Danny Sloane, an eleven year old boy from Robinsville, TN diagnosed with a potentially lethal degenerative heart disease, has been an ardent Tennessee Titans fan his entire life. And Thursday, after being granted a very special wish to throw a pass to backup Titans wide receiver Lavelle Hawkins, Sloan immediately moved to the top spot on the team’s depth chart, according to head coach Mike Munchak.
“Danny’s a great kid. He’s got such a positive attitude, such a great smile,” said Munchak. ”And when we saw him lob that underhanded toss to Lavelle, my assistants and I all looked at each other and said, ‘well, we’ve seen worse.’”
Off to an 0-2 start on the 2012 season, the Titans have struggled with substandard quarterback play. Starter Jake Locker has completed just 61% of his passes for a less-than-stellar 77.6 QB rating, and backup Matt Hasselbeck and his 63.8 rating has fared even worse.
“Danny gives us a chance to shake things up a bit,” Munchak explained. “Hopefully he’ll average better than 6.5 yards per attempt,” he said, casting an angry glare at the nearby Locker, who averted his eyes shamefully.
Critics have questioned the wisdom of allowing an adolescent boy, and a sick one at that, to compete against fully grown professional athletes, but Munchak has dismissed the criticisms.
“Look, I’ve watched the kid in practice, okay? He absolutely shredded our defense. And I think that should tell you all you need to know… about that…” he said, before trailing off and squinting his eyes thoughtfully.
For his part, Sloan seems to be taking the opportunity in stride.
“Yeah, it’s pretty cool. I get to go right on the field and play with the team and stuff,” Sloan said, while donning his peewee shoulder pads before practice. Coach tells me we’re playing the Detroit Lions this week. My friend Iggy at school said that Detroit has this guy named Namadaga… Nedoomaka… I forget, but Iggy said he’s a mean monster. I think he’s just trying to scare me.”
