His NFL glory was carted away

Watching the New Orleans Saints climb into Super Bowl contention without him has apparently pushed Adrian McPherson over the edge.

McPherson, who gained notoriety last summer by becoming the first NFL quarterback to be sacked during warmup drills by a runaway raccoon, has decided to sue the Tennessee Titans for $20 million over injuries suffered in the attack.

The Titans’ raccoon mascot, T-Rac, plowed into McPherson while driving a golf cart on the field at halftime of an Aug. 12 exhibition between the Saints and the Titans.

McPherson, trying to make the Saints’ roster as a quarterback and kick returner, suffered a deep bruise on his right knee. He was cut by New Orleans on Sept. 2 and has since signed with the Austin Wranglers of the Arena Football League.

The complaint said T-Rac’s “reckless disregard for the safety of the opposite team was a breach of its duty” and requires punitive measures. The lawsuit seeks $15 million in punitive damages and $5 million in compensatory damages.

T-Rac was unavailable for comment, as he was said to be attending NFL mascot traffic school.

Trivia time

Name the first AFL team McPherson played for, and why he signed with that team.

Shirley, you jest

Writing for Esquire while hoping for another NBA tryout, Paul Shirley described himself as “no NBA mainstay. I’ve never been the guy who signed a multiyear, guaranteed contract that would pay him whether he a) played hard every night, leading his team to victory and timeless glory, or b) gained 70 pounds of ‘sympathy weight’ while fathering 13 children in six months.

“My stints in the NBA have been transitory: a half-season here, a 10-day contract there. This nomadic journey has been bad for my checking account but good for my stockpile of observations on the bizarre world of professional basketball.”

Among Shirley’s observations:

“NBA groupies do exist. They’re just not as omnipresent as one might think, nor is the methodology as coarse as legend has it. Players cultivate these ‘relationships’ over months, even years. It could take an entire career to build up a stable of reliable contacts in each city.

“Except for Sacramento. No hope there.”

Take a knee, then a timeout

Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer told the Palm Beach (Fla.) Post that he studied film before proposing to his 39-year-old fiancee.

“Since ‘Moonstruck’ is my favorite movie, I proposed like Danny Aiello did [to Cher] in the movie,” said Palmer, 61. “I didn’t have a problem getting down on my knee, but I had a problem getting back up.

“Hey, I played in 4,000 innings.”

Trivia answer

The Indiana Firebirds. A quarterback at Florida State, McPherson was tried on charges that he bet on pro and college football games in the spring of 2003. After a hung jury failed to convict McPherson, he tried to enroll at Tennessee State, but with the NCAA prepared to block the move, McPherson opted to sign with the Firebirds.

With the Firebirds, McPherson passed for 61 touchdowns, rushed for 19 more and was not run over once by a golf cart-driving mascot.

And finally

NFL Network analyst Steve Mariucci assesses the league’s wild-card races in 25 words or less: “Every team has to win and then let the nuclear engineers figure it out.”

mike.penner@latimes.com