Pair of Titans making most of last shots

Posted by ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Every locker room needs some long-shot, last-chance guys in the mix. They appreciate things differently from a high draft pick or a pricey free agent, and I think their presence can be a big factor in team chemistry and in reminding other guys who didn't have it so tough just how good life in the locker room is.

The Titans have two guys who fit the bill on the defensive line, where tackle Tony Brown has turned into a solid starter next to Albert Haynesworth and end Dave Ball has helped the team survive a stretch without Kyle Vanden Bosch.

Both guys have had moments when they weren't sure they were going to be able to prove they were NFL-caliber players.

"The realization, the experience of being out there without a job, it's not something everybody should go through," coach Jeff Fisher said. "But when you get players like that, they don't take anything for granted and they just work.

"I think to an extent most good players and all the great players have one thing in common, it's fear of failure. And these guys, not that they've failed, but they understand that the opportunities don't always come along. They got second chances and made the most of them."

Ball was a fourth-round draft pick out of UCLA by San Diego in 2004. He played six games and broke a bone in his foot. He played two more times for the Chargers in 2005, then got dropped to the practice squad. The Jets signed him away and he played three games for New York, then 10 more in 2006. The following year he was in Carolina, but got cut by the Panthers before the season.

He worked out for about seven different teams during the season, including the Titans, kept himself in shape and hoped the phone would keep ringing. Ultimately he signed a futures deal with the Titans on Jan. 3, the same day they lost to the Chargers in a playoff game in San Diego.

Here are the best quotes I gleaned from a chat I had with Ball about his story this week:

"Last year the only contribution I was having was getting worked out by the teams who would fly me in and getting a free meal in the cafeteria. The Titans gave me a great opportunity and I just want to be able to have their back."

"In my mind I was done at the end of last season. Each game I was thinking 'OK, there are three games, left, hopefully I will get picked up here. OK, there are two, there is one, the season is over.' It was a long process just because I had all day to think about it, to just get bitter about it. The reason I am here is my wife, Carrie. I gave up on myself but she never gave up on me. She wanted me to keep playing, so I just had to follow orders. Her orders were, 'Give it another shot, you're good, I know you're good, I have 100 percent faith in you.'"

"Really I didn't know I'd made the team until the phone didn't ring on cut day. I had a good idea that I'd played well enough to make it, but you never know. But honestly last year [in Carolina] I thought I'd played well enough to make it and it was a total shock when I got the call."

"I'm so grateful right now. This is just night and day from last year. Last year I was sitting at home, bitter, frustrated, extremely down on myself. I was training by myself."

​

Brown's story is a good one too. He's from Chattanooga and played at Memphis. He went from an undrafted free agent with Carolina to Miami to San Francisco to out of the league in 2005 to back to Carolina. He was waiting for another chance after the Panthers cut him again, when Haynesworth got suspended for five games and six weeks for stomping Andre Gurode in the face and the Titans needed help.

"[Ball's] story is awesome and I'm part of that group too," Brown said. "We don't take anything for granted... I understand the struggle he's been through. It was tough at first, but I put that pride to the side and I just got back focused and through if it was meant to be it was going to happen. All I need is that one opportunity. I was like, 'If I get it again, I'm never going to take it for granted again.'

"I wouldn't say I was close to giving up. But to be honest, it didn't really matter to me, I've got two degrees, so I was like 'If it doesn't go this way, then that's what I went to school for. I kept working out, kept my faith and it worked out for me. But I had a couple jobs lined up screening the kids at a juvenile detention center."



More...

 

Good read there :thumb: