NASHVILLE — Tennessee linebacker Will Witherspoon was about to exit LP Field following the Titans’ 17-14 victory over Denver when the requests began.
“Will, we want your gloves, Will!,” they screamed from sections 141 and 142 on Sunday afternoon. “Please give us your gloves!”
But Witherspoon kept walking. Off the field. Up the ramp. Into the locker room, his tardy smile growing with each fresh step as he said to himself, “Not today … I’m holding onto them today.”
At the time it seemed that he was probably holding onto them for good luck, given that Witherspoon’s last-minute interception of a Kyle Orton pass was just the 12th of his 10-year career.
If there was magic in those mitts, Witherspoon could be forgiven for wanting to keep them as long as possible. After all, the Titans had very little magic anywhere last season in going 6-10. Everything that could go wrong did, and often at the worst possible time, including last year’s home loss to Denver, when the Broncos scored with less than two minutes to play to win 26-20.