Posted by ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky
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| | Photo by Paul Kuharsky |
| | Rookies Lavelle Hawkins and Cary Williams get taped to the post by veterans Keith Bulluck and Rob Bironas. |
NASHVILLE -- It started years ago as a simple right of passage for Titans rookies: a dizzy bat race at the end of the last practice of camp.
In a relay, they each run a sprint, get spun around with their forehead on a bat handle, run back, falling all over the place and drawing riotous laughs.
In recent years veterans have added to the degree of difficulty, dousing the rookies with ice water or Gatorade as they spun, they covering them with talcum powered or whatever else they could find.
After today's festivities, Jeff Fisher cracked that he'd have to have the players "return to basics, just give them the bat and the football" because "it's getting a little bit out of hand."
But the side story drew the most attention: Injured rookies Lavelle Hawkins (ankle) and Cary Williams (quad) got special treatment from Keith Bulluck, Albert Haynesworth and Rob Bironas.
Unable to participate in the race, they had it much worse. They were taped to a pole, then showered with everything the trio of veterans could find from the cafeteria.
Bulluck explained the grand plan.
"We were trying to make a cake," he said. "Albert added the flour and the water. We didn't have any eggs, but you can make a cake without any eggs. We added the honey and the chocolate syrup. Then Albert came out of left field with the ketchup and the mustard and the mayonnaise. He's a bigger guy so he's a different type of eater. He might like that on his cake."
Williams said he thought the experience would impact his dining habits for a while.
"It was such a rank smell, and it was disgusting," Williams said. "Stuff that you want to eat on your food, I might not touch those for a while. Seriously, it stinks. It's turning my stomach now just thinking about it. Stuff that was in my ears, my eyes, my nose, and it burned."
Titans trainers often put injured players through such tough rehab workouts that they come to believe it's easier to practice.
The moral here was the same: All Chris Johnson and Jason Jones had to do was get dizzy and wet. They won't be reluctant to put condiments on their next hamburgers.
