Tennessee Titans: Why Tennessee Should Stay Away from Terrible Towels

It was just three seasons ago that the Tennessee Titans were coasting through the regular season, posting a 12-2 record before playing the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 16.

Tennessee was playing with poise and confidence as they matched up against the Steelers at LP Field December 21, 2008.

Midway through the third quarter, with the Titans down 14-10, Chris Johnson took a pitch to the left on 4th-and-inches inside the red zone. Johnson took the ball through the Steelers defense, proceeded to pull a white towel from his belt and waived it around his head as he stepped into the end zone. The disrespect didn’t stop there, as the clock was running down in the fourth quarter and the Titans up 31-14, standout players Keith Bulluck, LenDale White, and Jevon Kearse stomped the infamous Terrible Towel as they celebrated another victory.

Tennessee had no worries entering the last week of the season with the No. 1 record in the AFC and a stone-cold grip around the AFC South title.

The Curse of the Terrible Towel would begin to present itself.

Tennessee benched most of their starters for the last game of the season against the Indianapolis Colts and lost 23-0. The Titans proceeded to lose their divisional playoffs match in heartbreaking fashion, as the Baltimore Ravens won 13-10 and Chris Johnson was injured before the half.

Tennessee would drop the first six games of the 2009 season, before LenDale White and Keith Bulluck autographed a Terrible Towel and mailed it to a Pittsburgh charity. The Titans won their next five straight, finished the season 8-8, but missed the playoffs.

The 2010 season would prove even worse, as the Titans cohesive atmosphere collapsed to the tune of a 6-10 finish.

Since that fateful day in 2008, the players involved in the stomping—Bulluck, White, and Kearse—have either retired or been released from their respective teams. In the 2010 offseason the longest tenured coach in the league, Jeff Fisher, would be fired and the face of the franchise, Vince Young, was released.

It should be no surprise that under new leadership, quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and head coach Mike Munchak, the Titans have succeeded past anyone’s expectations.

So this Sunday, if Tennessee is able to beat the Steelers for the first time since 2008, they should remember how the Curse of the Terrible Towel has altered the course of their franchise and take my advice.

Stay away.