Sad, sad news, NFL and Titans fans. Legendary former Titans quarterback and former MVP Steve McNair has been shot and killed. From ESPN:

McNair, 36, suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head in downtown Nashville, police spokesperson Don Aaron said. A female victim was also found dead. Aaron said the woman has not been identified, pending notification of next of kin.

The incident happened near 2nd South & Lea Ave in Nashville…

“We are saddened and shocked to hear the news of Steve McNair’s passing today,” Titans owner K.S. “Bud” Adams Jr. said in a statement. “He was one of the finest players to play for our organization and one of the most beloved players by our fans. He played with unquestioned heart and leadership and led us to places that we had never reached, including our only Super Bowl. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family as they deal with his untimely passing.”

More on McNair’s amazing career and tragic death later. For now — along with trying to figure out why these kinda things have to happen — I just want to send our thoughts to the McNair family and say that he will be missed.

Former Tennessee Titan Quarterback Steve McNair was found dead today in downtown Nashville from an apparent gunshot wound to the head. According to reports McNair was with an as of yet unnamed female.

McNair is a legend around here, so it goes without saying that we’re a combination of deeply saddened and shocked. We’ll definitely have a lot more about McNair and his legacy in the coming days, but for now it’s just going to take a little while for this to sink in.

Hey all. I forgot to put the training camp schedule up after it was released a few days ago. Camp starts on July 31 and wraps on Aug. 26. The Hall of Fame exhibition against the Buffalo Bills is Aug. 9. Here is the detailed schedule for the first week of practice, via Tennessean.com.

Friday, July 31. 3:30 p.m. Practice

Saturday, Aug. 1. 3:30 p.m. Practice

Sunday, Aug. 2. 3:30 p.m. Practice

Monday, Aug. 3. 8:15 a.m. Special Teams Practice — open to media/no fans; 3:30 p.m. Practice

Tuesday, Aug. 4. 8:30 a.m. Practice 7:30 p.m. Practice (at LP Field) — open to media/no fans

Wednesday, Aug. 5. No availability

Thursday, Aug. 6. 8:15 a.m. Special Teams Practice — open to media/no fans; 3:30 p.m. Practice

Friday, Aug. 7. 4 p.m. Practice

Saturday, Aug. 8. No Practice

Sunday, Aug. 9: Hall of Fame Game vs. Bills

Titans, Cook reach agreement

Another Titans rookie agrees to a deal with the team in TE Jared Cook. Cook, a third round pick out of the University of South Carolina, has probably been the most impressive rookie thus far in OTA’s. He is a physical specimen that has the ability to create havoc in the passing game given the mismatches he should create. It is a four-year deal with a $700,00 signing bonus.

That leaves only Marks and Britt left to get under contract before camp.

LB David Thornton talks Titans on ESPN’s First Take

Not sure if any of you have seen this, but there is a new Miller Lite commercial that features Mike Keith’s classic radio call of the Music City Miracle. I couldn’t find a video of the advertisement on the interweb anywhere, but you can watch it on Miller Lite’s website by clicking here. Once you get there you should see one entitled, Music City Miracle. There’s not a whole lot to it, but watching a beer being poured to Keith yelling “There are NO FLAGS ON THE FIELD!” is pretty hot, I must admit.

I don’t want to leave out the fact that the Nashville Predators have re-signed forwards Steve Sulivan and Joel Ward. Both recieved very friendly contracts and will be expected to help fill out the first two lines of offense. The Preds still have plenty of holes (who in the hell else is gonna score goals?), but the signings of these two fan favorites should go a long way in keeping the top lines much more consitent this year.

Also, wanted to mention the fact that my Bravos just finished a sweep of the Phillies at Turner Field on Thursday. After a few rough (and long) stretches during May and June, the offense seems to have woken up and is now actually giving a pretty solid pitching staff (currently ranked 4th in MLB) some run support. And thank the Lord for Tommy Hanson. They are now only two games back in the division. Eat that Utley…

And since we’re discussing local/regional sports franchises… there is this. Holy crap, can you imagine how many more butts that would put in seats? He’s always been one of my favorite players (regardless of what he has become in recent years) and even though I know that it’s probably not a good move for a team in the midst of a serious youth movement, selfishly, I would still love to see it. I know I’d sure make the trip to see “The Answer”.

That’s it. That’s all I got for ya’ today. I hope everyone has a lovely Fourth of July weekend (the second greatest holiday on the calendar) filled with family, friends, good food, fireworks and umm… I know I’m forgetting something.

Pretty good showing in the ranks by the Titans I’d say. Here is the link to the their page, as well as the rest of the rankings. Thanks to Morty Ain at ESPN for reaching out to us about this. What a thrill it is to see your name in (cyber) print. We’ll also be in ink print when the newest issue of The Mag hits newsstands July 13.

UPDATE: So, I got the new issue of the magazine and of course, we aren’t in it. It’s the “Ultimate Standings” issue, but the breakdowns for each team are not in the article like they are on the website. A bit of a bummer, but the more I got to thinking about it, the more I realized that it would be a bit silly to have write-ups for all 122 professional sports franchises in one issue. It would have to be an issue in itself. Still pretty cool to see your name and website on the WWLofS.

This whole Chris Johnson/LenDale White situation has become far too public. I say they both shut the heck up and let cooler heads prevail. It’s one thing to joke back and forth and sometimes take the occasional dig, but it sounds like there may be some deeper stuff here. Maybe some resentment, some jealousy. I’m probably making a mountain out of this (I definitely am, but solely for the sake of journalism), but I just don’t understand either guys’ need to make such remarks. Even Coach Fish, the perpetual straight man, has sounded off on the whole ordeal. In doing so, he took a few nice shots at the two, including CJ in particular:

“Every Coach’s Dream?’’ Fisher said with a smile Wednesday. “Maybe with a few exceptions — playing the bongos … and getting hurt in the playoff game.’’

and this guy here…

“I’m sure they’ll come up with something else,” Fisher said. “Dumb and Dumber or something.’’

ZING!!!!

Alright, so, I’m sure this will pass soon enough. These two have been going at it since #28 arrived in town, and it’s always been a playful thing. It’s actually kinda cute how they both feel the need to outdo and impress one another. Couple of sweethearts.

And to be perfectly honest, I’m not all that crazy about your new nickname Chris. What does it even mean? Wouldn’t every coaches dream go about his or her job in a quite, efficient and, most importantly, humble manner? I know Fish’s would. So instead,  I’ll continue to refer to you just as I always have: “Twitch”.  I think it makes you sound like a lunatic badass. You’re welcome.

Follow Chris Johnson on Twitter here. Follow us here. And don’t worry, I’m already following him. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have caught these gems:

I guess that’s pimpin’, pimpin’…

Paul Kuharsky of ESPN’s SportsNation AFC South blog wrote a really nice piece on Titans rookie TE Jared Cook this morning. He also discussed fellow rookie WR Kenny Britt in it, but it is Cook that has peaked my interest the most since being drafted in the 3rd round. He is an absolute beast of a man (6′5″, 240) and can flat out fly (4.50 40 time), but the biggest knock on him is his ability to catch the ball and block defenders. Well, he better learn fast, because I have a feeling the Titans are going to be looking for him to contribute a good deal this season.With Alge Crumpler being, umm, old (not to mention his bulky knee) and Bo Scaife’s future with the team up in the air after this season, the Titans drafted Cook to be one of the main threats on an offense that relies heavily on the TE position.

If Cook can develop his pass-catching ability and learn how to block, he could be one of the biggest steals of the 2009 draft. The mismatches he could create would be an absolute nightmare for opposing defensive coordinators. Like Antonio Gates in 2004 scary. Let’s just hope that he heeds the advice from veteran guys like Kerry Collins and Crumpler, listens to the coaches when they tell him what to do (and what he is doing wrong) and takes all of the information that is flying at him right now and applies it to understanding the game of football and his role on this team. That may have been the most overly-repetitve, run-on sentence in the history of this blog, but I think I made my point clear, so I got that going for me.

Before we get started, I want to apologize for being out of pocket for the last few weeks. It’s been a long, slow off-season, so bear with me until we get to training camp. I know you’ve been breathlessly awaiting a new post, so we’ll get to it.

In case you haven’t seen the Vince Young ESPN E:60 interview with Michael Smith, here it is above. In it, Smith asks VY about the series of “incident(s)” last fall that spiraled his season out of control, his comments that he made on a Baltimore television station last week about wanting to be traded and his prospects for starting for the Titans again. Really nothing new to see here, but I thought VY actually carried himself quite well. He said all the right things for the most part (”I want to remain a Tennessee Titan” “I want to work hard to get my starting job back”, “I don’t want nothin’ handed to me”, yadda yadda yadda…), but I do have to question his timing a bit on this one.

I mean, why not have this conversation in January after the season? Hell, why not come out and address all of the allegations thrown your way (refusing to re-enter a game, quitting football, suicide, etc.) pretty soon after the bottom fell out in September?

And now, a week later, VY is answering questions again. Talking to reporters after minicamp practice on Wednesday, Vince explained why he did the E:60 interview:

“I really needed to get (things) off my chest and get it out of the way, because everybody has their opinions of the situation,’’ Young said. “Every time I say something it is always going to get … blown out of proportion so I just have to live with it. That is the life of Vince and I just have to live with it.’’ - The Tennessean

First off, referring to yourself in first person is stupid. And I’m not just singling out VY; I’m talking to all of you professional athletes, musicians and Ricky Hendersons. Stop it. Seriously. Secondly, and more directly, just stop talking about it Vince. The more you keep bringing it up again and again, the less you can get back to learning the playbook (fingers crossed!) and trying to win that job back that you keep talking about.

This is the year that will decide the fate of Vince Young with the Tennessee Titans. If he shows no progress on the field and is and complete mess off of it (let’s not forget his shirtless, Patron-gulping club appearance and how he “made it rain” at that Nelly show), then the Titans aren’t paying that big contract kicker next year. If (big if) Vince gets another opportunity to play again (not a big if with an immobile, 36-year old starting quarterback) and he shows some progress an ability to lead this team once again, things may get very interesting next off-season. Personally, I don’t think that would be a bad problem to have.

What do you all think the fate of VY will be in Tennessee? Will we see him start at QB for the Titans next year or is he already as good as gone?

That’s right, I finally saw him. Late last night. Him and one of his boys. He pulled up in that white Range with spinners, and I knew it was him (from my previous stalking expeditions).

And so I go, “We gonna do it this year LenDale?” and he says to me “Yeah man.”

“Yeah man.” Really? What confidence.

At least I can verify for any that are wondering that, yes, LenDale has lost some weight. I meant to snap a cell phone pic, but I got all googly-eyed and froze up. It’s like seeing a unicorn. With cornrows. My b.

We here at TitanSized are fortunate enough to be a part of something bigger in the sports blogging world: a network. And it really is all about networking in this day and age isn’t it people? The FanSided.com Sports Network is an ever-expanding group of blogs covering all 32 NFL teams, and many in the NBA, MLB and NHL as well. There is also an NFL News & Rumors site, a mock draft site and a site for fantasy sports. Hell, we’ve even got blogs for NASCAR and MMA. I know, I said the exact same thing when I first heard. There are a lot of great writers in the network, so I highly suggest checking out what some of those that are slaves to the (web)page have to say. Plus, it’s fun to talk a little smack on their boards during game week. Chumps.

Check out the new main site, and watch your sports world open up, click after click. Amazing…

Titans’ OTA’s start up again this afternoon. It will be the first time that the rookies and veterans are on the field at the same time. This should be a fun week. Stay tuned.