Titans miss Josh Evans' message

Josh Evans, an unrestricted free agent -- and most recently a defensive tackle with the Tennessee Titans -- is facing an indefinite suspension by the NFL for substance abuse.

The Titans should have seen it coming.

Not because such relapses are common, but because Evans may have already codified an alert.

During the 2001 NFL season, Nashville's premier daily ragette ran regular thumbnail profiles of Titans players, tossing up such pastries in Q&A form as to what music album they currently had loaded for play and their favorite movie.

Evans' responses sent up a red flag.

He had a Tupac Shakur readied for sound and he liked the flick Scarface best of all (I really have to make an assumption here. I'm going out on a limb in asserting that he was referring to the Al Pacino version).

While I would never belittle someone's music choices (unless it involves Kenny Rogers) or film genres, his passions, those worded from a two-time substance abuse loser, were suspect.

You have Shakur, the late rapper, tamer than some but a major player in the broad themes of a cultural enterprise where violence, drugs, and mayhem are central; and Scarface is, essentially, a primer for the start-up and operation of an illegal drug business.

Studies do indicate there is no real proof that a causal link exists between rap lyric content and behavior problems. The same can be said -- pardon me, Tipper -- about movies in general.

In comparing some of the thuggish rap lines to that of ancient classical literature, one essayist described the formula as "parodic signifying." In other words, it's harmless.

I wonder, though, about the percentage of substance abuse users who stay home and watch old Bob Hope movies while eating strawberry ice cream and rising from the couch mainly to press some church clothes and put on a Perry Como record.

Okay, how's this for an extreme. How about giving up all your old haunts, habits, and homeboys and finding some safer, healthier replacements? That's what is preached in addiction programs for those whose past problems continue to resurface, the type of program where Evans had to have been a mandatory participant.

Maybe he wasn't listening.

The Titans, either.