NFL tennessee Titans

LenDale White doesn't look like the LenDale White we're used to seeing. White told The Tennessean that he's weighing in at only 229 pounds this offseason, way short of the 260 he's weighed at times throughout his pro career.

A 230-pound White should still be big enough to move the pile, but he may actually be able to make a couple of guys miss for a change, too. But there is the question of White's motivation, which is brought up in Jim Wyatt's story.

Keith Bulluck sat down with the Tennessean for a Q&A this week that covered a lot of topics: his favorite Titans team, his best teammates, his toughest loss and his best game. It's not meant to be, but it almost read like a farewell speech.

Bulluck is heading into the final year of his contract. The Titans have not made any moves to re-sign him. He has already said that he expects to be playing elsewhere next year, although his wish is to remain with the Titans. And when you consider the Titans track record, that's not surprising.

Rookie receivers traditionally have one of the toughest transitions to life in the NFL, topped only it seems by quarterbacks. With that in mind, it seems pretty clear that Kenny Britt, the Titans' first round pick, will not start the season as a key part of the team's offense.

That will be Justin Gage and Nate Washington's job, and even they will have to fight for attention with tight ends Alge Crumpler and Bo Scaife snagging a lot of the move the chains stuff.

At this time last year Chris Johnson was a rookie who was keeping his head down and hoping to just get noticed for his speed on the field.

But with a 1,228-yard rushing season under his belt, Johnson is ready to make a name for himself, as he showed when he announced he has a new nickname -- "Every Coach's Dream."

When Albert Haynesworth signed his seven-year, $100 million contract with the Redskins he immediately became the highest paid defensive player in the league.

But now he's told Sirius radio (as relayed by the Bucs Beat) that he could have actually earned a lot more if he was willing to become a Tampa Bay Buc. Instead, he wanted to go to Washington because he wanted to be part of a team in a big market--something that disqualified both the Titans and Bucs in his mind.

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.

When Keith Bulluck and LenDale White went to town on a Terrible Towel in the waning moments of the Titans' beatdown of the Steelers in Week 16 last season, they had just clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. So, sure, they had every right to celebrate.

Plus, no way a team full of grown men would take offense at the defacing of a yellow hand towel, right. Uh, not quite. The reaction was swift, and last month, Titans cornerback Cortland Finnegan even called it unacceptable.

Titans quarterback Vince Young appeared on ESPN Thursday in an attempt to clear up previous comments in which he said he wants to start somewhere even if it's not in Tennessee, and then said through his agent that he wasn't looking for a trade. But while Young seems to have accepted that he's Kerry Collins' backup, he didn't really clear up much of anything.

Vince Young may have sounded like he's ready to get out of Nashville, but his agent says he meant nothing of the sort when he was interviewed by a Baltimore radio station.

"He was just voicing his opinion about competing for a starting job," his agent Major Adams said Wednesday, adding that Young was surprised by the magnitude of the controversy. "He's not asking for trade, we haven't had any talks about being traded. He looks forward to competing and being ready for this season."

Now it's worth remembering that Young said his offseason was going to be spent keeping his mouth shut. That was before he told a Baltimore radio station that he wants to go elsewhere if the Titans aren't going to start him this year. Apparently in agent speak "If them guys don't want me to be in there, man, it's time for me to make a career change for myself." and "not asking for a trade" mean the same thing.

In late February, the Titans re-signed Kerry Collins -- 36 years young -- to a two-year, $15 million deal. Which meant that, barring a miracle, he would resume the role of starting quarterback in 2009. And Vince Young, the team's 2006 first-round pick (and third overall), would remain Collins' backup.

Young wasn't happy playing behind Collins last season, was presumably less thrilled when the old timer re-upped for two more years, and if he's not getting his old job back, he'd like to get that chance elsewhere.