Tennessee Titans: The old man in Delanie Walker has come out

We all know a dad or an older man that makes a claim every week “they don’t play football like we did” and Delanie Walker is that guy this week.

I’m not going to lie the NFL is getting soft, and it’s nice players are noticing and speaking out against it. Unlike most things, this won’t change anything when it comes to allowing more physicality, but if NFL players stand up, it could slow the process of softening football.

Tennessee Titans tight end Delanie Walker had brought some of that to life and at least addressed the culture in football locker rooms today compared to what they were when he came into the league in 2006.

"“Honestly, when I came into the league in 2006, the atmosphere was a lot different. I know if we were 1-2 there would be pissed off guys walking around here calling guys out,” he told reporters.“We’d have team meetings without the coaches, but today’s football is a lot different. A lot of these guys can’t take that. They don’t like getting called out. They want to fight or get traded, and maybe that’s just where we’re going with this game today. With the rule changes, it’s just different.”"

You can’t disagree with him on this the NFL is getting soft, and it has changed a lot in the past 13 or so years.

Players only meetings are still a thing, but they’re scarce. You see them some in college football when a team is struggling down the stretch or fighting for a bowl bid but other than that it doesn’t happen too often, especially in the NFL.

It’s also become more difficult for players to, at least openly, call teammates out over their poor performance because they don’t want to hurt their feelings. Walker is right on all of those points the NFL is definitely different, and it’s hard to judge if it’s a good thing for the game.

When Walker was asked if it was good for the NFL, he said he wasn’t sure. “I really don’t know; if it is a good thing, I don’t know. I know what worked when I came in the league, so I’m not sure.”

I think it’s safe to say the Titans need some kind of spark in the locker room to get things going back on the right track. If that takes a player like Walker to light into the team or have a closed-door meeting, so be it.

But if a closed-door meeting is something Walker is looking for, why doesn’t he hold one? He’s one of the leaders on that team, so he needs to get with Marcus Mariota, Kevin Byard and Taylor Lewan and figure things out.

It’s hard to create a winning culture in today’s NFL when you don’t have a coach like Bill Belichick on the sideline.

I think Mike Vrabel is a good coach, but he’s going to need the whole team to buy into what he’s doing, and it starts with the leaders on the team spreading his message in the locker room.

Whoever the leader is on the Titans, if not Walker, they need to get with the other leaders and figure something out or else this is going to be a long, painful season.