Red hair, played for the fish, snaps a football: nickname?

Bluto, Flounder, Pinto ... meet the Red Snapper.

That would be the Washington Redskins' Ethan Albright, who credits veteran teammate Trace Armstrong for giving him a most fitting nickname back in 1994 when he was a Dolphins rookie.

"I came in, a redheaded guy in Miami, sunburned like crazy, and I was doing the long-snapping," Albright told the Washington Times. "[One night at dinner] they are bringing all this seafood out, and he was right behind me, 'You're the Red Snapper.'

"It just stuck."

No skinny posts here

The Tennessee Titans have released pass-catcher Mike Williams, a onetime top-10 draft pick whose offseason weight had ballooned as high as 270 pounds.

Guess that wasn't the definition of wide receiver the Titans had in mind.

Coughin' corner

Canadian racewalker Tim Berrett, training for his fifth Olympic Games, says it's not easy simulating Beijing's smoggy conditions.

"Other than pulling my treadmill into the garage, starting the car and hoping I come out two hours later," he told the Kingston Whig-Standard, "there isn't really a lot I can do to get ready for it."

Hey, fatter batter

Some signs your team's star slugger might not be in peak playing shape:

• Pulls a groin muscle during seventh-inning stretch.

• Blames sudden hunger pang for chipping a tooth on the batting doughnut.

• Thinks "RBI" means ribs, barbecue, indigestion.

Later, Sooner

Josh Jarboe got kicked out of high school for bringing a handgun, and now the prize recruit has been kicked off the Oklahoma football team for recording a 74-second, profanity-laced video about guns and shooting people.

On the bright side, though, he's suddenly a surefire Bengals draft pick.

Strikes for everybody!

"There was a perfect 300 score at a bowling alley in Tustin, Calif.," reported Thomas Bonk of the Los Angeles Times, "but it wasn't the usual way.

"All the pins in all 30 lanes at Strike Orange County were toppled at the same time Tuesday when the 5.4-magnitude earthquake hit."

Quote marks

• Dodgers second baseman Jeff Kent, to the Los Angeles Times, on his prickly reputation: "I don't hang out with the guys. Never have. I don't go out drinking, look at porn, have a girlfriend or get divorced — so I'm selfish."

• Times reader Janice Hough, on Michelle Wie missing the cut in yet another men's tournament instead of playing in the British Women's Open: "Maybe she just wanted the weekend off."

• NBC's Conan O'Brien, after a South Korean TV station leaked video from rehearsal for the Olympics' opening ceremony: "I don't want to give away too much, but it ends with the lighting of a torch."

• Headline in the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, on Washington's Art Monk and Darrell Green getting inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame: "Hall to the Redskins."

Hair apparent

Michael Phelps, seeking an unprecedented eight Olympic gold medals, arrived in China sporting a mustache as a 1972 swim tribute to:

a) seven-medal winner Mark Spitz.

b) the steroid-enhanced East German women.

Sideline Chatter appears Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in The Seattle Times. Dwight Perry: 206-464-8250 or dperry@seattletimes.com