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Titans' Roster Includes Trio Of Area Stars
Jason Murphy walked out of the Tennessee Titans' locker room wearing a Yankees hat and a smile as big as M&T Bank Stadium. He had just watched teammate Nick Harper intercept a Joe Flacco pass late in the fourth quarter to preserve a 13-10 win, and he was
downright giddy that the Titans were still unbeaten.
"It was a great team win against a great team," Murphy said.
Inside the locker room, Eric King talked about coming back home to Baltimore to spend the Titans' bye week with his family -- and savor his team's 5-0 start.
"I'm coming home," King said, "to eat some crab cakes and seafood and see some family and friends."
A few feet away, Vincent Fuller talked quietly with Harper about the interception and the hard-fought win, and then looked ahead to a brief meeting he was going to have with nearly 90 family members and friends who packed one section of the stadium in support of their own hometown hero.
"Yeah, you could say I am going to have a nice little reception waiting for me when I got out of here," Fuller said.
For Murphy, King and Fuller, last Sunday's Titans-Ravens game was a sweet homecoming. All three were outstanding high school players in the area who went on to stellar college careers and are now playing on one of the NFL's two unbeaten teams.
Murphy went to Edmondson High School, where he was the Baltimore Sun Defensive Player of the Year in 2000 after leading Pete Pompey's Red Storm to the Class 2A state semifinals.
Fuller attended Woodlawn High School, where he was a quarterback and defensive back for coach Reggie White, now the coach at Milford Mill. He threw for nearly 2,700 yards and 28 touchdowns in his career. Fuller also ran track and played basketball before moving on to Virginia Tech, where he eventually became a teammate of Murphy's.
King was a three-sport athlete at McDonogh before moving on to Wake Forest, where he played defensive back for the Demon Deacons before getting selected by the Buffalo Bills in the fifth round of the 2005 draft. He signed with the Titans two years ago and has been a valuable member of Tennessee's special teams and secondary.
Like Murphy and Fuller, King grew up a huge Ravens fan, which made lSunday's return to Baltimore a bit unusual.
"It was really strange," King said. "The last time I was in this stadium was when Steve McNair and the Titans came in here a few years ago and knocked the Ravens out of the playoffs. At that time I was a little saucy because I was a huge Ravens fan. I was in the crowd pulling for them. I wasn't in the NFL yet but I really enjoyed everything about them."
Fuller was a freshman at Virginia Tech when the Ravens made their Super Bowl run in 2000 and he remembers the dominating defense led by Ray Lewis and Peter Boulware. Like King, he said it was strange playing against the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium, although it was not the first time the 26-year-old, four-year veteran played against his hometown team.
Fuller broke a bone in his leg against the Ravens in his second game with the Titans in 2005, and also played against Baltimore during the Ravens' 27-26 win two years ago in Nashville. But Sunday was the first time he got significant playing time against the team he grew up watching.
"This was my third time playing them," said Fuller, who is the Titans' nickel back, "but it was the first time really getting out there and matching up with Derrick Mason and Demetrius Williams and it was definitely a lot of fun."
Especially when the game ended and Fuller sprinted over to a section of fans wearing his No. 22 Titans jersey and celebrating Tennessee's comeback win.
"I got 90 tickets for the game," Fuller said, "and I guess I used 83 of them. When the game ended I couldn't get over there quick enough. It's just a blessing that you have so many family and friends who want to be there when you come home."
Murphy came up with nearly 40 tickets for the game, even though he did not play. Murphy is a member of the Titans' practice squad, but he made the trip back and, like Fuller and King, will spend the bye week in Baltimore.
"It was great getting to see so many of my friends," said Murphy, who signed with the San Diego Chargers in 2006 as an undrafted free agent out of Virginia Tech.
Under Pompey at Edmondson Murphy was one of the best two-way linemen on the East Coast. He finished with 47 sacks in his last two years for the Red Storm and was heavily recruited by Syracuse and Penn State before choosing Virginia Tech.
Murphy grew up in Southwest Baltimore and last June returned to his hometown to hold a clinic at the Fred B. Leidig Recreation Center, which was attended by Fuller, King, former Woodlawn star Keion Carpenter and several members of the Ravens, including Mark Clayton.
"I'm used to rooting for the Ravens," Murphy said. "Even when we're playing other teams I keep an eye on them and hope they win. So it was really strange to see Ray Lewis on the field. I grew up idolizing him."
So did Fuller.
"I grew up a Ravens fan," Fuller said. "And you really cared for those guys. Ray Lewis and when Ed (Reed) came to the team I was pulling for him. Getting on the field with them today here was big."
Adding even more local flavor to the game was Titans defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, who grew up in Arbutus and played high school football at Mount St. Joseph's. Schwartz also was a defensive assistant with the Ravens for three years in the late '90s.
"We joke about that all the time," King said. "St. Joe's and McDonogh guys together in the NFL."
The Titans' 5-0 start is no joke. Behind veterans Keith Bulluck, Albert Haynesworth, Kyle Vanden Bosch and Harper, the Tennessee defense is among the best in the league, and Sunday's win over the Ravens may be their biggest of the year.
"We definitely play with a lot of pride and we expect to win every game," Fuller said. "We knew this one would be hard. It's always nice to head into a week with a win but it's a lot nicer to head into the bye week with a win."
"We're pretty good, but we have a long way to go," King said. "We came in here knowing it was going to be a knock-down, drag-out, slugfest. Both defenses play great and we knew it was going to come down to special teams and our offense being productive."
King was not only a talented football player for coach Dom D'Amico's Eagles. He also played point guard in basketball and won the 100-meter dash and the long jump in the 1999 MIAA track and field championships.
When King arrived at his locker in M&T Bank Stadium Sunday morning, he found a reminder of his days at McDonogh.
"Mr. Dixon (former McDonogh headmaster Bo Dixon) left me a note before the game," King said. "That was really nice and I really appreciated it."
Issue 3.41: October 9, 2008
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