Kassell symbolizes defense'stoughness

MeanGreen61 · June 20, 2005

Posted by Space Raider on the Sun Belt board.

Monday, 06/20/05

Kassell symbolizes defense's toughness

Forced into action without practicing

By PAUL KUHARSKY

Staff Writer

Brad Kassell was a week, maybe 10 days from being ready to practice for the first time last season.

He had endured an excruciating summer and fall. After shredding his Achilles tendon in a freak accident in Texas, he missed all the time where he could have made a dent in the linebacker lineup.

Then, three hours before the Titans' second game, Rocky Calmus was judged a no-go because of a back injury.

Coaches turned to Kassell, who appeared a long shot to play, and he nodded.

"He played in the Colts game, the second game of the season, with zero reps," defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said. "I don't know if in the history of the NFL that's ever been done. He did not practice one time (in training camp, the preseason or the first two weeks of the season) and played in the game."

In a season where the Titans lost a slew of players to injury and almost as many games, Kassell came back ahead of schedule from a serious injury and grew into a symbol of just the sort of the grit and toughness the team loves.

"To think how far he came from camp with the injury to the way he played at the end against Detroit to the very last play, I mean you look at that game and it typifies the way we like to play on defense," Coach Jeff Fisher said.

Kassell started the final 14 games at middle linebacker, finishing as the team's second-leading tackler with 128.

The linebacker who joined the Titans as an undrafted rookie out of North Texas in 2002 made such an impression with his 19 tackles in a last-game win over Detroit, the Lions ultimately signed the unrestricted free agent to an offer sheet.

When the Titans matched it, his salary for 2005 jumped from $656,000 to $1 million.

"It's been huge for him," said Peter Sirmon, who missed last year with a torn ACL, helping to create an opportunity for Kassell. "He's looked at as a real leader of the defense now and not just a special teams guy, not just a guy who's going to go out there and thump, but he's going to make some plays. I think athletically he's gotten better."

But from Kassell's perspective, his status as the incumbent starting middle linebacker and his new contract change nothing.

"I've got a short memory. I don't know, maybe I've been hit in the head too many times," he said. "That's just the way I like to play football, it's kind of the way I grew up."

Said Schwartz: "Whatever he had in third grade lunch money, he's still got squirreled away somewhere, that's him. Money's not going to change him. Being a professional football player is not going to change him. If he was digging ditches, he'd be just as competitive."

Kassell will still have to hold off a training camp challenge from often-injured Calmus, who's spot he took over last year.

A hard-nosed run defender who worked hard and fared reasonably well when called on to help out in coverage, Kassell won't be on the field as part of the nickel package designed to key on pass defense.

He said he feels like he is ahead now, not because of his status as the starter, but because of how many more snaps he's played.

Still, when he reports to training camp in July, he's not likely to be wondering if he'll still have a roster spot when the Titans open in Pittsburgh on Sept. 11.

"I really thought I was getting cut last year after I hurt my Achilles," he said.

While his teammates say he's gained another level of respect, Kassell is not so sure.

"I hope they do, because I want their respect and I want to earn it the way you should earn it," he said. "I hope they do, but I couldn't tell you whether they do or not.

"I pride myself on my toughness. Everybody has the ability to do it, it's whether you are mentally tough enough to put up with stuff like that." •

Paul Kuharsky covers the Titans and the NFL for The Tennessean. Reach him at pkuharsky@tennessean.com or 259-8024.