Making Noise in Music City

Football Digest, Oct, 2001 by Vito Stellino

IF NOT FOR A CRUEL TWIST OF fate, Derrick Mason may have been a central figure in one of the most famous plays in NFL history.

On the celebrated Home Run Throwback that beat the Buffalo Bills in the so-called Music City Miracle in the 1999 playoffs, Mason was supposed to be the player in position to catch the lateral from Frank Wycheck. But since Mason had suffered a mild concussion earlier in the game, Kevin Dyson took his place and scored the touchdown that beat the Bills and started the Tennessee Titans down the road to the Super Bowl.

Last year, though, it was an injury to Dyson that helped give Mason his chance to finally be in the spotlight.

Mason went to camp in 2000 as the Titans' sixth receiver, behind Dyson, Yancey Thigpen, Carl Pickens, Chris Sanders, and Joey Kent. Mason beat out Kent for the fifth spot, mostly because he could return both punts and kicks.

But it was as a receiver that Mason unexpectedly made his mark. When Dyson, Thigpen, and Pickens all went down with injuries, Mason got a chance to start at wide receiver (he started only two games in his first three seasons)--and he quickly proved he could be a playmaker. Even though he didn't catch a pass in the first two games, he wound up with 63 receptions for 895 yards and five touchdowns. That helped him set an NFL record with 2,690 all-purpose yards.

In just one year, things have changed dramatically for Mason, a fourth-round pick for the Titans out of Michigan State in 1997. After earning $472,000 in 2000, he was rewarded this offseason with a $23.45 million contract, including a $4.45 million bonus. And he enters this season as Tennessee's main weapon at wideout.

Mason may have missed out on the Home Run Throwback, but that's in the past. There no doubt are plenty of memorable moments on the horizon for the all-purpose threat.