Two Preseason Games Down, Two to Go

Thursday evening I went to a girl party with my church friends. It was Italian themed so I brought some Italian wine (wino) to contribute to the fellowship. On my way home something crazy happened. Our apartment complex is surrounded by a gate and to get in, you have to have remote access to open the gate. A car was in front of me waiting for the gate to open. I could tell they were just visitors so I opened the gate for them and drove in right behind them. About halfway through the gate the drop-down lever, like you see at rail road crossings, dropped down on the top of my windshield. For about two seconds I didn't know what hit me. I thought it was maybe a tree branch. When my brain finally connected I realized it was the drop-down lever hitting my car and that the gates to our complex were now starting to close. Reluctantly, I pulled the rest of the way in, scraping the large wood lever across the roof of my car and eventually snapping the lever off its base. Damage to my car includes minor scratches on the windshield and roof. I'm happy about that because it sounded like the roof was coming off!

Saturday I got to be a model for a day. My friend Leslie has a bridal business and needed a veil model....not sure why she selected me. I wore about 20 different veils and it happened to be yet another hot, humid Tennessee day. The dress I wore was so heavy and hot.


Saturday evening the Titans played the Buccaneers and won 27-20. Tuff played nearly all game. I thought he did excellent and played a very hard game. Surprisingly he got a chance to punt return but you could tell he did not know he would be returning at all. He dropped the punt but then quickly recovered it. Here's what coach Fisher had to say at Sunday's press conference on Tuff's drop and Mouton's the week prior.

(on the muff punt returns by Ryan Mouton and Tuff Harris)

I’m comfortable with it, I don’t like to see the ball on the ground, but those things are correctable. Ryan (Mouton) peaked and he can’t peak. He took his eye off the catch and looked at the coverage and you just can’t do that. He learned the hard way, which fortunately wasn’t catastrophic. We put Tuff (Harris) in a tough situation. He ran back to field the punt because he had come from the line of scrimmage and Ryan was out. We replaced Tuff and we sent Tuff back there and he literally ran back and he didn’t even get his feet set, lined up distance wise and you know, but he’s a very, very good punt catcher. But we do need to get Mark (Jones) back on the field and we need to get Chris (Henry) back on the field and make sure we get them some reps before the regular season.

Tuff had a few solid tackles and a really good pass deflection, very reminiscent of his famous jumping picture for the Dolphins. For the most part he did not see a lot of action in his area on the field. The ball stayed to the sides or was a short pass.

Cheryl and I before the game. Go Titans!


Opening kickoff below. Tuff is in the middle of the photo standing alone.

Below Tuff is running off the field at the half.


Yesterday I attended Tuff's practice. The Titans travel on Thursday this week to Dallas to play in the new stadium. Below are a few pictures from practice. Tuff is wearing tall white socks.


It was Tuff's turn, along with three other Titans, to sign for the fans after practice.


Below is John Higgins (the author of that nice article From Tribe to a Titan), Tuff, and his teammate Colin.


Remember to watch the Titans vs. Cowboys game this Friday at 7:00pm CT on FOX.

Week Three

Only meetings, no practice on Wednesday, August 5th of training camp. Thursday was especially hot outside. The men endured practice in around 95 very humid degrees. Friday was another sweltering hot day. Tuff tells me that the heat is a non issue for him. He doesn't really notice. That is great because meanwhile I contemplate even going to watch him practice as it would require me sweating profusely without moving. The only pictures from the last few practices were from Friday.



Saturday the Titans practiced in Nashville and flew out early to Canton, Ohio. They got to go to the Hall of Fame. Tuff played in only a few special teams plays in the first half and in the second half saw lots of playing time at safety. One of the special teams plays he participated in was near the beginning of the game when the punter faked the kick and ran it in for a touch down.


Below Tuff is lifting up the punter in celebration of his touchdown.



The Titans play their next game at home versus Tampa Bay this Saturday, unfortunately not covered on national TV. The next game covered on TV is August 21st at 7:00pm CT on Fox, Titans versus Cowboys in Dallas.

On a side note Kristen and I were taking our usual hike yesterday and Nicole Kidman was running the opposite direction. Without Kristen saying so I would have missed it.

Today I went practice and snapped a few photos. They are not the greatest quality because I was so far away and could hardly tell where Tuff was. Therefore, I only posted one photo of today's practice. In the photograph, they are doing special teams drills and Tuff is about to put on a red cap for his helmet, identifying him as defense.


The humidity is lifting a little I think because I was not sweating nearly as bad today, although I was still sweating. Next time I post hopefully I'll have some better action shots.

Training Camp Continued

No "Tuff" reports on day two of camp and I did not go to the practice. I did get some pictures from online though.

The crowd endured rain the entire practice. The picture below shows only a fraction of the people that came to watch practice.




I watched Tuff on day three and found out I could see him after practice for about two minutes. The players can put family and friends on a list and we can go to a roped off area to see them after practice. I took some more pictures from the website and also took some of my own.




In the photo below the offense must be planning on running because Tuff is lined up with all the linebackers here where I'm used to seeing him in the backfield.



Tuff's Day Four Report:
"Two practices today."

Tuff is a man of many words.

Below Tuff is in the background wearing the skull cap and blue jersey. His hair is getting longer so I requested he wear a skull cap to keep it out of his face and am pleasantly surprised he is wearing one.



We'll take a quick break from the training camp talk. So Monday my friend Kristen and I were walking at the park (the same park where we got caught in the storm) and this fruit-ball thingy the size of a softball fell from high above in a tree and nailed my shoulder. For a while there I thought I broke my shoulder bones (Acromiom or Coracoid Process for those of you who studied anatomy). I think its only a bone bruise but it sure hurts still. I found a picture of the fruit-ball thingy and posted it below. It was from a Black Walnut tree and made a crack sound when it hit my shoulder.


Day five of training camp was another two-a-day. I went to the night practice but an electric storm hit only 40 minutes in and all the players had to leave the field. Tuff has tomorrow morning off so I get to see him!


The Hall of Fame Game will be televised nationally in high definition on NBC 7:00pm CDT Sunday, August 9th. We are not sure how much playing time Tuff will get but keep your eyes open for him on special teams and possibly later in the game as safety.