NASHVILLE, Tenn. (April 4, 2006) -- The Tennessee Titans told quarterback Steve McNair they don't want him working out in their building, a move that signals his 11-year tenure with the team might be nearing an end.
McNair, the NFL's co-MVP in 2003, was told to go home April 3 when he showed up at the team's headquarters for the start of the third week in the Titans' offseason conditioning program. The team's general counsel had called the quarterback's agent, Bus Cook, earlier in the day and informed him McNair would be told to leave.
A team trainer told the 11-year veteran to leave, Cook said.
Cook said the quarterback was told the Titans were worried about a potential injury, but said the general counsel told the agent they don't want McNair working out on team property until his contract is reworked.
The Titans did not immediately comment. General manager Floyd Reese and coach Jeff Fisher were in Los Angeles following a private workout of Southern California quarterback Matt Leinart.
Cook did not immediately return telephone messages left by The Associated Press. But he said the night of April 3 that he's not sure McNair would want to go back now that he's been thrown out.
"A month ago, they say he needs to be there to get familiar with the young guys, and now they tell him to get out? I have never seen anything like that in my life," Cook told The Tennessean newspaper.
"They can sugarcoat it any way they want to, but when you throw your starting quarterback off the property, an MVP, Pro Bowl guy who led them to the Super Bowl and one of the greatest players in the history of the team ... "
McNair is the franchise's winningest quarterback with a record of 81-59. He started 15 games in 2005 and passed for 3,161 yards.
McNair, who turned 33 in February, is one of only five NFL players to throw for 25,000 yards and run for 3,000, along with John Elway, Fran Tarkenton, Steve Young and Randall Cunningham. He has 27,141 yards passing.
The Titans hold the No. 3 pick overall in the draft, the same spot at which they took McNair in 1995. They have been studying top quarterback prospects Leinart, Vince Young of Texas and Jay Cutler of Vanderbilt in recent weeks.
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