honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 8:17 a.m., Thursday, March 27, 2008

NFL: Titans' Olson retires after 10 years

Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Offensive lineman Benji Olson, one of the last remaining Titans from Tennessee's lone Super Bowl appearance in 2000, retired today after 10 seasons with the team that drafted him.

Punter Craig Hentrich is now the only player from the Super Bowl squad who has been with the team since then. The Titans recently re-signed defensive end Jevon Kearse, who was a rookie in the Super Bowl but left as a free agent and played the past four years in Philadelphia.

Olson started 140 of the 151 games he played, including nine playoff games. Nobody has started more games with Tennessee since 1999 than the 6-foot-4, 320-pound Olson.

A fifth-round draft pick out of Washington, Olson moved into the right guard spot in 1999 and missed only two games through 2006. A groin injury in 2004 ended an 85-game starting streak, and a back injury kept him out of one game in 2006.

But back problems caused Olson to miss four games last season, including the team's 17-6 playoff loss at San Diego, for which the lineman was left at home.