have a large audience and cover a lot of subject matter, and I’m OK with letting them do their thing without being redundant. Also, there are a number of football-related topics that I believe are a waste of time: namely, mock drafts and fantasy football.

That being said, I’d like Titans Tracker to be more active during the offseason. If you’re a good writer and are passionate about all things Titans (or Oilers), send me an email and let me know if you’re interested in writing guest posts. I’d prefer writers who already have a blog or web presence. Thanks.

If you’re a fan of The Game, you’re a little sad this week. You know this day had to come. As Favre said today, all good things must come to an end. But after Green Bay lost to the Giants in the NFC Championship game, you knew Brett would be back one more season.

But it wasn’t meant to be. The man is tired.

I listened to his press conference today (available here). Below are a few quotes I found interesting (courtesy Green Bay Press-Gazette):

About God:

God has blessed me with so many great things. Ability, wonderful family. And as I was flying up here today I thought about so many different things and how I wanted to say some of the things that I felt like I need to say, but he gave me an opportunity to use my abilities, and I seized that opportunity … I thank him for that.

About stress:

But this year, and this is not the first year but it really to me and Deanna was more noticeable, the stress part of it. It’s demanding. It always has been, but I think as I’ve gotten older I’m much more aware of that. I’m much more aware of how hard it is to win in this league and to play at a high level. I’m not up to the challenge anymore. I can play, but I’m not up to the challenge. You can’t just show up and play for three hours on Sunday. If you could, there’d be a lot more people doing it and they’d be doing it for a lot longer.

An eye-opening statement about the No Fun League:

… after numerous games I would come home and after a couple of hours I had the computer out and I was watching film of the upcoming opponent instead of enjoying the win we just had. At some point, you’ve got to relax and enjoy and I found myself not enjoying it as much. It’s fun to win but you’ve got to enjoy it and relax a little bit. That more than anything was taking its toll on me.

Another eye-opener … and I believe him 100 percent:

… I can recite almost every play I’ve ever ran, called, think about near every game I’ve played in, and that’s going back to high school.

About what it’s like for famous people who die:

… I was watching at home last night, I actually broke down and watched some of the footage. How could you not? I realize what it’s like to die. As I’m watching TV last night, I said, ‘This is what it’s like when you die.’ They’re honoring me and saying all these things and showing all these games.

About how hard it is being Brett Favre:

I had so many people saying, ‘You look like you had a lot of fun out there this year,’ and I did. But what they don’t see, that’s three hours during the course of a week and I’m no different than most people. I can act the part and I know I expect a lot out of myself and certain things are expected of me within this organization and I tried to live up to those all the time. And Brett Favre got hard to live up to. And I found myself during games at times, tough situation, people always kind of made this joke or other guys on the team, even Mike at times would turn to me and say, ‘All right Brett. This is where you’re at your best. Pull us out.’ I’m thinking, ‘Uh! … ‘ Now I wouldn’t do that, but I’m thinking that. I’m thinking, ‘Boy it sure would be nice to be up about 14 right now.’ It’s just hard. It got hard. I did it, but it got hard.

And finally, Brett Favre on why we love Brett Favre:

Well, I think, I’m probably the wrong person to ask that. But if I had to guess I would say, and I hear this from time to time, he’s like one of us. Well, I am. I just play professional football.

I’ll consider sharing a story about how Brett Favre influenced a significant personal decision.

Enjoy your retirement, Mr. Favre. After 275 consecutive starts in the National Football League, you’ve earned it.
—
Some of you old-timers may remember the guy who briefly stirred the hopes of Packer Nation before Favre took over. Here’s a great article about the Majik Man.

Football is a game. Sean Taylor lost his life.

Ricky Williams, the eccentric running back currently with the Miami Dolphins, was reinstated by the NFL after an 18-month absence due to a drug suspension.

The 0-9 Miami Dolphins need Ricky Williams. The NFL needs Ricky Williams.

We need Ricky Williams. Why? Because he shows us there is more than one way to live one’s life and that it’s OK to fail as long as you continue making the effort to overcome your shortcomings. Also, he challenges the idea that there should be a “forgiveness quota.”

I have a tendency to like athletes who are mavericks and nonconformists. Think Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown and Dennis Rodman. Ricky Williams falls in the same category. He marches to the beat of his own drum and often makes people uneasy with his behavior and his opinions. I don’t think drug use is cool, but I like Williams because he’s not afraid to be different.

Wouldn’t life be boring if we were all alike?

He’s well-read and well-traveled. He’s a soft-spoken thinker in an aggressive sport. He’s also a very good running back.

In 2004, Ricky was interviewed by 60 Minutes‘ Mike Wallace. As we saw during this year’s Vince Young interview, 60 Minutes tries very hard to make the majority of its guests look bad. VY probably assumed the best of 60 Minutes and spoke without guile (not necessarily a bad thing), but after CBS edited the piece, Vince looked like a selfish jerk, not like an assertive leader. However, Ricky, being the iconoclast he is, did a good job of not allowing himself to be portrayed as simply a self-centered pothead.

I love his response when asked about his sudden decision to leave the Miami Dolphins during the 2004 training camp.

“When would it have been OK for me to stop playing football?” Williams says. “When my knees went out? When my shoulders went out? When I had too many concussions? When is it OK? … I’m just curious. I’m just curious, because I don’t understand. When is it OK to not play football anymore?”

Due to his multiple drug suspensions, Ricky Williams has managed to extend his NFL career. He has only played six NFL seasons and seven professional seasons overall — he spent 2006 with the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts.

Williams has rushed for 7097 yards, almost four thousand yards less than Edgerrin James, the running back chosen one pick prior to him in the 1999 NFL Draft. Ricky has elite talent and very low mileage for a thirty-year old player. And he will continue to draw interest from NFL teams because he’s really big and really fast.

Does he deserve repeated chances to play football? He spent five and a half months in a Boston treatment center dealing with social anxiety disorder, and, presumably, his marijuana use. He has done what was asked of him by the NFL. And commissioner Roger Goodell, who is no pushover, gave Williams the OK.

Should the Miami Dolphins allow Williams to play for them? Why not? The Dolphins are winless. Some observers might say that accepting Williams is further evidence of the team’s dysfunction.

Dolphins management has been criticized for making questionable personnel decisions over recent years, none of which involve Ricky Williams. Adding Ricky to the roster would be a sign of sanity for a once proud franchise that has lost its way.

I hope, as a Ricky Williams fan, that he’s done sabotaging his NFL career so I can watch him do what he does best: run the football with a rare combination of exceptional speed and brute force.

I like Tom Brady. I even like Randy Moss. But I do not like Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots.

Unless you’ve been hiding under the proverbial rock, you know that Roger “The Enforcer” Goodell punished the Patriots for videotaping the New York Jets’ defensive signals during last Sunday’s game. Coach Belichick was fined half a million dollars. However, the harshest punishment comes next season if New England makes the playoffs: the loss of a first-round draft pick.

Why, beyond being a fan of the NFL, do I care? Because, as a Titans fan, what New England did while playing Tennessee during the last game of the 2006 NFL season showed no class. Putting Vinny Testaverde into this game to extend a record streak was completely uncalled for and unsportsmanlike.

Go to this page and watch the 2006 week 17 “highlight” featuring Testaverde’s record-breaking touchdown pass.