Latest News Updates

Titans coordinator expanding passing options (The Associated Press)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Nate Washington jokes that Titans offensive coordinator Chris Palmer has been busy in the ''lab'' scheming up new ways for Tennessee to attack on offense. Well, what's new actually is something a bit old school.

 

Vegas has spoken, NFL season win totals are live (National Football Post)

Four picks to keep an eye on this summer as we approach the start of the 2012 season.

 

Titans agree to terms with Thompson, Solomon (The Associated Press)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) The Tennessee Titans have agreed to terms with fifth-round draft pick Taylor Thompson and seventh-round selection Scott Solomon.

 

Report: Most NFL players would have no problem with an openly gay teammate (Shutdown Corner)

If football isn't the ultimate masculine/gladiator sport, it's certainly right up there. As a result of that factor, not to mention the perceived group-think of the locker room, meeting room and huddle, and supposed "caveman" mentality some believe it takes to play the game, there are some who would tell you that no openly gay player would be able to survive (literally or figuratively) in the NFL. But in a recent series of interviews with current and former NFL players , OutSports.com found that the perception is not reality. If the small group interviewed represent the majority, attitudes have definitely come around about any NFL player who would choose to come out. Former star defensive end Jevon Kearse, who once lived with an openly gay male cousin, told OutSports that as long as such a teammate did what was expected of him between the lines, the personal stuff wouldn't really matter -- and that was the overriding message from the players interviewed. "In the game of football, it's like a war out there," Kearse said. "Once you get out on the field, all that stuff is to the side. You're on my side. I played in the NFL for 11 years, I'm sure there were at least one or two guys along the line that were gay." Kearse's former teammate with the Tennessee Titans, running back Eddie George, said the same, and added that he didn't believe an openly gay teammate would have been ostracized on any of his teams. "I just don't care about that," George said. "If that's what you do, that's what you do. I don't hate you because of it or dislike you because of it. That's not my personal preference, but I respect your decision. I'm not going to like you less or not be your friend because of that." That tolerance goes back further than you think. Vince Lombardi, seen as the ultimate authority figure, and championed as a pillar of supposed "clean-cut" values for generations of football fans, had an openly gay brother, and often told his players that anyone who had a problem with the concept of homosexuality could not play for him. It was the same as any other kind of bias to the coach -- and in an era where he had to wait far longer than he should have for a head-coaching job because of his Italian heritage, Lombardi despised prejudice of any kind. No NFL player has ever made his homosexuality public while playing in the league, but the sheer odds tell us that just about every professional football player in at least the last two generations has had at least one gay teammate through his career. The sheer odds also tell us that there will be a wide variety of views on the subject on any roster. Former New York Giants defensive end Michael Strahan added his support to New York's same-sex-marriage legislation right about the time that former teammate David Tyree was telling an anti-homosexual publication that same-sex marriage would lead America to "anarchy." "How can marriage be marriage for thousands of years and now all the sudden because a minority, an influential minority, has a push or agenda ... and totally reshapes something that was not founded in our country," Tyree said. Strahan clearly disagreed. "I have plenty of gay friends, and I don't judge them. I want them to have all the same rights I have, and all the opportunities I have to be in a relationship, a great relationship, with the person that they're in love with." So, maybe the picture isn't as rosy as OutSports paints it. Former running back Ahman Green, who has a gay sister and brother , isn't so sure about the acceptance of a player who admitted his homosexuality while still playing in the league.

 

Around Fantasyland: Quarterback updates (Pro Football Weekly)

It's time to gear up for the upcoming NFL season. Sure it's only May, but once we reach mid-June, the fantasy juices begin to flow. Let’s start the week off and catch up with the offseason quarterback news in this edition of Fantasyland — specifically focusing on the upcoming battles and where they stand.

 

NFL roundup: Manning feels good in first practice (The SportsXchange)

Peyton Manning was back on the field Monday and looked like his old self.

 

Manning sharp in first Broncos' practice (National Football Post)

Veteran quarterback working on offense, timing during off-season work.

 

Titans agree to terms with Zach Brown (National Football Post)

Linebacker gets four-year, $3.86 million contract from Tennessee.

 

Titans agree to terms with rookie LB Zach Brown (The Associated Press)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) The Tennessee Titans have agreed to terms with linebacker Zach Brown, their second-round draft pick out of North Carolina.

 

Pasquarelli: Pittsburgh completes overdue overhaul of O-line (The SportsXchange)

With quarterback Ben Roethlisberger now 30, and the team's most valuable player sacked an average of 43.5 times over the last six seasons -- including 40 or more sacks in all but one of those campaigns, and coming off an ankle injury last year -- Pittsburgh has drastically retooled its blocking unit.