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Eric is a guy that has been through it all. He's been on winning, playoff teams in Buffalo. He's been a highly-productive player throughout his career, playing in several Pro Bowls.
You can tell by watching training camp practices that he still has great hands. He's not the speedster that he used to be – and no one is at this stage of their career – but he can definitely help this football team, make tough catches and be there for Vince, establishing that trust with him.
Another huge factor is he'll be able to pass down his tricks of the trade and the younger guys will learn from him since he's been so successful in the league. Sometimes a coach can only get through to a player to a certain point. It often helps when a player can break things down into certain football terms that only the players understand.
Eric will be able to spread his wealth of knowledge to the team's younger receivers like Brandon Jones, Courtney Roby, Roydell Williams and this year's rookie class. He has been in every situation imaginable and knows how to look for certain things on the football field – things like how to study tape to make yourself a better player, how to get open and how to anticipate certain situations on the field. That's only going to help these younger guys. And with David Givens offering his veteran wisdom while he recovers from his knee injury, the Titans now have two experienced receivers that can help the younger guys continue to grow. Now it's up to the younger players to really be a sponge, ask questions and get into their ears about how they became successful players in this league.
By signing here so late, Eric understood that this team was willing to take a chance on him and he was excited again to be around a star like Vince Young and help a team that's really on the brink of making the playoffs. Hopefully he can help put this offense over the top.
From Eric's standpoint, you have to be excited about having another opportunity. It almost rejuvenates you. You say, 'I'm going to go out and I've got something to prove again.' With athletes I think sometimes you tend to get complacent. When you don't have certain opportunities and then they come along again, it makes you work that much harder and want it that much more.
With a character guy like Eric, this is going to be a great fit all the way around.
