Longtime Titans Equipment Manager Has Seen Many Players Come And Go

As landlord of the locker room, equipment manager Paul Noska sees a side of the Tennessee Titans most fans don’t see, and it’s not always pretty.

The man nicknamed “Hoss” and his staff are in charge of making sure the tenants keep a clean house.

“Vincent Fuller is neat, extremely clean,” Noska said of the veteran nickelback. “And then you have the other 98 percent of the team — they’re messy as hell, leaving stuff all over the floors around them.”

Fullback Ahmard Hall, a former Marine, said Noska doesn’t run a boot camp at Baptist Sports Park but he gets his points across and players respect him.

Heck, Noska has been with the organization since 1982, when Earl Campbell was still on the team. And players best treat him well — he’s in charge of assigning lockers and making sure each player has the right equipment, from cleats to pads to properly fitted helmet.

“Hoss is definitely a strict disciplinary when it comes to this locker room,” Hall said. “Everything is extremely organized. He makes sure things are tidy. And you name it and he’ll make sure you have it.”

So Noska expects a little order in return. He said the defensive backs are the neatest Titans. The offensive linemen and defensive linemen are, perhaps not surprisingly, the messiest, with veteran center Kevin Mawae being the exception.

The quarterbacks are usually messy, too, but by all accounts running back LenDale White and defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth might be the biggest slobs of all.

“We try at least once a month to go through the lockers and clean them up. We’ll give them a chance to do it for themselves first,” Noska said. “Then they’ll say, ‘Who’s been in my locker?’ It’s like the Three Bears.”

Occasionally a phone number might accidentally get tossed out and the complaining begins, but dealing with an attitude from time to time is one of the hazards of the job.

Yet Noska said this year’s bunch of Titans might be the best he’s been around, which makes his job and those of assistants Joey Barranco and Matt Thompson a lot easier.

Each day the equipment staff has a laundry list of chores (including laundry, of course) but keeping the players happy with their neighbors is a big part of Noska’s job.

He determines locker assignments — a big deal considering there are almost 70 players including the active roster, practice squad and injured reserve.

The assignment is the simple part, Noska said. When a new player arrives he’s usually assigned a locker close to others at his position. Sometimes there’s no room, however, so Noska and the player have to adjust. Occasionally a player will complain about his spot and ask to be moved.

“But honestly,” Noska said, “most of them are just happy to have a locker spot.”

The most ideal locations — and the ones guys lobby for — are those closest to an exit, whether it’s to the practice field or the meeting room. The lucky ones have a vacant locker next door so they can spread out.

“It’s a typical locker room in a lot of ways — tape, dirty towels and socks everywhere,” Mawae said. “But Hoss shouldn’t have to say much. Guys should self-police each other. If you’re a clean guy and you’ve got a messy guy next to you then you say something to him, ‘Get your mess cleaned up.’ ”

Like a parent, though, Noska is willing to overlook a little messiness.

“I’ve been through a lot of players. The numbers don’t change, just the player,” he said. “But they are important to me, because without them I don’t have a job.”

- Jim Wyatt, The Tennesean