Speaker 1: This is the OTP presented by Farm Bureau Health Plans
Speaker 1: plan on Farm Bureau Health Plans making it easy to
Speaker 1: get you the healthcare coverage you need for less than
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Speaker 1: to have you with us Titans making news on Monday
Speaker 1: when the club announces an agreement with the city to
Speaker 1: build a new stadium. I had a chance to visit
Speaker 1: with Titans President and CEO Burke Nyhill to ask him
Speaker 1: many of the questions that I felt like the ot
Speaker 1: people would have about this announcement and what we know now.
Speaker 1: So here's my conversation with Burke Nighthill on the OTPUI.
Speaker 1: It's a great day for the Tennessee type and Titans
Speaker 1: fans as the organization has announced an agreement with the
Speaker 1: city for a new stadium for the Tennessee Titans. I'm
Speaker 1: joined by Burke nig Hill, the team's president and CEO. Burke,
Speaker 1: if you would share the details of this agreement. It
Speaker 1: is an exciting day, Mike. We have reached an agreement
Speaker 1: with Mayor Cooper with respect to a new stadium that
Speaker 1: would be built on the east bank of the Cumberland River,
Speaker 1: a stadium that would be capable of hosting only Titans games,
Speaker 1: but the world's biggest events. We're excited because this has
Speaker 1: been a long time coming. We've been having conversations with
Speaker 1: the mayor for a long time, built around several principles,
Speaker 1: but a key principle has been the idea of finding
Speaker 1: a better path forward, in particular for the taxpayers of Nashville.
Speaker 1: Current Nissan Stadium is an aging building, and the current
Speaker 1: structure of our lease would require that the taxpayer would
Speaker 1: fund a good chunk of the investments that would be
Speaker 1: necessary to bring it into another generation. And we're talking
Speaker 1: about hundreds of millions of dollars, if not over billion
Speaker 1: dollars worth of responsibility that would fall to the taxpayers.
Speaker 1: And that wasn't anything that was acceptable to us. It
Speaker 1: wasn't acceptable to Mayor Cooper. So we have for a
Speaker 1: very long time been trying to find a responsible and
Speaker 1: sustainable solution to get to a next generation of a
Speaker 1: stadium for Nashville, while doing so in a way that
Speaker 1: shifts that ultimate burden from the taxpayers and to the team.
Speaker 1: And we're delighted that we've found a solution and we're
Speaker 1: excited to talk to the public about it. In terms
Speaker 1: of the building itself and the lease, we're picturing a
Speaker 1: facility of about sixty thousand capacity. It would be an
Speaker 1: enclosed facility, again capable of hosting the world's biggest events
Speaker 1: as well as events of all sizes. And I think
Speaker 1: what is probably exciting news for Titans fans this lease
Speaker 1: would keep the Titans in Nashville and Tennessee for another generation.
Speaker 1: We're looking at a thirty year lease for this new facility.
Speaker 1: So just for specifics, where exactly is the new stadium
Speaker 1: set to be built. It would be built on our
Speaker 1: current stadium campus. So if our stadium today is up
Speaker 1: towards the river our front, the stadium would be built
Speaker 1: further back towards the east and between the current stadium
Speaker 1: and the highway. So with all this going on, we're
Speaker 1: still going to be able to play a Nissan Stadium
Speaker 1: as long as we need Nissan Stadium. Yes, we looked
Speaker 1: into the possibility of playing elsewhere for a few years
Speaker 1: during construction, but ultimately landed on Nissan Stadium being the
Speaker 1: best place to play Titans games and host other events
Speaker 1: during the construction period, especially for other events you look
Speaker 1: at CMAFS in Music City Bowl, some of our longest
Speaker 1: term partners at the stadium, and having just been through COVID,
Speaker 1: they lost several of their events and it would have
Speaker 1: been devastating to not allow them to continue to have
Speaker 1: those events during a construction period. So we'll end up coexisting.
Speaker 1: There will be a Nissan Stadium that is as active
Speaker 1: as ever on the west side of the campus, while
Speaker 1: there is a new stadium coming out of the ground
Speaker 1: on the east side of the stadium during this construction period.
Speaker 1: So just like what at Lanta and Minneapolis did while
Speaker 1: their builds were going on. Yes, so safe to say
Speaker 1: parking is going to be acted. Parking will be impacted,
Speaker 1: and we know that that's a pain point for our fans,
Speaker 1: and so we've been working really hard already to identify
Speaker 1: parking alternatives, transportation alternatives to make coming to Nissan Stadium
Speaker 1: a great experience even with that disruption. We will communicate,
Speaker 1: we will overcommunicate those solutions. Every city that has built
Speaker 1: a new enclosed stadium has gotten a Super Bowl. You're
Speaker 1: saying that would be your expectation for our new stadium. Yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 1: that would be my expectation. The NFL came to Nashville
Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen, and frankly, they took a chance when
Speaker 1: they brought the Draft here. Only major cities had gotten
Speaker 1: the NFL's biggest events up until that point, and there's
Speaker 1: no question that Nashville delivered and in spades. And so
Speaker 1: those same people, the events programmers for the NFL, they
Speaker 1: took notice, and there's no doubt in my mind that
Speaker 1: the NFL would come to Nashville with a Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: The thing that jumped out to when you set a
Speaker 1: sixty thousand capacity, there won't be a bad seat in
Speaker 1: the house, will there. Know. The challenge that we've given
Speaker 1: architects up until now is let's build the right building
Speaker 1: with the right seats, not start with an arbitrary number
Speaker 1: for capacity that was frankly old thinking. And what you
Speaker 1: end up with is you end up with some seats
Speaker 1: that are not great viewing and game experiences. So when
Speaker 1: we say a sixty thousand person capacity, we're talking about
Speaker 1: sixty thousand great experiences in that building. As we talk
Speaker 1: about the college football playoff in the Final four and
Speaker 1: the SEC Championship and anything else that could come to
Speaker 1: the new stadium, it can be a huge win if
Speaker 1: you're a sports fan like we are, or even if
Speaker 1: you're not, just because of the overall impact in the community.
Speaker 1: That's right. Every one of these promoters they appreciate the
Speaker 1: power of their event coming to town. I mean, without question,
Speaker 1: every one of those events that are coming to mind,
Speaker 1: for you, the Super Bowl Final or WrestleManias, they bring
Speaker 1: hundreds of millions of dollars worth of economic impact to
Speaker 1: the local economy. That means local businesses are busier than
Speaker 1: they would normally be. That means jobs. Frankly, there's production jobs,
Speaker 1: there's construction jobs around those events. But these events also
Speaker 1: appreciate that they have a responsibility to impact the community
Speaker 1: at large, and so every one of them is going
Speaker 1: to bring with them an intentional effort to leave the
Speaker 1: community better than they found it. And that may be
Speaker 1: building a field, that may mean doing community projects at
Speaker 1: a local park. I would also point out those are
Speaker 1: just the biggest events. Those same local businesses, those same jobs,
Speaker 1: they will benefit from a more active stadium and with
Speaker 1: an enclosed facility. Now you're talking about additional events that
Speaker 1: are going to keep hotels full, that are going to
Speaker 1: keep restaurants more crowded than usual, and so we believe
Speaker 1: that this building is going to be a benefit far
Speaker 1: beyond the football team. It's going to benefit the community
Speaker 1: as a whole when these events come through town. Nissan
Speaker 1: Stadium was a game changer for this community. The new stadium,
Speaker 1: you're saying, will be even more of a game changer. Oh. Absolutely.
Speaker 1: If the first few decades of the Titans being in
Speaker 1: Nashville and Tennessee and the stadium being on the banks
Speaker 1: of the Cumberland River were phase one, phase two is
Speaker 1: going to be an absolute game changer in terms of
Speaker 1: what this facility can mean to the overall community. All Right,
Speaker 1: So the number one question that I've gotten from Titans
Speaker 1: fans outside of are we going to host a Super Bowl?
Speaker 1: Is what about PSLs? What do you expect the role
Speaker 1: of PSLs to be in the building of the new stadium.
Speaker 1: For a long time, PSLs have been a reality of
Speaker 1: construction projects of this scale, and so PSLs will be
Speaker 1: a part of this project as well. That said, it's
Speaker 1: been critically important to AMY, it's been critically important to
Speaker 1: the organization as a whole that we find a way
Speaker 1: to honor existing PSL holders. The PSL holders, some of
Speaker 1: whom purchased their PSLs back in the late nineties. They're
Speaker 1: the reason why we're here, and they have been loyal
Speaker 1: to this organization for decades, and there is just no
Speaker 1: scenario in Amy's mind where we don't honor them as
Speaker 1: part of a transition into a new building. What that
Speaker 1: looks like, We're still working through some of the details,
Speaker 1: but we are committed to giving every PSL holder a
Speaker 1: credit to purchase a new PSL and a new building
Speaker 1: that is in line with their original investment in the
Speaker 1: original PSL. Again, a lot of details to be worked through,
Speaker 1: and we know how important it is to communicate with
Speaker 1: our existing PSL holders as soon as we have all
Speaker 1: of those details, and we will vary very soon, But
Speaker 1: at every point when we've had these conversations understanding that again,
Speaker 1: as these projects go, PSLs will be a part of it,
Speaker 1: but that there was just not a scenario in which
Speaker 1: we wouldn't be honoring our existing PSL holders as we
Speaker 1: transition to a new building. Stay with fans, what are
Speaker 1: your goals for fan experience in the new stadium. We
Speaker 1: want it to be a modern experience. Our current facility
Speaker 1: is served our fans well for a few decades, but
Speaker 1: there is a better experience that's available by thinking about
Speaker 1: diversity of experience. Many of our fans do want to
Speaker 1: just get to the game, parking their seats and watch
Speaker 1: the game. But what you see around this city and
Speaker 1: around the NFL is that the best stadiums allow fans
Speaker 1: a choice about how they want to attend the game
Speaker 1: and interact with the stadium. And so that may be
Speaker 1: a great seat that's got a good view of the
Speaker 1: game that they're parking the entire time, and that may
Speaker 1: be a more social experience. There's families who want the
Speaker 1: ability to roam around a little bit with their little ones.
Speaker 1: We've got millennials who would like to have something of
Speaker 1: a game long tailgate, and so we're trying to build
Speaker 1: a building and design a building that accommodates a wide
Speaker 1: range of experiences. We are really really focused on building
Speaker 1: a great fan experience home field advantage. Frankly, through the
Speaker 1: design of this building, I think one of the most
Speaker 1: exciting things in listening to the plan for the news datums. Okay,
Speaker 1: all the events are cool, but this is very much
Speaker 1: going to be Nashville Stadium. If you live here, you're
Speaker 1: going to feel like it's your place. Talk to us
Speaker 1: a little bit about that and the thinking that's gone
Speaker 1: in to that process about what it can be for
Speaker 1: the entire community. We're working hard to design a building
Speaker 1: that is active three hundred and sixty five days of
Speaker 1: the year. We picture this being the people's house. It
Speaker 1: starts with the location. A lot of NFL stadiums, most
Speaker 1: NFL stadiums are usually out in the suburbs, off a
Speaker 1: highway exit somewhere. This building is going to be located
Speaker 1: in a central part of this city, and so that
Speaker 1: provides an opportunity to create an activity that is really
Speaker 1: really unique for NFL stadiums. And so with that kind
Speaker 1: of activity, sometimes it is the world's biggest events, right,
Speaker 1: but sometimes it's smaller gatherings that really really impact this community.
Speaker 1: We're working to find ways to get metro schools opportunities
Speaker 1: to use this facility on a Tuesday for yield trip.
Speaker 1: We're working to find ways that nonprofits could use this
Speaker 1: building for fundraisers. We're working to identify spaces within a
Speaker 1: building that can be used for professional training or job fairs.
Speaker 1: There's a very very unique opportunity with this building where
Speaker 1: it can be used literally for a Super Bowl on
Speaker 1: one weekend and later that week potentially be used to
Speaker 1: host a small classroom for some sort of community event.
Speaker 1: So this is going to be part of the tour
Speaker 1: when the middle school students go to the Capitol and
Speaker 1: the rhymen in all the places downtown you want to say, hey,
Speaker 1: come see the stadium. Be part of this. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: not just see the stadium, mic, but but maybe come
Speaker 1: see the stadium and for a seventh grade classroom learn
Speaker 1: how to code. You know, if their hope and imagination
Speaker 1: brewing for you know, what professional opportunities might be available
Speaker 1: to them in this community as it continues to grow.
Speaker 1: We think there's a real opportunity to see this as
Speaker 1: something of almost a community center more than just a stadium.
Speaker 1: Let's talk nuts and boats. Now, what does the next
Speaker 1: dep in stadium development look like? Well, there's a legislative process.
Speaker 1: So the City Council of Nashville has formed an East
Speaker 1: Bank Committee that's been meeting for a few months now
Speaker 1: trying to get out all of these details that we've
Speaker 1: been working on for a long time with the Mayor's
Speaker 1: office and make public as many details as possible so
Speaker 1: the public can review in a transparent manner all the
Speaker 1: things that have led us to this point, and so
Speaker 1: that process will continue. Now that process will add the
Speaker 1: details of this deal that we announced with the mayor today,
Speaker 1: then it will go to a full city council process
Speaker 1: in the coming weeks. Sports Authority other agencies need to
Speaker 1: review this deal and approve this deal, so we're still
Speaker 1: talking about a matter of months of the city process
Speaker 1: before this deal would be completely finalized and approved. We
Speaker 1: have also been meeting with our community. We've been meeting
Speaker 1: with fans to talk about what they want to see
Speaker 1: in the new stadium facility and the area surrounding the
Speaker 1: new stadium, and that process will continue as well. We
Speaker 1: are hungry for feedback. Like we've talked about, this is
Speaker 1: the people's house and we want to hear from the
Speaker 1: people about what they would like to see in this
Speaker 1: design as we continue to march towards the possibility of
Speaker 1: this new facility. Two part question, has the stadium design
Speaker 1: process already begun and when will the fans have a
Speaker 1: chance to see those initial plans. Yes, the design process
Speaker 1: has begun. We needed to start that process months ago, frankly,
Speaker 1: to figure out whether a new stadium would fit on
Speaker 1: our campus, and if so, how much it would cost.
Speaker 1: And the answer we're happy to report is yes, there
Speaker 1: is a beautiful new building that would fit on this campus.
Speaker 1: And so we have a design concept that we are
Speaker 1: starting to rally around. We hope to be able to
Speaker 1: show the community those early design concepts very very soon.
Speaker 1: They're still in process, but as soon as they're ready,
Speaker 1: we hope to show them to the public and hope
Speaker 1: that they're excited to see what a new building could
Speaker 1: look like on that campus. In terms of the design
Speaker 1: principles we've been paying attention to. First of all, we've
Speaker 1: rallied around this phrase went on character, and what we
Speaker 1: mean by that is we see Nashville and Tennessee as
Speaker 1: a character rich community and I think about the Rheman
Speaker 1: and the Rheman is not future rich, it's not opulent,
Speaker 1: and it is a treasure of a venue because of
Speaker 1: the character of that venue. And when you build a
Speaker 1: new building, you certainly want it to have modern comfort
Speaker 1: in a modern experience, but we also want to embrace
Speaker 1: that sense of character. Right, We're not going to compete
Speaker 1: with some of the other facilities that have been built
Speaker 1: around the NFL recently that are very, very future rich
Speaker 1: and an opulence. We want this building to ultimately reflect
Speaker 1: the character, the rich fabric of this community, and we
Speaker 1: feel like we've landed on something that does just that.
Speaker 1: The second thing is we're focused on this building being
Speaker 1: so much more than a football stadium. A lot of
Speaker 1: the buildings that have been built recently have focused on
Speaker 1: being football facilities. It will be a great football facility,
Speaker 1: it's a facility that will create a home field advantage
Speaker 1: for the Titans for Tennessee State University when they come
Speaker 1: through and play their games there. But it's so much
Speaker 1: more than that. This facility to be the very best
Speaker 1: concert venue in the country. We want it to be
Speaker 1: a place that the Super Bowls and Final four is
Speaker 1: want to come because it creates this great template for
Speaker 1: those those events coming through. And as I mentioned before,
Speaker 1: we want this to be a great place for the
Speaker 1: community to come and experience their house three hundred and
Speaker 1: sixty five days a year, and so that's another focus
Speaker 1: that we've had. The last thing that we've been focused
Speaker 1: on is a building that endures. A building that is
Speaker 1: flexible enough, is built with the right design processes that
Speaker 1: it endures for decades and decades and decades to come.
Speaker 1: This lease will keep the Titans in thirty years and
Speaker 1: hopefully beyond. We are trying to build this building in
Speaker 1: a way that, frankly, it uses design methods and the
Speaker 1: type of forward thinking that our current building does not have,
Speaker 1: and we expect this building to last fifty sixty seventy
Speaker 1: years with the design methods and some of the thinking
Speaker 1: that they're putting in behind making sure this is an
Speaker 1: enduring and sustainable building. So how so do we start construction? Well,
Speaker 1: you know, to not count our chickens again, there is
Speaker 1: the city process that will be ongoing, and so that
Speaker 1: will be the focus over the next few months, is
Speaker 1: both the legislative process and the community outreach and input
Speaker 1: gathering process. If all of that were to go according
Speaker 1: to plan, next fall is probably the earliest that construction
Speaker 1: would actually be. There's a design process that needs to continue,
Speaker 1: if there's a procurement process that needs to begin, and
Speaker 1: so next fall to winter is probably the earliest that
Speaker 1: construction would begin. All right, So if that's when construction starts,
Speaker 1: when will it be completed? Our goal has always been
Speaker 1: twenty twenty six. We're not going to put an arbitrary
Speaker 1: date on completion that would ultimately result in a construction
Speaker 1: process that is hurried or a design process that is hurried.
Speaker 1: And so if that means that ultimately the first games
Speaker 1: and first events aren't hosted at the stadium until twenty
Speaker 1: seven and not twenty six, we will take a responsible
Speaker 1: approach to managing that construction schedule. So short answer, we're
Speaker 1: aiming for twenty twenty six, but it maybe twenty twenty seven.
Speaker 1: We'll just have to let the next few months play
Speaker 1: out and determine what the schedule is, and we'll communicate
Speaker 1: the answer as soon as we have it. The Adams
Speaker 1: family bet big on Tennessee in the nineteen nineties and
Speaker 1: it's paid off big. Why has the marriage between Tennessee
Speaker 1: and the Titans been so successful? Amy recently rolled out
Speaker 1: a new mission statement for the organization, and it's to win,
Speaker 1: to serve, and to entertain. And in terms of winning, look,
Speaker 1: this is a hard working community, right, This is this
Speaker 1: is a community that that's gritty, that's that's not afraid
Speaker 1: to roll up their sleeves. It's a city that is
Speaker 1: based on makers, you know, writing songs and land bricks, right,
Speaker 1: And I think this team reflects that and this organization
Speaker 1: reflects that. On the field, it's not always pretty, but
Speaker 1: it's always beautiful. As it heard Mike Ray will say, right,
Speaker 1: this team is scrappy and is resilient, as is this
Speaker 1: city in this state. We're tough, right in terms of serving.
Speaker 1: This is the volunteer state, and I think Amy has
Speaker 1: always had this appreciation that we can we can help
Speaker 1: model that, and we can help use our re sources,
Speaker 1: we can use our platform to make this city in
Speaker 1: state a better place to live. And in terms of entertaining,
Speaker 1: let's face it, this place is a great event out
Speaker 1: maybe one of the best in the world, and we've
Speaker 1: tried to embody that both in terms of the events
Speaker 1: that we have at the stadium. Every game day should
Speaker 1: be a big show. Amy understands that, and it feels
Speaker 1: like the city and state appreciate how we leverage this
Speaker 1: venue for those purposes. You've put years into this process,
Speaker 1: you and a lot of people with the organization ownership.
Speaker 1: You've taken a lot of time, a lot of thoughtful
Speaker 1: work on every aspect of it. So as we wrap
Speaker 1: up this interview on this big day, what do you
Speaker 1: want to let fans, know, citizens of Davidson County, know
Speaker 1: everybody who's watching this know about where this process is
Speaker 1: going next. Well, I'll speak to Titans fans first. I
Speaker 1: think Titans fans who've been paying attention to this organization
Speaker 1: recognize the impact that Amy Adams Trunk has had on
Speaker 1: this organization since she stepped into her role as controlling
Speaker 1: under in twenty fifteen. There's really not much that is
Speaker 1: the same about this organization from then until now, and
Speaker 1: just about everything's better. And that is not as a
Speaker 1: result of an accident. That's because of Amy's leadership. She
Speaker 1: sets really really high expectations for this organization to deliver
Speaker 1: on behalf of the fans, and that starts on the
Speaker 1: football field. And we've seen, you know, remarkable results on
Speaker 1: the football field compared to where the team was when
Speaker 1: she stepped into her position. But hopefully the fans are
Speaker 1: seeing that throughout every part of this organization, whether that's
Speaker 1: getting in and out of the stadium, which has gone
Speaker 1: from a challenge to something that's that's that's better, whether
Speaker 1: it's how we interact with them on social media and
Speaker 1: through digital channels, whether that's how our ticket office is
Speaker 1: interacting with fans. Amy really really cares about the details
Speaker 1: and making sure that fans and season ticket members in
Speaker 1: particular feel a sense of honor and respect and have
Speaker 1: this closeness with our organization and this process. While it's
Speaker 1: about so much more than the Titans, for Amy, she
Speaker 1: appreciates that this opportunity, it's how to get right for
Speaker 1: Titans fans, and this is about defining what it's going
Speaker 1: to mean to be a Titans fan for another generation.
Speaker 1: And in terms of Nashville and Tennessee. First of all,
Speaker 1: thank you, thank you for your support over the last
Speaker 1: few decades. It is an honor to be your NFL
Speaker 1: football team. We are committed to serving you well, and
Speaker 1: we understand that we have a responsibility to use our platform,
Speaker 1: to use our resources to serve you, and we are
Speaker 1: absolutely committed to continuing to do that. And that includes
Speaker 1: how we design a building. That includes how we ultimately
Speaker 1: use a building. When we say that we see this
Speaker 1: as the people's house, we absolutely mean it. This building
Speaker 1: needs to be so much more than a football field.
Speaker 1: This needs to be a building that serves the people
Speaker 1: of Nashville, serves the people of Tennessee, and we are
Speaker 1: absolutely committed to making that happen. If you'd like to
Speaker 1: watch that interview, you can certainly do that by going
Speaker 1: to Tennessee Titans dot com. My entire conversation with Burke
Speaker 1: night Hill is there and you can watch it in
Speaker 1: case you missed any of it. Hey, By the way,
Speaker 1: when you join the new Duncan Rewards program, you can
Speaker 1: start saving and stacking your way to free Duncan. Then
Speaker 1: use your points on things like free donuts. Then use
Speaker 1: these donuts to get your kids to look up from
Speaker 1: their phones and actually acknowledge you. Use them on free coffee,
Speaker 1: then use that coffee to earn praise from people like
Speaker 1: your boss, or your spouse or your neighbor. Or use
Speaker 1: your reward points on breakfast sandwiches. Then use those breakfast
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Speaker 1: Join Duncan Rewards today, Save them, stack them, use them
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Speaker 1: up for a big weekend against the Indianapolis Colts at
Speaker 1: Nissan Stadium. It is Oilers Titans homecoming weekend, and one
Speaker 1: of the many players coming back to Nashville for Sunday's
Speaker 1: game is Jason mccordy, a Titans draft pick in two
Speaker 1: thousand and nine who spent eight years with the club,
Speaker 1: finally retired after this past season with the Miami Dolphins,
Speaker 1: and now, at age thirty five, he is hosting Good
Speaker 1: Morning Football with a talented group of people on NFL Network.
Speaker 1: Jason mccordy excited to be coming back to Nashville so
Speaker 1: much so he gave me time to record this interview
Speaker 1: for the ot people. Here's one of my favorites, j
Speaker 1: Matt Jason mccordy on the OTP. We know Jason mccordy
Speaker 1: as a football player, a former Titan, a three year
Speaker 1: player with the Patriots, spent a season with the Cleveland
Speaker 1: Browns and the Miami Dolphins. But now he is a
Speaker 1: big time TV star co host of Good Morning Football
Speaker 1: on NFL Network. Jason mccordy, how in the world are
Speaker 1: you man? I'm gonna go a TV starting off, I'll
Speaker 1: go that farm. A rookie in the game, still figuring
Speaker 1: my way out, but it's been a lot of fun
Speaker 1: of learning on a job and getting to know some
Speaker 1: of the amazing people over at the Good Morning Football
Speaker 1: with our crew. How much fun is it working with
Speaker 1: Kyle Brandt, Oh, you never know what he's not even
Speaker 1: I'm not even gonna say each day, you never know
Speaker 1: what each segment is gonna bring, what he's going to
Speaker 1: say next. Him and Peter Schrager, they've been awesome. Any
Speaker 1: questions I have, they're answering them. They're always there. And
Speaker 1: then Jamie Urdoll coming on with me. We're both the
Speaker 1: new people, so we've been able to bond over that
Speaker 1: get to know each other. So it's been it's been
Speaker 1: a lot of fun. How much do you think it
Speaker 1: helps that Jamie Urdahl is new coming in at the
Speaker 1: same moment as you and the host of the show
Speaker 1: is experiencing everything with it at the same time you are.
Speaker 1: In terms of the new Oh, it's huge. We both
Speaker 1: came in a week before we were going to start
Speaker 1: on air and we were just hanging out. We were
Speaker 1: just talking in Obviously, Kyle and Peter they've been doing
Speaker 1: this for six years together, so they have a certain
Speaker 1: rapport and relationship and inside jokes, and it's just like
Speaker 1: sometimes me and Jamie said at the back of the table,
Speaker 1: we'll look at each other like I don't know what
Speaker 1: the hell they're talking about. We'll just pretending to laugh.
Speaker 1: So it's been fun to go through that experience together
Speaker 1: and be able to share it and learn on the run.
Speaker 1: All Right, So you get out of football, you say,
Speaker 1: I'm thirty five, I'm not gonna play anymore. A lot
Speaker 1: of guys sort of take a year or two Jason
Speaker 1: and don't do anything. What kind of led you to
Speaker 1: make the decision to go after this role? Yeah, And
Speaker 1: to be honest, probably a few years ago when I
Speaker 1: thought about retirement, I thought I'd do the same thing,
Speaker 1: take a year off, just hang out with the wife,
Speaker 1: with the kids. And I think it was just the
Speaker 1: way everything fell into place, you know. Getting hurt last
Speaker 1: year told the Liz Frank ligaments in my foot, had
Speaker 1: a lot of time off to be able to be
Speaker 1: with the family. The broadcast boot camp came up that
Speaker 1: the NFL does out in LA. Went out and did
Speaker 1: that and was able to perform well. And by time
Speaker 1: this summer came and I was rehabbing and deciding what
Speaker 1: I was going to continue to play. The next thing,
Speaker 1: I knew I had opportunities of real jobs to go
Speaker 1: on and do broadcasting and be on TV and pull
Speaker 1: games for the radio. So it was just like, Hey,
Speaker 1: I don't want to retire and say, hey, you know what,
Speaker 1: I'm going to hold off on that opportunity. I'll come
Speaker 1: back next year because those roles would be filled. So
Speaker 1: for me, it was about staying busy in retirement. I
Speaker 1: try to talk to some of the guys I played
Speaker 1: with often. A guy Lavelle Hawkins, who I was in
Speaker 1: Tennessee with me and him spoke the other day and
Speaker 1: we were just laughing and reminiscent about our times looking
Speaker 1: forward to the alumni weekend, and we talked about being
Speaker 1: in retirement of staying buy having things to do and
Speaker 1: doing the broadcasting has given me that opportunity to be
Speaker 1: able to still beat in football while actually not going
Speaker 1: through beating up my body every day. Jason, you mentioned
Speaker 1: you had other opportunities in broadcasting. Why was the Good
Speaker 1: Morning Football opportunity the best one for you? It was
Speaker 1: start like an opportunity I just couldn't pass up. I
Speaker 1: found on the show A few times. I've gotten a
Speaker 1: chance to sit on there with Peter, Kyle and Nate
Speaker 1: and Kay and the atmosphere there. I went in and
Speaker 1: did an audition at the end of June, and I'm
Speaker 1: laughing the entire show, and you can't beat that. To
Speaker 1: be able to go on there to hear some of
Speaker 1: the outlandish things that Kyle says on an everyday basis,
Speaker 1: to get the inside track of what Peters saying. I
Speaker 1: think for me, it was like, yeah, I want to
Speaker 1: go and talk sports, but whatever I'm doing, I want
Speaker 1: to make sure I'm having fun every step of the way.
Speaker 1: So this gives me an opportunity to laugh while doing
Speaker 1: a show, but also offer up my perspective. Playing thirteen years,
Speaker 1: I went through some good years, some bad years, playing
Speaker 1: with different organizations. I feel like I have the platform
Speaker 1: now to share those experience and give the viewers and
Speaker 1: inside look of what it is to be underneath that
Speaker 1: helmet and to be out there competing. I wanted to
Speaker 1: ask you about playing for different teams because your brother
Speaker 1: Devin still with the Patriots in year thirteen. I mentioned
Speaker 1: at the start you played for the Titans and three
Speaker 1: other teams. How much do you think it helps you
Speaker 1: in this job that you did play for various organizations.
Speaker 1: Oh huge, Because we'll have a guest come along, or
Speaker 1: we'll be talking about a player and I was, oh, yeah,
Speaker 1: I played with him. In Tennessee, my rookie year, or
Speaker 1: whoever the case may be. And not only from a
Speaker 1: player's standpoint, but also coaches, GM scouts. They move around
Speaker 1: so much and you look up and I called the
Speaker 1: game for Westwood one, the Cleveland Browns versus the Pittsburgh Steelers,
Speaker 1: and I'm walking in to the stadium there in Cleveland
Speaker 1: and the equipment manager, Brad is there. I stopped and
Speaker 1: have a long conversation with Brad. The PR people there,
Speaker 1: you get a chance to see them, and there's so
Speaker 1: many people that you've met, you've built relationships with that
Speaker 1: now you know, when you're on one team, it's awesome
Speaker 1: and you're locked in. But now doing the job, I'm
Speaker 1: doing this the league in its totality, So having those
Speaker 1: relationships and people knowing you and it goes a long way.
Speaker 1: So I'm very thankful for my experience, and I tell
Speaker 1: people all the time those eight years in Tennessee, like
Speaker 1: God will always be home, got married there, had all
Speaker 1: three of my kids there. I'm very fortunate to have
Speaker 1: BM to spend so much time there. Ask you about
Speaker 1: the part of the job that players who go into
Speaker 1: broadcasting never know, and that is it's really a job.
Speaker 1: It really, it really is work. What is the toughest
Speaker 1: part that you've had to get used to as you've
Speaker 1: started on Good Morning Football? One percent because it's a
Speaker 1: morning show. Waking up, I'm up at four thirty, four
Speaker 1: thirty in the morning today, make sure I'm getting to
Speaker 1: the studio with enough time to prep in all of that.
Speaker 1: But I would say outside of that is the preparation
Speaker 1: that goes into it. I think sometimes for us as players,
Speaker 1: we say, hey, like in the locker room, we sit around,
Speaker 1: we talk sports, I can go do a show. I'm
Speaker 1: just gonna show up. I know the game. I can
Speaker 1: tell you this that in the third. But it's the
Speaker 1: preparation that goes into saying, all right, tomorrow we're going
Speaker 1: to talk Tightens and Commander's game. Well, you need to
Speaker 1: have some idea what happened in that game. You need
Speaker 1: to have some idea what the flow was. Not just
Speaker 1: regurgitating stats, but hey, what was the feel of it.
Speaker 1: Do you have a relationship, do you have something to
Speaker 1: back up what you're saying? So I think that part
Speaker 1: of it sometimes as athletes we underestimate and then the
Speaker 1: glind of it is waking up at four thirty one
Speaker 1: day isn't too tough. But when you're doing that every
Speaker 1: single day, you're preparing for the show weekly, daily, it
Speaker 1: catches up to you. So I think the glind of
Speaker 1: it playing football, you know, is there. I think sometimes
Speaker 1: we get on this side when you say this is
Speaker 1: going to be a breeze. I'm in retirement, but now
Speaker 1: you have a job and it's still working. When you
Speaker 1: can enjoy it, it it makes it that much better. Jason McCarney,
Speaker 1: this is the reason we thought you could do this
Speaker 1: so well because you worked so hard as a player.
Speaker 1: You did things that you were serious and passionate about
Speaker 1: off the field. It was clear you were going to
Speaker 1: have a life after football. You were a professional from
Speaker 1: the first moment that you walked into Ascension Saint Thomas
Speaker 1: Sports Park. Here is a sixth round pick in two
Speaker 1: thousand and nine. How long ago does that seem at
Speaker 1: this moment? Oh my goodness, it seems so long, especially
Speaker 1: as I was still playing. Like last year, I was
Speaker 1: down in Miami and I would tell people about my
Speaker 1: days in Tennessee. I would say, well, as soon as
Speaker 1: I said I was drafted in two thousand and nine,
Speaker 1: to look at me like Dann I was in elementary
Speaker 1: school in two thousand and nine. Well, once you start
Speaker 1: talking about some of the guys you played with it
Speaker 1: you mentioned Keith Bullock or Kevin mwy and these guys
Speaker 1: are all the way up or nominated for the Hall
Speaker 1: of Fame and different things, and guys are like you
Speaker 1: played with him, You played against that guy. So I
Speaker 1: think you definitely start to feel old. But man, I
Speaker 1: look back at that time, the guys I was able
Speaker 1: to learn from, Courtland, Finnigain, Chris Holt, Vinnie Fuller, the
Speaker 1: people that I was able to be around that kind
Speaker 1: of molded me and helped me get to where I
Speaker 1: am today, not only playing thirteen years but even post
Speaker 1: career of talking that into me, it was an amazing
Speaker 1: time and it does seem like so long ago. So
Speaker 1: you now there's a guy wearing number thirty for the
Speaker 1: Tennessee Titans, Trey Avery, who played at Rutgers. Rutgers guy,
Speaker 1: how about that? I love it? I love it. I
Speaker 1: was watching the game. Guys, guys are playing against Buffalo
Speaker 1: and obviously didn't turn out the way the Titans and
Speaker 1: the fans wanted. But for me to look out on
Speaker 1: that field and see him an undrafted guy. I was
Speaker 1: a low round guy wearing number thirty representing the Titians.
Speaker 1: I was like, man, how awesome is this? I hope
Speaker 1: his career continues the skyrocket. He's already defied the odds
Speaker 1: and just got to continue to grind. And for me,
Speaker 1: it's been a lot of fun just watching the Tennessee Titians.
Speaker 1: Obviously my eight years there, we weren't able to have
Speaker 1: the success, but hearing a way people talk about them,
Speaker 1: it's just like, hey, they don't get the pub that
Speaker 1: they deserve, but they're a team that over the last
Speaker 1: few years, they're constantly there at the top of the AFC.
Speaker 1: Last year have been in the playoffs. I'm just sitting
Speaker 1: I'm like, damn, why couldn't have been like that when
Speaker 1: I was there? But I'm happy for those guys. It's
Speaker 1: been a lot of fun watching them. But your ride
Speaker 1: was incredible. Over seven hundred career tackles, eighteen interceptions, you
Speaker 1: played in one hundred and seventy six NFL games, you
Speaker 1: started one hundred forty four of them. You're a Super
Speaker 1: Bowl fifty three champion for all of that, And let's
Speaker 1: narrate down to being a Super Bowl champion. You got
Speaker 1: to play with your twin brother for three years. Was
Speaker 1: that the most special part of your career? Even more
Speaker 1: so than winning a Super Bowl? Oh? Man. I can
Speaker 1: remember finish your year in Cleveland and obviously that didn't
Speaker 1: go as playing over a sixteen and remember getting a
Speaker 1: call from John Dorsey to GM and he's like, Hey,
Speaker 1: we're gonna release you. We're bringing some guys in and
Speaker 1: we just want to show you to respect and give
Speaker 1: you a chance to catch on with another team. And
Speaker 1: probably about an hour later, I talked to my brother
Speaker 1: right afternoon, was just like, yeah, they're gonna release me.
Speaker 1: We'll see what happens, blah blah blah. About an hour
Speaker 1: two hours later, Dev calls me and he's just like
Speaker 1: you're a New England Patriot. Were we just traded for you?
Speaker 1: And I'm on the phone, I'm just like all right,
Speaker 1: Like sounds good. I'm thinking he's joking around, And little
Speaker 1: did I know, fifteen minutes later, John Dorsey calls me
Speaker 1: and it's just like, yes, we just traded you to
Speaker 1: the New England Patriots. And I remember going home to
Speaker 1: my wife and being so excited catching a flight out
Speaker 1: to Boston. Dev is in New Jersey. He drives up
Speaker 1: to Boston to pick me up from the airport. We
Speaker 1: go into the facility and it was like a dream
Speaker 1: come true. I remember playing Pop Warner and we're on
Speaker 1: the same team, and we're watching our favorite players in
Speaker 1: the NFL playing on Sundays and talking and dreaming about
Speaker 1: being able to get there and doing it together. And
Speaker 1: I think for our journey the way it took place,
Speaker 1: we both were able to have the same success separate
Speaker 1: of one another, and then to come together. It was
Speaker 1: just a fun time. We both have three kids, they
Speaker 1: got to spend a lot of time together, our wives,
Speaker 1: mom was only three hours away, so at that time
Speaker 1: was incredible. And then to reach the mountain Pegan and
Speaker 1: win a Super Bowl together, especially for me. I remember
Speaker 1: going from Nashville flying to wherever the Super Bowl was,
Speaker 1: watching dev and help host the family. And now to
Speaker 1: be able to do it myself and be a part
Speaker 1: of those festivities our dream come true. How different was
Speaker 1: it playing with Devon in the NFL that it was
Speaker 1: saying Pop Warner middle school, high school, in college, How
Speaker 1: different was it playing with him in the pros. The
Speaker 1: difference was I think us growing up, we were always together.
Speaker 1: People knew us as the twins, Jason and Devon, and
Speaker 1: then we joined forces in the league, and for dev
Speaker 1: in New England like he was his own established guy,
Speaker 1: been a captain forever. He's kind of like we call him,
Speaker 1: he is pat the Patriot. So when I get there,
Speaker 1: he's just Deav to me, He's just my brother. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna talk to him, however, I want to talk to him.
Speaker 1: So we'd be in full blown arguments sometimes in the
Speaker 1: meeting room, and I'd be the one like, if I
Speaker 1: didn't agree with him, I'm calling him out, and that
Speaker 1: wasn't the case with everybody around. So we had a
Speaker 1: lot of fun with that. And I think on top
Speaker 1: of just us enjoying that, I think around us it
Speaker 1: helped to build the chemistry. And I used to talk
Speaker 1: to Coach Belichick about I think for him both his
Speaker 1: sons are on that staff as well, Brian and Steve,
Speaker 1: who are really good young coaches, and him get an
Speaker 1: opportunity to watch me and Deav as brothers. The way
Speaker 1: we would compete, the way we would challenge each other.
Speaker 1: I think it kind of uplifted the entire room, did
Speaker 1: you think about coaching, You know what. I love to
Speaker 1: teach the get as I got older, Even when I
Speaker 1: was in Tennessee. I remember Cody Cinciba came in, Bleedy
Speaker 1: Ray Wilson. I used to love to trying to teach
Speaker 1: those guys as much as I possibly can, because guys
Speaker 1: did it for me. Their time commitment for a coaching
Speaker 1: is what was so tough for me. I would love
Speaker 1: to do it, but I get off right now. I'm
Speaker 1: on my way home from doing it, so I'm hold
Speaker 1: by like eleven, I get to pick the kids up
Speaker 1: from school. I'm at all the games on the weekend.
Speaker 1: Those are just a moment that I don't want to miss.
Speaker 1: The thing that I wondered too. In reviewing everything from
Speaker 1: your career, you saw a lot of stuff. I mean
Speaker 1: you you have a twin brother who you played college
Speaker 1: ball with. You get drafted a year before him. Your
Speaker 1: first year in the NFL, you start owing six and
Speaker 1: a guy rushes for two thousand yards and Chris Johnson.
Speaker 1: The two thousand and ten season was a bit odd here.
Speaker 1: The two eleven season was the lockout year. You went
Speaker 1: through some rough years where you were five and twenty
Speaker 1: seven over two seasons, and yet then you're able to
Speaker 1: move forward with your career, go to Cleveland, as you mentioned,
Speaker 1: that didn't work out great. Oh in sixteen, you get
Speaker 1: to go play with your brother, you win a Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: You're writing a book at some point, right, you know?
Speaker 1: Sometimes I tell that. I remember one day going over
Speaker 1: as I think I was mulling over retirement, and I
Speaker 1: went through each season I was in Tennessee, Cleveland and
Speaker 1: all of that, and I totaled all the wins and losses,
Speaker 1: and it was sold lopside of losses. And you look
Speaker 1: back and I think when some people don't realize, losing
Speaker 1: sucks every part of it. The year I spend in
Speaker 1: Cleveland that much, losing it wears on you. But I
Speaker 1: think about the relationships that was built, and specify in Tennessee,
Speaker 1: a guy like Michael Griffin. I got a chance to
Speaker 1: play seven years with Alton round Werner. I got a
Speaker 1: chance to play four years with some of those relationships
Speaker 1: that you build through that type of adversity where like
Speaker 1: you said, the record was five and twenty seven or
Speaker 1: whatever it is, those are relationships that last a lifetime
Speaker 1: beyond just the football season or whatever it is. As kids,
Speaker 1: are as, marriages and weddings and all of that. So
Speaker 1: it was it was such a fun time, but a
Speaker 1: ton of adversity. But you grow. And there were so
Speaker 1: many people in that building. Steve Watterson, our strength coach,
Speaker 1: who I would talk too often about what it was like,
Speaker 1: and he would always keep me hopeful and kind of
Speaker 1: shown me the ropes of what it was like to
Speaker 1: be in the NFL and to be a pro. So
Speaker 1: some great times. Homecoming Weekend This weekend, you are coming
Speaker 1: back to Nashville to be part of Oilers Titans Homecoming Weekend.
Speaker 1: Any guys specifically you're looking most forward to seeing? Oh man,
Speaker 1: I'm so excited. I'm hoping. Chris Hope is already talked
Speaker 1: to Lavelle Hawkins. He said he's gonna be there. Kenny Britt,
Speaker 1: who I was drafted with, he's gonna be there, and
Speaker 1: a lot of guys I hadn't even hit up. I
Speaker 1: kind of want to be surprised when I get back.
Speaker 1: I can remember being on the team when they had
Speaker 1: to started the alumni weekend and guys were coming back
Speaker 1: that were older guys when I first got to the
Speaker 1: team and with Sean Meet the ropes, a guy like
Speaker 1: Linn Dell who was there, who everybody talked about his
Speaker 1: past and who he was. But I remember sitting in
Speaker 1: a hot tub with Linn Bell and him giving me
Speaker 1: great advice and saying to me, hey, like, don't do
Speaker 1: what I'm doing, Like I had to figure it out
Speaker 1: the hardway, Like what you're doing, keep doing that, And
Speaker 1: I think that's what it's all about. So for me,
Speaker 1: I'm so excited to go back. There's so many add
Speaker 1: ons to the building and I haven't gotten a chance
Speaker 1: to see, and there's so many people there. I talked
Speaker 1: to Jared Puffer, who's in the media relations side, and
Speaker 1: he has sent me some gear, and you talk to
Speaker 1: those people throughout your years when you leave. Today on
Speaker 1: the show, we talked about just the importance of equipment
Speaker 1: managers and what their jobs are, and Matt and Joey
Speaker 1: and Hostair in Tennessee. I'm excited to see all of
Speaker 1: old people beyond, just like former teammates and all of that,
Speaker 1: with so many people behind the scenes. Just getting a
Speaker 1: chance to talk to you, Mike, of so many years
Speaker 1: we'd be on the Titans caravan and doing different things.
Speaker 1: It'd be fun to reminisce and talk about those times. Well,
Speaker 1: you know what's funny is the thing for our job
Speaker 1: that's so difficult is when the business side of it
Speaker 1: requires that a player depart and that it's part of it,
Speaker 1: you know, and you don't really get used to it. Personally.
Speaker 1: It meaned it hurts us deeply to see a guy leave,
Speaker 1: but you understand that that's part of it. It's certainly
Speaker 1: different on the player's side. How long does it take
Speaker 1: you to realize that it's not personal and to realize
Speaker 1: that these people are still your family even though you're
Speaker 1: with another organization. Yeah, it's tough when you're in the
Speaker 1: thick of it. And I can remember I can vividly
Speaker 1: remember having that meeting with John Robinson and coach Malarkey
Speaker 1: and had just my daughter was just born that off season,
Speaker 1: so they gave me the football what they do for
Speaker 1: every guy, you have a kid as a name and
Speaker 1: all of that on it, and then your release and
Speaker 1: it was about ten days before the draft. And I
Speaker 1: think for me, I try to stay levelhead. If I'm like, hey,
Speaker 1: I understand it, like you gotta make the moves you
Speaker 1: gotta make, and then you look at and the draft
Speaker 1: comes and goals, and you're still waiting. You're still waiting,
Speaker 1: and you do get angry, you do get mad, And
Speaker 1: I think when you get to another team and you
Speaker 1: find your footing. We didn't win a lot in Cleveland,
Speaker 1: but I got to that team. I was comfortable. I
Speaker 1: got to know everybody. I was able to become a
Speaker 1: leader on that team, and you start to realize, like,
Speaker 1: you know what, Like I'm okay, I'll be all right.
Speaker 1: Then I get to New England and got a chance
Speaker 1: to go back and eighteen we played in Nashville and
Speaker 1: you guys beat us. I'm still a little salty. Tennessee
Speaker 1: is one of the only teams I've never beaten throughout
Speaker 1: my career. But being back there and seeing so many people,
Speaker 1: I think in that instance, for me, it was just
Speaker 1: like I'm not angry anymore. Like I'm so happy to
Speaker 1: see these people and to know and think back on
Speaker 1: the moments that I shared here that there was far
Speaker 1: more good than bad when I look at being released
Speaker 1: and all of those different things. So I'm excited the
Speaker 1: end of this month to be able to get back
Speaker 1: and see all of those people. Yeah, it's just so
Speaker 1: exciting and to have the oilers here now too, with
Speaker 1: Amy Adams Strunk bringing in all the parts of the organization,
Speaker 1: probably guys you've never met, but we'll get a chance
Speaker 1: to swap stories with and the history of all of it.
Speaker 1: One more question before I let you go. Do you
Speaker 1: have an ultimate goal in broadcasting? Jason mccordy, do you
Speaker 1: Is there more that you see for yourself in the
Speaker 1: broadcasting business as you get into it and begin to
Speaker 1: love it, as you clearly have, You know what, It's
Speaker 1: still so new to me that I haven't even developed
Speaker 1: those things people have asked me. And obviously you see
Speaker 1: guys like Michael straighthand Nate Burlison who I've gotten in
Speaker 1: have just taken off. And I said, I have no
Speaker 1: idea what Nate does with straighthand I don't even know
Speaker 1: what that entails to know that, Hey, that's what I want.
Speaker 1: I don't know what the worst yells are like or
Speaker 1: any of those things. The one thing I can say
Speaker 1: is what I'm doing right now. I'm thoroughly enjoying. My
Speaker 1: Family's in a good place. Mentally, physically, I'm in a
Speaker 1: good place. I just want to stay in a moment,
Speaker 1: stay in the present, enjoy it and whatever unfolds in
Speaker 1: the future, I'll be ready. I'll be prepared for it,
Speaker 1: and I'll just let the steps take me where they go.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you one thing that's in their work schedule.
Speaker 1: They have to go to the bank a couple times
Speaker 1: of the month for big deposits. Oh no, that's the
Speaker 1: part of the job that they liked them. So proud
Speaker 1: of you, Jason mccordy and cannot wait to give you
Speaker 1: a big hug at Homecoming Weekend this weekend. I'm looking
Speaker 1: forward to it. Thanks for having lots of special things
Speaker 1: upcoming for Oilers Titans Weekend this Sunday against the Colts,
Speaker 1: including Jason mccordy being back in Nashville. We're gonna be
Speaker 1: so excited to have a chance to see him. This
Speaker 1: has been the OTP presented by Farm Bureau Health Plans.
Speaker 1: Farm Bureau Health Plans is for those who make plans
Speaker 1: for everything except themselves. We make it easy and affordable
Speaker 1: for Tennesseeans who don't have a group or employer plan.
Speaker 1: Visit FBHP dot com to learn more. I'm Mike Keith,
Speaker 1: thanking you for joining me for the o t P.