So Steve McNair officially became a Baltimore Raven yesterday.  I'm not looking forward to the Steelers having to face him twice.  He did, after all, take a moribund, faceless Oilers/Titans team to the franchise's only Super Bowl and two division titles, winning with such class and dignity that even I professed a grudging admiration for him.  In Baltimore, he's reunited with star wideout Derrick Mason, and potentially Jeff Fisher in 2007 if the Titans continue to screw up and fire the most underrated coach of the past 10 years.  His addition suddenly makes the Ravens challenging the Bengals and Steelers slightly more than the pipe dream it was.
But the real story is about how, in today's NFL, a player can be the face of a franchise, guiding them through tough times, and still get thrown under the bus.  He did absolutely nothing wrong, and yet the Titans embarassed him by not allowing him to work out at their facilities with his (at the time) teammates.  This was after they drafted Vince Young, who with the proper tutoring has the potential to be the next McNair rather than the next Mike Vick.  McNair has a friendship with Young and would have been happy to provide that tutoring.  Now, Billy Volek is the most accomplished QB on the roster, and Fisher is a defensive specialist.  Norm Chow?  We'll see how he does, but it would have been easier for him with a QB who teamed with him for two national titles (Leinart).  Bottom line: this looks bad for the Titans, and their fanbase (which has proved to be quickly rabid) may turn away to some extent.  But the only good that can come out of this is that the McNair incident may be the line; teams may only be able to do so much in terms of crappy treatment of players.