Eddie George copes with the harsh reality of coming up short in the Super Bowl.

Not surprisingly, the Titans weren't in much of a mood to stick around and savor the bitter taste of a defeat that was one yard from becoming something very different.

Some players were dressed and filing out even before running back Eddie George and quarterback Steve McNair took their turns on the interview stages. While the two offensive stars fielded questions, the quiet locker room got emptier and emptier.

Clubhouse attendants on chairs removed nameplates from above lockers and handed them to players as a keepsake. Some substitute for a ring.

Nearly an hour after Kevin Dyson was tackled at the 1-yard line and the clock ticked away, George had met with the media in the hallway outside the dressing room and was back at his locker. Still in his game pants and shoes, a sweat-soaked, sleeveless T-shirt with the number 27 scrawled near the collar clinging to his chiseled frame, he held his bald head in his hands.

This was a man who had scratched and clawed to two second-half touchdowns. He gained 77 of his 95 yards after halftime, helping Tennessee rally from a 16-0 deficit to tie it.

Fullback Lorenzo Neal, sitting fully dressed two lockers away, tossed George a pair of scissors, and the running back slowly began cutting the tape off his ankles. A few reporters approached, and he quietly asked them to wait.

Minutes later, still sitting in front of his locker with his head in his hands, he sobbed quietly.

Less than 20 feet away, a clubhouse attendant was cleaning out the locker of safety Blaine Bishop, the spiritual leader of the Titans defense whose neck injury in the third quarter threw a pall over the game.

As expected, the Tennessee locker room was very quiet and very somber. But it was far from morbid. Just as the team revealed its resilience throughout the season, that same spirit was clearly evident in the clubhouse -- especially across the way from George at the locker of McNair.

McNair was proud, almost jubilant, in defeat. He spoke definitively about coming back next year.

"This is a team of destiny," he said. "We've still got a lot of ball to play, and next year we're looking forward to being in the same position."

Minutes later George disappeared into the shower room, and McNair soon followed. Reporters and camera crews milled around, hoping for a few more minutes with Tennessee's two offensive stars.

Neal, meanwhile, began making his way to the exit, but he graciously stopped in the middle of the room and continued answering questions. As one reporter thanked him for his time and turned away, another moved in, asking very similar questions. Still, Neal answered.

This team was 8-8 last season, and the year before that, and the year before that. They survived in the playoffs with the Music City Miracle, and they won twice on the road. It's going to take a lot to faze the Tennessee Titans. Coming a yard short of sending Super Bowl XXXIV to overtime is tough, but it's not nearly enough to crush a team that has known little more than adversity for the past three seasons.

While the last of the Titans finished dressing, coach Jeff Fisher, the architect of this team and the caretaker of its psyche, surrounded himself with his family outside the locker room and made his way toward the stadium exit.