Kevin Mawae is certainly not young by NFL standards, but the 16-year veteran thinks his age is not the only thing that has kept him from finding work as a free agent.
With the owners and players locked into a prolonged standoff over a new collecting bargaining agreement, Mawae, 39, believes his position as president of the players association has kept teams from calling for his services this offseason.
"I am unemployed and hoping someone will call," Mawae told "3 Hour Lunch" on 104.5 in Nashville on Wednesday. "It's kind of befuddling to me that I just came off my eighth Pro Bowl and a 16-game season and I can't get one phone call."
Mawae says he is working out and staying in shape while watching other free-agent linemen in similar positions find work.
"Alan Faneca gets cut two days ago and (Tuesday) he signs a contract with another team," Mawae said. "And not to take anything away from him, we have the same agent, we're friends. But something tells me that there is something going on beside me just being 39 years old."
Faneca was released by the Jets Saturday after starting every game at left guard for two seasons. He signed a one-year deal with the Arizona Cardinals Tuesday.
"I understand the business of football and I understand a lot of times this time of year veterans tend to get overlooked till after the draft and things like that. It's hard for (me) to fathom the idea -- and it's not because I have a big ego about myself, because I know my talent level, I know the abilities that I possess, what I can bring to a team -- that I haven't gotten one phone call.
"I look on the rosters and I know there are teams that are hurt and struggling on the offensive line and yet I still haven't got a call," he said. "Part of me wants to say, yeah, I think my position with the union is a problem for a lot of management people. But at the end of the day, I would hope they'd be able to overlook that for making the team better."
Mawae became an unrestricted free agent after the 2009 season, his fourth with Tennessee. Coach Jeff Fisher said he planned to get younger along his offensive line, including at the center position, but that Mawae would have the opportunity to return as a backup.
But Mawae says he hasn't received a call from the Titans, or any other team for that matter, and is starting to wonder as the league is in an uncapped season without an agreement between players and owners. A potential work stoppage has been talked about in 2011 and Mawae suggested that some resentment over his position with the NFLPA is being harbored by owners.
"I've said in the past that I hope our management and the owners can look past the fact that I am president of the PA," Mawae said. "But right now it's not looking that way. I'm looking for a job. I've made no secrets about wanting to be back here in Tennessee and I've yet to receive a call from anybody."
