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Titans President Steve Underwood Retires With Some Of The Silliest Facial Hair You’ve Ever Seen

Houston Chronicle – Steve Underwood is retiring as the Tennessee Titans president and will remain in the organization as a special advisor to owner Amy Adams Strunk.

Underwood has been with the Oilers/Titans for 40 years. He served in a number of capacities, beginning with the law firm that represented owner Bud Adams and his various enterprises.

With the Oilers, Underwood was legal counsel and general counsel who worked on all legal matters, including contract negotiations and the salary cap. He played an instrumental role in the franchise’s relocation to Nashville after the 1996 season.

In 2011, Underwood retired as the Titans’ senior executive vice president/general counsel/COO and came out of retirement in 2015 to become the organization’s president and CEO.

Forty years of time spent doing anything, let alone with the same organization, is certainly a noteworthy achievement in this day and age. The Titans have had big runs, moved from Houston to Tennessee, and reinvented themselves a few times over during Underwood’s four decades of organizational contributions. It’s hard to ignore that much longevity.

But it’s just as hard to ignore that goatee/beard/Wookie on Underwood’s face. Unsurprisingly, Twitter leapt into action:

The “eating krill” and “Lorax” jokes flied fast and furious as the most obvious options with a sprinkle of muppet accusations not far behind.

At the same time, I’ll salute any man who lives his life and sees that in the mirror then thinks “Yeah, that’s the look.” Is it one that any of us could pull off, have the broom-like abundance of follicles in that region to attempt or would ever want to in a million years? Probably not. But that’s what makes Steve Underwood such a trailblazer. You can’t be anything short of the utmost confidence to keep that look going for as long as Underwood has.

Particularly as he’s lived and worked in two particularly dense BBQ regions in Houston and Nashville. You think he didn’t question the decision to have his lips converted purely to fur the first moment that some sauce on a cut of brisket wedged itself between every lush whisker on that face? He must have. But he had the temerity to continue on with this ol’ timey prospector look in the face of adversity. And I have nothing but respect for that.

Plus he clearly looks the most like someone making a beak out of Pringles:

Once you pop on some absurdist Frank Gehry facial hair, you can’t stop.