Tennessee Titans general manager Jon Robinson listens to a question during an NFL football news conference Monday, Jan. 15, 2018, in Nashville, Tenn. The Titans split with head coach Mike Mularkey on Monday after he revived a team with the NFL’s worst record over two seasons and led them to their first playoff victory in 14 years. The Titans announced the move two days after a 35-14 loss to New England in the AFC divisional round. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)When the Tennessee Titans made their annual caravan stop in Chattanooga last May, Blake Belcher was the first person in line.
A 25-year-old victim of both cerebral palsy and cancer, Belcher became the lead in this newspaper’s caravan story, that story soon to catch the attention of Titans coach Mike Mularkey.
Within a few days, Mularkey extended an invitation to Belcher to visit the Titans twice during the preseason. He posed for pictures with the Belcher family, made sure quarterback Marcus Mariota was available for autographs, as well as other players, then spent private time with the family.
Said a Titans official during one of Belcher’s visits: “And (Mularkey) does this kind of thing all the time. He’s really great in the community. He really cares about people.”
As of Monday morning, all that goodwill became part of the past. Mularkey and the Titans mutually parted ways, presumably over the coach’s refusal to fire part of his staff, as was the apparent preference of general manager Jon Robinson and owner Amy Adams Strunk, daughter of the late founder of the Houston Oilers/Titans, Bud Adams.