Jeff Fisher or Vince Young? Bud Adams Sentences Them to Live Together

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- In the 15 minutes it took for Vince Young to pass his jersey, cleats and pads into the LP Stadium crowd and then erupt in an awkward locker room confrontation with his head coach, the city of Nashville's sporting scene came undone. All day on the sports talk radio show I co-host, Titans fans unleashed a torrent of opinions in the biggest sports controversy to ever hit the Music City. Sure, there have been bigger stories, but never has there been a more divisive one. That's because opinions aren't just split over whether to keep 16-year head coach Jeff Fisher or fifth-year quarterback Vince Young, some want both player and coach kicked to the curb.

Just when you thought three opinions was two too many?

Try a fourth. The Titans took a decided step in the direction of the dysfunctional Oakland Raiders Monday afternoon, when the team's 87-year-old owner, Texas oilman Bud Adams, insisted that Fisher and Young needed to just get along. Asked by the Tennessean whether Vince Young would be the team's starter in 2011, Bud Adams exhorted, "Oh, God, yes!"

At which point Titans head coach Jeff Fisher had to slap his forehead and say, "Oh, God, no!"

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With three words Bud Adams turned himself into the new Al Davis. Adams, a Texan who appears to believe that all Texans are endowed with certain inalienable rights, such as to bank $50 million in NFL salary as thanks for beating USC in 2004, is committed to Vince Young like no owner in the NFL today is committed to his quarterback. Three times Jeff Fisher has come to Bud Adams with a dispute involving Vince Young and three times Adams has sided with Vince Young. Make it four times if you consider the 2006 draft when the Titans took Vince Young with the third overall pick over Jeff Fisher's objection.

There can only be one reason for this loyalty -- Bud Adams believes Jeff Fisher is messing with Texas. In fact, put it this way, if Young, a Houston native who led the Longhorns to a national title, is from any other state in the union is he still Bud Adams' chosen quarterback? I don't think so. Adams is running his team like it's a booster club, hook 'em till the end. God forbid Adams has to walk into the Houston country club without Vince Young in his pocket. Then he might have to admit what's clearly true, he only drafted Vince Young because he played for the Longhorns and could dig the hometown Houston Texans by employing that city's favorite son.

If Young, a Houston native who led the Longhorns to a national title, is from any other state in the union is he still Bud Adams' chosen quarterback? I don't think so.
In fact, Bud Adams' loyalty to Young is enough to make you wonder if he has a personal cell phone connection with his quarterback. In the cutthroat NFL, the place where Brett Favre and Donovan McNabb can be kicked to the curb by their owners and teams despite taking the teams to the Super Bowl, Adams won't quit Vince Young despite Young's ability to win so much as a playoff game. Even when, astoundingly, Young makes the unprecedented decision of encouraging the home team to boo him louder as the first half came to a close on Sunday.

Which, of course, helped to lead to the drama in the Titans locker room after the loss to the Washington Redskins.

You know, the one with the bad B movie dialogue that would have gotten a late-night Cinemax writer fired.

Jeff Fisher: "Don't run out on your teammates!"

Vince Young: "I'm not running out on my teammates, I'm running out on you!"

Good lord, when did the Titans franchise turn into Lingerie 2?

And when did Bud Adams turn into the cantankerous judge in a romantic comedy who is sentencing the quarreling couple, Young and Fisher, to continue to live together until they resolve their differences. Jeff Fisher went to Bud Adams and said we can't win with Vince Young any longer. Vince Young went to Bud Adams and said I can't play for Jeff Fisher any longer. Bud Adams, playing the role of Solomon if Solomon spoke in the incomprehensible accent of a Texan wildcatter, considered the two men's positions and then did the impossible. He didn't offer to split the baby, he told them to take the baby, his franchise, and raise it up together.

Uh oh.

At his press conference on Monday a clipped Jeff Fisher answered in monotone and eventually said that all questions about Vince Young were over. At that point the local television stations in Nashville, who had made the relatively rare decision to carry the press conference live, cut away from coverage. Titans fans were bewildered, what in the world was coming next on Days of our Titans? The Vince Young drama was on hiatus and every fan was still upset because nothing had been resolved. Asked if he planned to coach with the Titans next year -- his contract runs through the end of the 2011 season -- Fisher said that he intended to finish his coaching career with the Titans.

Somewhere Vince Young might be thinking the same thing about his quarterback career. That is if he's taken the time to contemplate his future. Young seems more interested in his steakhouse than his team. Don't believe me? Check out Vince Young's first tweet after his explosive exit from the Titans locker room? "@vysteakhouse sounds like fun guys tell everyone hello."

You tweeted a response to your Austin, Texas, steakhouse on Twitter, first? Before you wrote to your fans and your team?

Wow.

If you still have any doubt about the epic collapse that has become the Titans 2010 season, just think about this for a moment. Legendary Titans tight end Frank Wycheck suggested this morning that Randy Moss' leadership was the key to the Titans rebounding from three consecutive losses.

Randy. Moss'. Leadership.

Randy Moss a team leader? The guy who arrived two weeks ago after blowing up Brad Childress in Minnesota?

Last season Bud Adams was fined for shooting double birds at Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson. This year he's turned his birds on Titans fans, giving the middle finger to both Jeff Fisher supporters and Vince Young supporters.

I don't know what's coming next, but I'll tell you this, you'll never see it coming.

Because As The Titans Turn is just getting warmed up.

Follow Clay Travis on Twitter here. With All That and a Bag of Mail back on a weekly basis, you can e-mail him questions at Clay.Travis@gmail.com.

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Watch video of coach Jeff Fisher's press conference below: