Tennessee has had six different players as the starting center in the last decade, none of them longer than three years. It doesn’t say a lot for stability at the position. Those players, with the years they started at center, are:
Mark Stepnoski (1997-1998) – A five-time Pro Bowl selection, although none of those selections occurred when he was in Tennessee. Stepnoski started 29 games for the Tennessee Oilers.
Kevin Long (1999-2000) – After being drafted by Tennessee in 1998, he became the regular starter in his second year and was the Titans starting center in the Super Bowl. Long started 35 games for the Titans before his career was cut short by a knee injury in 2001.
Bruce Matthews (2001) – Named as the starting left guard on our all-time Tennessee team.
Gennaro DiNapoli (2002) – Started 16 games in 2002 and 18 overall as a Titan in his four-year NFL career.
Justin Hartwig (2003-2005) – A tackle in college, Hartwig was converted to center and started 47 games in three years. He left in 2006 as a free agent.
Kevin Mawae (2006-present) – As a New York Jet, Mawae was selected to six consecutive Pro Bowls, a streak that ended with a season-ending triceps injury in 2005. Signed as a free agent to replace Hartwig, Mawae has started 30 games for the Titans in the last two years.
In selecting a center for our all-time Tennessee era team, Matthews is out since he’s already on the team as the left guard and I think we have to leave DiNapoli out of the discussion since he was only the regular starter for one year.
That leaves two guys, Stepnoski and Mawae, who went to a combined 11 Pro Bowls but none with Tennessee, Long, who played well briefly and Hartwig, who was good for three years. This could be a tough one to call.
An easy one to call will be at right guard, where Benji Olson has been the starter for the last nine years. Before he took over, Kevin Donnalley and Jason Layman each manned the spot for a year. I believe we can go ahead and put Olson’s name in right now.
You’ve also selected Brad Hopkins as the left tackle on the team.
The Tennessee-era all-time team so far:
QB Steve McNair
RB Eddie George
FB Lorenzo Neal
WR Derrick Mason
WR Drew Bennett
WR Kevin Dyson
TE Frank Wycheck
LT Brad Hopkins
LG Bruce Matthews
RG Benji Olson
P Craig Hentrich
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