In what was clearly a desperate attempt to eliminate some of the competition for the Lombardi Trophy before the season even gets started, the Tennessee Titans turned team mascot T-Rac and his golf cart loose on the New Orleans Saints during their preseason game Saturday.

But in what could prove to be an inauspicious sign for the Titans' season, T-Rac couldn't find any Saint more valuable to hit than third-string quarterback Adrian McPherson. And despite T-Rac's best efforts to derail the Saints' 2006 campaign one backup at a time, McPherson suffered nothing more than a bruised leg and is expected to practice this week.

According to one report, T-Rac was not available for comment, which is probably not all that strange when you consider 1.) he's a raccoon and 2.) his favorite saying (according to his bio on the Titans' official website) is "I didn't do it."

But all joking (well, would you settle for most joking?) aside, the story also brings a heretofore unanswered (and to be 100 percent accurate, unasked) question to the forefront -- why is the Titans' mascot a raccoon?