Kenny, Kenny, Kenny. I can just picture Titans coach Mike Munchak shaking his head and mumbling that to himself over the latest alleged incident involving the Tennessee receiver.
Details are still coming out, and they were sketchy enough at the start that the incident went from Britt being stabbed to his brother being stabbed to a friend of Britt’s being stabbed during an early Sunday morning incident in New Jersey.
And when I say early Sunday morning incident, I’m not talking about them getting up and getting ready for church. We’re talking about something that occurred at 3:28 a.m.
First, there was some sort of stabbing altercation in which Britt wound up taking a man to the hospital and did not want to talk to police.
Later, when Britt returned to the area, there was a gunshot fired.
We don’t know how deeply Britt was involved in this matter. A “spokesman” for the wide receiver said his only involvement was finding his friend injured and transporting him to the hospital.
Who knows? Maybe Britt was the Good Samaritan in this case. One certainly hopes so.
But there is a reason that Jersey City Police wanted to talk to Britt about the gunshot that was fired a short time after the initial stabbing.
The Titans have to hope that Britt’s involvement is superficial. But, even if that is the case, their frustration with Britt has to be boiling to the surface. Not to mention what Commissioner Roger Goodell probably thinks of the situation.
Sunday’s incident is now the ninth time that police have been involved in Britt’s life in some way, shape or form since the Titans drafted him in 2009. That’s not even four years, so Britt is averaging more than two incidents a year.
Few doubt Kenny Britt’s skills as a wide receiver. His frequent troubles off the field, however, could impact his career.
-- Ap Photo/Wade PayneThe Titans know that Britt, more than any other player on their roster, has the ability to change a game in a positive way with big plays down the field. Or at least that’s what they think they have when he is 100 percent healthy.
Alas, that is the other issue the Titans now face with Britt. Will he ever regain the ability he flashed during the latter part of 2010 and the early portion of 2011 before he wrecked his right knee and eventually needed surgeries on both knees?
Britt is clearly at a crossroads in his NFL career and, perhaps, his life. Entering the final year of his contract with the Titans, Britt is scheduled to make $1.347 million in base salary.
That’s a lot of money, but it’s not a LOT of money when it comes to the NFL.
Face to face, Britt is no doubt one of the most personable and likable players in the Titans locker room. But that doesn’t go very far when all these other things come into play.
The problem is Britt’s injuries and, more importantly, his questionable judgment off the field.
Kenny, if you don’t realize what these things are doing to you as a player and as a person, I’ll spell it out for you. Depending upon how this latest little matter plays out, you may be down to your last chance with the Titans.
You are entering the last year of your rookie contract, and the only way for you to convince the Titans that your game-breaking abilities outweigh your off-field problems is to play well and stay completely out of trouble.
Otherwise, you will probably have another address come 2014. For your sake, let’s just hope that that address is somewhere in the NFL and not someplace worse.
Terry McCormick covers the Titans for TitanInsider.com and is the AFC blogger for National Football Post.