Speaker 1: This is the OTP presented by Farm Bureau Health Plans.
Speaker 1: No matter your life stage, you can plan on Farm
Speaker 1: Bureau Health Plans for great health coverage with a sensible
Speaker 1: price tag. Visit FBHP dot com. I'm Mike Keith with
Speaker 1: a very special guest from WKRN News Too for forty
Speaker 1: three years, Bob Mueller.
Speaker 2: Nice to see him, Mike. Thank you for asking me
Speaker 2: to be part of this. This is exciting.
Speaker 1: How's to doing.
Speaker 2: I'm doing great.
Speaker 1: I remember the first time I met you January two thousand, Atlanta,
Speaker 1: uh huh, Planet Hollywood, the Monday before Super Bowl thirty four,
Speaker 1: and it's one. I have a lot of memories of
Speaker 1: that week. Ice storm, the ice storm, all of it,
Speaker 1: but I'll never forget. John Dwyer asked me to be
Speaker 1: on the program you guys were doing down there, and
Speaker 1: I walk outside and there's Bob Mueller, and I'm like,
Speaker 1: what's Bob Bueller doing here? And so I knew it
Speaker 1: was a big deal.
Speaker 2: Ben. I was on the road a month that year
Speaker 2: because obviously that was you know, the magical year of
Speaker 2: nineteen ninety nine. We did a special outside of Nissans
Speaker 2: to Adelphia Coliseum that turned into the Music City miracle.
Speaker 2: We moved to Indianapolis, broadcasting out in the snow and
Speaker 2: watched the Titans fans take over the stadium in Indianapolis
Speaker 2: and Peyton manning false start. Then we flew to Jacksonville
Speaker 2: where Butch Spard had almost got a fistfight with some
Speaker 2: with some Jacksonville fans. We win there. We do our
Speaker 2: post game in a pouring rain on the field in
Speaker 2: Jacksonville with one light, me and John Dwyer. They turned
Speaker 2: the stadium lights out on us and we're in the
Speaker 2: rain with one cleag lanlight on us for an hour.
Speaker 2: We finish our show soaking wet, have to run to
Speaker 2: the airport get enough plane to fly to atlantaut where
Speaker 2: we're there for a week. That was pretty good.
Speaker 1: That was a wild twenty two days, which was.
Speaker 2: An unbelievable time.
Speaker 1: So how did they you're on the news side, how
Speaker 1: did they get you involved in all of that?
Speaker 2: We were doing a lot of the who's coming to
Speaker 2: the game, who's the sponsors that are coming to the game,
Speaker 2: Where are some of the charity money going to. We
Speaker 2: did a lot of stuff with kids in the in
Speaker 2: the NFL zone. We did kind of the outside of
Speaker 2: sports aspect of how this Super Bowl and how this
Speaker 2: team is affecting the community of Nashville during this stop,
Speaker 2: during this run.
Speaker 1: The Indianapolis thing, as we go there this week, I
Speaker 1: think is the forgotten part of the trip. Because everyone
Speaker 1: remembers the Music City Miracle game, everyone remembers Jacksonville, everyone
Speaker 1: remembers the super Bowl. But the Indianapolis thing was really
Speaker 1: a wild deal because when we arrived Saturday.
Speaker 2: Nine's everywhere, everywhere, everywhere.
Speaker 1: And I mean it was shocking.
Speaker 2: Once think and his white white coat coming in and
Speaker 2: that the hotel room we were there when the team arrived,
Speaker 2: absolutely packed with fans hanging from the rafters cheering these
Speaker 2: guys on to come in. And the stadium, you remember
Speaker 2: you did the game. The stadium was filled with more
Speaker 2: Titans fans than Colts fans, and Peyton had at least
Speaker 2: three fall starts.
Speaker 1: They did at their own state. They had to take
Speaker 1: a time out because the crowd was too loud on
Speaker 1: offense in the first half, and it was just it
Speaker 1: was an incredible experience. You and I have something in common.
Speaker 1: We both moved here from Chattanooga, Yes, and I remember
Speaker 1: when we moved here, I knew Nashville was the state capitol,
Speaker 1: and I knew Nashville was bigger than Chattanooga, but I
Speaker 1: don't remember thinking Nashville was that much bigger or that
Speaker 1: much Did you have the same impression when you.
Speaker 2: Moved, exact same impression. The reason I wanted to come here,
Speaker 2: I was really into politics, and obviously, being the state capitol,
Speaker 2: it would be more in tune with what I was
Speaker 2: pursuing in my broadcast career, so I wanted to come
Speaker 2: cover the state capitol. But yeah, it was a little
Speaker 2: bit bigger, but really not much different than Chattanooga. It
Speaker 2: was kind of a quiet town with you know, some
Speaker 2: power folks over here, and nobody went downtown and that
Speaker 2: was it. Three restaurants, maybe it was, you know, it
Speaker 2: was the reason I came here was for work, because
Speaker 2: I wanted to cover politics. And you know, the first
Speaker 2: thing I covered was Lamar Alexander's gubernatorial run and got
Speaker 2: to meet Howard Baker and got to meet spokes from
Speaker 2: when I was in college covering Watergate hearings, hearing them
Speaker 2: on the radio. Then got to meet these folks and eventually,
Speaker 2: you know, Al goreth two presidential runs. So that was
Speaker 2: why I came here and it paid off for me.
Speaker 1: But you could certainly understand that twenty two day period
Speaker 1: in January two thousand and what it meant to people
Speaker 1: based on what it had been like when you came
Speaker 1: here twenty years ago. It was quite a moment.
Speaker 2: Well, and Mike, you know this too. There's Nashville before
Speaker 2: pro sports and after pro sports, and there's it's night
Speaker 2: and day. You know, once the arena came, we didn't
Speaker 2: have a team, but then we got the team, and
Speaker 2: then you know, the miracle happens that the Oilers want
Speaker 2: to come to Nashville, and that actually happens. There's no
Speaker 2: comparison between when that happened and what was before that.
Speaker 2: Before that is not even close to what we're seeing now.
Speaker 1: All right, So I want to mention Duncan here real
Speaker 1: quick because we're doing the OTP and it's always game
Speaker 1: on with Duncan. So grab a coffee and kick off
Speaker 1: the action, whether that's drinking a cup of coffee on
Speaker 1: your way to the game or grabbing one to go
Speaker 1: before watching the game at home. Duncan is always there
Speaker 1: to help you get your game on, just like the pros,
Speaker 1: like Bob Muller, we need to be at our best
Speaker 1: come game time, which is why Duncan is the most
Speaker 1: important part of your game day ritual because it's always
Speaker 1: the best call for football America runs on Duncan. Bob Mueller, Yes,
Speaker 1: where were you when the Music City miracle happened?
Speaker 2: Well, I could all three hundred thousand people that were
Speaker 2: in that building. I actually was in the building. I
Speaker 2: was in our suite. We had done a pregame show
Speaker 2: and my general manager was kind enough to let us
Speaker 2: come watch the game of the suite, and our suite
Speaker 2: was next to a big double suite. That big double
Speaker 2: suite belonged to Bud Adams, the owner of the Tennessee
Speaker 2: Titans and the Progresses. And with sixteen seconds left, Buffalo
Speaker 2: kicks the field goal and the stadium suck drive air.
Speaker 2: Everybody in our suite, everybody in the other suite are
Speaker 2: putting stuff down and getting ready to heading to the doors,
Speaker 2: and people are leaving, and I'm the only one. I'm
Speaker 2: sitting on a glass window with a windows slide open,
Speaker 2: kind of leaning halfway out of the out of the
Speaker 2: suite into the stadium. I'm going. You know, we got
Speaker 2: aldel Greco. If we can make a we're not out
Speaker 2: of this yet. And then they make the kick and
Speaker 2: it's a short kick and our Lorenzo Neal gets it.
Speaker 2: We seem tossed back to White check what's this? And
Speaker 2: there's here. He goes down down, Kevin Dyson wide open,
Speaker 2: catches it for seventy five yards and the place explodes it.
Speaker 2: Everybody comes running back into the suites. The last person
Speaker 2: in mister Adams. So he was not in there, was
Speaker 2: not in there when it happened.
Speaker 1: He was Bud Adams. You saw him.
Speaker 2: I was there. He was not in say had left.
Speaker 1: He was headed out.
Speaker 2: They were heading out of the suite before the kickoff
Speaker 2: that turned into the Music City Miracle. They got back
Speaker 2: into the suite after the celebrations going on in the
Speaker 2: end zone.
Speaker 1: You have given the OT people something they didn't know.
Speaker 1: That's crazy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well that's I love telling that story.
Speaker 1: Okay. So as as somebody who spent his life in
Speaker 1: journalism and you were deep into it even at that point,
Speaker 1: did you realize at that moment the significance of what
Speaker 1: had just happened?
Speaker 2: No, No, you know, I don't know anything about what's
Speaker 2: it like to go to a Super Bowl or what
Speaker 2: this which win means just it just means, Okay, you're
Speaker 2: going to go play another football game, or what does
Speaker 2: it mean for the city of Nashville. No, I don't
Speaker 2: think anybody understood how that game, how that the Music
Speaker 2: City Miracle changed Nashville. For one thing, It's always going
Speaker 2: to be remembered for it. It's been played a thousand
Speaker 2: times and your call is fantastic. You and Pat Bryan
Speaker 2: weren't just fantastic, and so no, I don't think anybody.
Speaker 2: I think as the years have progressed, we've realized what
Speaker 2: that what that one play meant to this city.
Speaker 1: Wow, when did you know you were going to Indianapolis?
Speaker 2: Well, we knew. We had planned before the playoff, before
Speaker 2: the Wildcard game that you know, this is what we're
Speaker 2: going to do if this all half this wins, were
Speaker 2: going to go and so we were packing ready to go.
Speaker 2: We did our show. Me and John Dwyer. You know,
Speaker 2: the Sunday was a Sunday or Saturday game. I can't
Speaker 2: remember anymore.
Speaker 1: The Buffalo game was Saturday.
Speaker 2: I thought Saturday game. And then we did that game.
Speaker 2: We win, we do our post show and we're off
Speaker 2: to Indianapolis and spending a week up there, snowed on us.
Speaker 2: We're broadcasting in the snow outside. You know, it was
Speaker 2: so excited, so much fun, The most have ever had
Speaker 2: my career, Absolutely the most fun. All these fans are
Speaker 2: so excited, and the Indianapolis as the bars and the
Speaker 2: restaurants are packed with Titans fans. Game day approaches and
Speaker 2: it's cold outside and we get inside and the place
Speaker 2: is just rocking with fans. The hardest thing about my
Speaker 2: job at that point was trying to be poised and
Speaker 2: not cheer the team in the broadcast booth because you know,
Speaker 2: I'm a news guy and I'm not covering the game.
Speaker 2: I'm covering other aspects of it, but I can't cheer
Speaker 2: in the forum. So we win in Indianapolis, we do
Speaker 2: our postgame. Me and dwy are just looking at each
Speaker 2: other like this is unbelievable. We didn't think we were
Speaker 2: gonna leave Indianapolis with a win and headed to Jacksonville,
Speaker 2: and you can't beat Jacksonville three times in a row.
Speaker 2: You just can't happen. And they were so cocky, their
Speaker 2: fans were. They knew they were gonna win, and anybody
Speaker 2: who looked affiliated with the Titans was just given grief
Speaker 2: by everybody. They were pushing in shoves at Saturday nights
Speaker 2: before game parties with people like I said, bush Beards
Speaker 2: and somebody else almost got into a fistfight. And I
Speaker 2: will never forget the whoop and the Titans put on
Speaker 2: Jacksonville and seeing Matthews lift that trophy and seeing that
Speaker 2: the team on the field with that trophy. Afterwards, just
Speaker 2: going We're going to the super Bowl, super Bowl for
Speaker 2: this franchise and what it meant to these players and
Speaker 2: the owners and the coaches and Jeff Fisher and everybody.
Speaker 2: People are in tears, and it was just a feeling
Speaker 2: of like, these guys have really accomplished something. It doesn't
Speaker 2: really matter what goes on from here, but this is
Speaker 2: this is something that they have wanted forever and they
Speaker 2: finally got it.
Speaker 1: It made me so happy because I'll never forget all
Speaker 1: the people who had worked for the Oilers, who had
Speaker 1: been close in the late seventies and early eighties. The
Speaker 1: Steelers kept them out of two super Bowls, and then
Speaker 1: they had the seven straight winning seasons with Warren Moon,
Speaker 1: and they went through the move and every and they
Speaker 1: didn't want to move. You know that wasn't their idea,
Speaker 1: but once they got here they realized it was a
Speaker 1: special place. They came to embrace it. They said, man,
Speaker 1: this is this is something else.
Speaker 2: I think the ownership of the Titans players and teams
Speaker 2: at that time when they came here were surprised by
Speaker 2: how they were greeted by no to accept.
Speaker 1: It, there's no question.
Speaker 2: And it was a little rough going in because the
Speaker 2: stadium wasn't built yetting or playing in Memphis and Vanderbilt
Speaker 2: for a couple of years, but once you got to
Speaker 2: the stadium, it just seemed like the team enveloped or
Speaker 2: the city enveloped the team well.
Speaker 1: And it was such a wave too, because we played
Speaker 1: the first game at the stadium. It's Friday night against
Speaker 1: the Falcons in the preseason. We throw deep on the
Speaker 1: first play of the game, and everybody's like, hey, this
Speaker 1: is our place. And you know, people thought Nissan Stadium
Speaker 1: was so special because it had chairback seats. You know,
Speaker 1: that was that was the amenity. It wasn't Wi Fi
Speaker 1: at big screen and led at that time, It's like,
Speaker 1: we don't have to sit on a bench. This is fantastic.
Speaker 1: We might as well be on the Starship Enterprise. And
Speaker 1: then we start three and zero, lose a game, get
Speaker 1: to six and one, lose a game, get to nine
Speaker 1: and two, lose a game, and then win our last
Speaker 1: four and we go thirteen and three, and it's been
Speaker 1: this fun year. We get to it's a playoff game, Well,
Speaker 1: we're gonna lose. It's okay, Buffalo's been really good, and
Speaker 1: then all this stuff happens and the significance of the
Speaker 1: miracle play. I contend that it's the most significant play
Speaker 1: in NFL history. And here's why, because we advanced from
Speaker 1: there to the super Bowl. Now the immaculate reception. The
Speaker 1: Steelers lost the next week. Now it may have been
Speaker 1: a more spectacular play. Maybe I don't know. But the
Speaker 1: other part of it that I don't think is taken
Speaker 1: into account is what is discussed by you, and that
Speaker 1: is not just the football significance, but what the next
Speaker 1: twenty two days meant to the franchise, to the region,
Speaker 1: to a generation of people my kid's age, your kid's age,
Speaker 1: who who became NFL fans in that moment. It established
Speaker 1: football in a region of the country and solidified the move.
Speaker 2: And we were doing. Once we got to Atlanta, and
Speaker 2: the Super Bowl week and we were doing an extra
Speaker 2: we were doing all our newscasts and we're doing an
Speaker 2: extra half an hour, extra hour after the newscast from
Speaker 2: what were we the ESPN zone. That's where we were,
Speaker 2: and our ratings we had the we were fortunate enough
Speaker 2: ABC had the game that year. We were our ratings
Speaker 2: through the roof. Everybody in Nashville was watching you guys,
Speaker 2: watching us tell the story of what was going on
Speaker 2: in Atlanta, through the ice storm, through everything that was
Speaker 2: going on, And I'd like to know, you know, what
Speaker 2: was it like for you guys, because I know what
Speaker 2: it was like for us. It was strange because as
Speaker 2: the game is ending and it looks like it's tied,
Speaker 2: they moved the media. We're going to the locker room,
Speaker 2: so we miss Titans get going down. We were in
Speaker 2: the four years somewhere heading down to the locker room
Speaker 2: and here the yell, and we don't know what it is.
Speaker 2: And then we find out what it is. It's the deeps,
Speaker 2: it's the it's it's the one poor defensive play we
Speaker 2: made the whole game. But then we're kind of peering
Speaker 2: out and we see McNair making his run and there's
Speaker 2: no question this is going to happen. And then you know,
Speaker 2: Kevin Dyson on the end of that whole year from
Speaker 2: the Music City Miracle to one your short and you
Speaker 2: can't believe it's over with and it just it's just
Speaker 2: like it's over. It's it's over. And then we you know,
Speaker 2: for security reasons, people were maybe taking their job a
Speaker 2: little too seriously. We're trying to get out to cover,
Speaker 2: to cover the they won't let us out on the field,
Speaker 2: and we're got, we got where're going live. We got
Speaker 2: to get out there, we gotta go, we gotta go.
Speaker 2: Finally get out there, and Al del Greco's and tears.
Speaker 2: He's the first person we talked to, and we're you know,
Speaker 2: we're so proud of these guys, and we know also
Speaker 2: how much it just hurts that they were this close
Speaker 2: to to you know, who knows if we'd have won,
Speaker 2: but this close to keeping the game, going to give
Speaker 2: it another shot. And I remember interviewing Jeff Fisher and
Speaker 2: and I've never seen him at a loss for words,
Speaker 2: and he was at a loss for words with me
Speaker 2: and John were talking to him and and he just
Speaker 2: was so proud of the team and just so disappointed.
Speaker 2: At the same time, it's.
Speaker 1: The most empty I've ever felt after anything, as I
Speaker 1: mean to lose a super Bowl that way. After that,
Speaker 1: twenty two days and we got back to the hotel
Speaker 1: and they have a post super Bowl party. Travis Tritt
Speaker 1: is performing at our post super Bowl party. And I
Speaker 1: will always be a Travis Tritt fan because he I
Speaker 1: felt like I needed to go down and go to
Speaker 1: the party. My wife didn't want to go down and
Speaker 1: she was worn out, and she says, how can you
Speaker 1: do this? I said, well, they've done this nice thing
Speaker 1: for us. I should go down. And he stopped his
Speaker 1: set and he goes, listen. He goes, I just want
Speaker 1: you to all know how proud we are of you,
Speaker 1: and you played a great game. And of course, you know,
Speaker 1: the President called us after the game. I've never heard
Speaker 1: of the president calling the losing team when.
Speaker 2: We did a parade for the losing team ever Hashville,
Speaker 2: and I've always wondered if it was the wrong thing
Speaker 2: to do. I don't think it was. I think the
Speaker 2: city was so in love with this team. It was
Speaker 2: showing appreciation even though they didn't win it that they
Speaker 2: wanted to show the appreciation for these guys for what
Speaker 2: they did, and I think the players appreciated that, even
Speaker 2: though they didn't have a Lombardi Trophy with me. And
Speaker 2: the downtown was insane, well.
Speaker 1: They say, and I don't know that anyone counted, but
Speaker 1: it has been said that there were more people at
Speaker 1: the runner up Super Bowl parade in Nashville than they're
Speaker 1: wearing Saint Louis at their Super Bowl Championship preriade. It
Speaker 1: was crazy. People took their St.
Speaker 2: Louis. They're not great big football fans. They're better baseball, right,
Speaker 2: but yeah, it was packed downtown. I mean, we were
Speaker 2: broadcasting live obviously, and I'm the players are on the
Speaker 2: backs of convertibles coming through, and people are throwing confetti,
Speaker 2: and there's Titans flags everywhere, and there's kids everywhere, and
Speaker 2: they're signing autographs as they go by. The mayors down there.
Speaker 2: It was just it was a big thank you as
Speaker 2: what it was that was.
Speaker 1: To go from you know, we have the parade right
Speaker 1: there the first part of February, and if you had
Speaker 1: gone back six months, we didn't know if we were
Speaker 1: going to sell out all the games. You know, we
Speaker 1: had to work hard to sell out the first preseason game,
Speaker 1: and then the second preseason game, and then the regular
Speaker 1: season opener against Cincinnati.
Speaker 2: To me, that's at the whole station. They were going
Speaker 2: to lose that game, and they pulled.
Speaker 1: It out, pulled it out, and then the Cleveland game
Speaker 1: that followed, and so then we you know, when we
Speaker 1: started three and oh, then we sold out a couple
Speaker 1: more games, and when the record got better, we sold
Speaker 1: that the season, and you know, that was the goal,
Speaker 1: but that was no sure thing, and you look back
Speaker 1: on it now, how that changed that whole period of time.
Speaker 1: And like this weekend, Titans fans are going to go
Speaker 1: to Indianapolis. Yes, next weekend, thousands of Titans fans are
Speaker 1: going to London. And what we're talking about, almost twenty
Speaker 1: five years ago set the stage for this, which is
Speaker 1: really crazy.
Speaker 2: Thing like it. I'd have to talk to other people
Speaker 2: that broadcast in other cities, but I've never seen it
Speaker 2: was like a college atmosphere. It was like tailgating from
Speaker 2: going to college games. That everybody who was a Titans fan,
Speaker 2: they got in the buses, they got in their cars,
Speaker 2: they got in the planes and followed the team. And
Speaker 2: that just doesn't happen a whole lot in the NFL
Speaker 2: on a regular basis.
Speaker 1: And you think about Kevin Dyson.
Speaker 2: What a great I'm actually friends with Kevin and I
Speaker 2: talked to him about this all the time and give
Speaker 2: him grief anyone you got short, and he takes it in.
Speaker 2: But he's the book in for the whole for the
Speaker 2: whole year.
Speaker 1: He's the book in for the whole year. And he's
Speaker 1: an interesting story because he's the miracle guy. Well he's
Speaker 1: the guy who got picked before Randy Moss. He oh yeah,
Speaker 1: oh yeah, he's the miracle guy. He's the one yard
Speaker 1: short guy. He's the guy who has what was on
Speaker 1: its way to being a great career sort of short
Speaker 1: circuit because of a very strange injury that happened in practice.
Speaker 1: And now he's principal. He's doctor Kevin Dyson, doctor Kevin
Speaker 1: Dys And you think about the impact of all of
Speaker 1: that in a twenty five year period in who this
Speaker 1: person is as part of this community in all these ways.
Speaker 2: And he chose to stay here and be part of
Speaker 2: this community, which so many former Titans have. There are
Speaker 2: so many former Titans, you know this, who live here
Speaker 2: and call this place home because they feel so welcomed
Speaker 2: when during their playing days and even afterwards. You know,
Speaker 2: people still go up and see these Keith Bullock and
Speaker 2: you know, you name it there that live here or
Speaker 2: visit here and are still part of this community.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you saw the reaction to Keith
Speaker 1: Bullock on Sunday.
Speaker 2: I did.
Speaker 1: It's crazy, it was rock star crazy. And then he
Speaker 1: stayed out fire. He is mister Monday Neck. But what
Speaker 1: he means to people, what Eddie George means to people
Speaker 1: in so many different ways.
Speaker 2: Yes, you had football coach. How great is that? I mean,
Speaker 2: can you imagine being one of those players played for
Speaker 2: Eddie George.
Speaker 1: By Son played at Vanderbilt and he chose to come
Speaker 1: back here, and you know, he becomes an actor and
Speaker 1: he does all the things. I mean, he's Eddie George.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's the beast he is.
Speaker 1: And then Steve McNair.
Speaker 2: The Tragedy of the Titans. Yeah, you know, I was
Speaker 2: on a golf course with Neil Or in my morning
Speaker 2: anchor when we got the call and you know, just
Speaker 2: you've got to be kidding me. Well, we didn't believe
Speaker 2: it was true, you know what. And then then we're
Speaker 2: on the air and then it's just it's just got awful.
Speaker 2: It was just a terrible, terrible day. And I lost
Speaker 2: my father that same week, oh, just a few days later.
Speaker 2: It was a terrible week for me. Yeah. I didn't
Speaker 2: know Steve very well. I'd met him a couple of times,
Speaker 2: but the man that he was in the way that
Speaker 2: he died, and it was just awful, It was just awful.
Speaker 2: I know, it must have been just crushing for the franchise.
Speaker 1: Well, you're in the bed MGM studio. We're glad you're here,
Speaker 1: Bob Mueller. But we've got a picture of Steve McNair
Speaker 1: in the corner and everyone who comes in has to
Speaker 1: go see that picture because he is He's the heart
Speaker 1: and soul and losing him was crushing. And then how Eddie,
Speaker 1: Eddie George decided to take the mantle of being the
Speaker 1: lead Titan. He's the chairman of the board, he's the
Speaker 1: guy that steps forward when you have to have it.
Speaker 1: Of that part of the family. It's been it's been
Speaker 1: heartbreaking and at the same time gratifying to watch what
Speaker 1: has come through that, because I don't think Edy really
Speaker 1: wanted that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree with you. I think Eddie was a
Speaker 2: great player and a great representative for the Titans in
Speaker 2: the city. But you know, I think he was a
Speaker 2: more quiet guy than Steve was. Steve would never backed
Speaker 2: away from a question. We'll tell you exactly what he thought.
Speaker 2: But yeah, and liked being the leader of the team.
Speaker 1: All right. I got to read this for our friends
Speaker 1: at seat geek, the official ticketing partner of the Tennessee Titans.
Speaker 1: The deal is finalized in Seat Geek is the newest
Speaker 1: member of the Titans family. If you haven't heard the
Speaker 1: name yet, get used to it, because you'll be hearing
Speaker 1: it a lot more through the twenty twenty three season.
Speaker 1: Whether you're buying or selling tickets to Titans games or
Speaker 1: any live event in Nashville, Seat Geek is the place
Speaker 1: to do it. Seat Geek the new official ticketing partner
Speaker 1: of the Tennessee Titans. So Titans fans can fan you're
Speaker 1: you probably go back to your start seeing a guy
Speaker 1: do live, good stuff, good stuff. All right. So I
Speaker 1: want to ask you this week with Bob Mueller. Yeah,
Speaker 1: thanks on Sundays? How long has that been on?
Speaker 2: I started that show in two thousand and six. Okay,
Speaker 2: So there was a big Senate race Bob Corker and
Speaker 2: Harold Ford Junior, and that was the start of the show.
Speaker 2: I had done one in the eighties and nineties for
Speaker 2: a while, but that one's been going on since two
Speaker 2: thousand and six.
Speaker 1: Very good show. Thank you, especially if you're a political
Speaker 1: science graduate like I. Thank you so well done.
Speaker 2: I think it's important, not just as my show. I
Speaker 2: think it's I think that people of a community want
Speaker 2: to hear from their elected officials, and there are not
Speaker 2: enough venues, and that's why I do it. I think
Speaker 2: it's important for people to hear the folks who they
Speaker 2: vote for, who they vote against, their opinions, what they're
Speaker 2: doing for their constituents, what they're doing for the community. Well,
Speaker 2: they're not doing for the community, and that that's really
Speaker 2: why I do it.
Speaker 1: And it's often forgotten too that there is a public
Speaker 1: service aspect and responsibility with a radio station or a
Speaker 1: television station, and a lot of our great Titans radio
Speaker 1: stations have those sorts of programs, and I hope it'll
Speaker 1: always contend well.
Speaker 2: I appreciate that. It's kind of my baby. I write it,
Speaker 2: produce it, book the guests to do it all.
Speaker 1: It's really good. It is really really well done as
Speaker 1: that guy. What was a bigger accomplishment for the organization
Speaker 1: getting the first stadium deal done or getting the second
Speaker 1: stadium deal done?
Speaker 2: Oh? I think the second stadium did really I do
Speaker 2: you know. I know I was here during you know,
Speaker 2: the vote that was going to happen. It was never
Speaker 2: not going to pass. That was not going to happen.
Speaker 2: They were not going to deny an NFL franchise to
Speaker 2: come to Nashville. I was never afraid of that. I
Speaker 2: know that there was a lot of folks that spent
Speaker 2: a lot of time campaigning, and if you look at
Speaker 2: the result, I mean didn't blew it out. It was
Speaker 2: a big win. I think this is difficult. Was more
Speaker 2: difficult because the political aspect of the country has changed
Speaker 2: since nineteen ninety eight. So I think that's why it
Speaker 2: was more difficult. That and two hundred and eighty five
Speaker 2: million as opposed to two point one billion is a
Speaker 2: big difference. But I think the positive that didn't happen
Speaker 2: for whatever reason with the Titan Stadium that's there currently
Speaker 2: is that this is not just the stadium. This is
Speaker 2: River North Oracle, what the city's going to. This is
Speaker 2: East Bank will be unrecognizable. In five years, there's going
Speaker 2: to be a whole new community, walking bridges, maybe a
Speaker 2: marina parks. This isn't just about the Titan Stadium this time.
Speaker 2: This is about a whole development of public public, private
Speaker 2: moneies that are coming in there that's going to transform
Speaker 2: the city. That's why I think it's more important and
Speaker 2: was harder than the first one.
Speaker 1: Well, the other aspect of it too, is in the
Speaker 1: first one, Nashville had no leverage. No they they the
Speaker 1: year had to do it or they didn't. And this
Speaker 1: time around it was said, let's change how Metro's portion
Speaker 1: of this is going to be paid for it.
Speaker 2: I think that was fair.
Speaker 1: Yeah, with the hotel motel and with you know, the
Speaker 1: sales tax issues around there, and to see, you know,
Speaker 1: what this place is going to be is exciting. I'm
Speaker 1: thrilled it's staying in the same footprint too, because I
Speaker 1: love that we have the stadium where we do.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I know you can't, but I think where the
Speaker 2: stadium is now is actually a better site than where
Speaker 2: the new one's gonna be. I think love looking over
Speaker 2: the river now. I know you can't just tear it
Speaker 2: down a bill because you've got to play somewhere. But
Speaker 2: it's gonna be gorgeous. It's gonna I think that if
Speaker 2: it comes out like the renditions are, people are going
Speaker 2: to love this thing. And I was rooting for a
Speaker 2: retractable roof because I think I think the the temperatures
Speaker 2: and the and the climate here are perfect for it.
Speaker 2: But we've got translucent and there's going to be open
Speaker 2: on the sides of it, so I think we're close
Speaker 2: to being able. It's going to feel outdoor.
Speaker 1: I think we were all for retractable, but when they
Speaker 1: did the research saying how rarely you use it, I
Speaker 1: mean just.
Speaker 2: For the cost, like a half a billion dollars.
Speaker 1: Crazy, Yeah, it's crazy. Do you know that they could
Speaker 1: have done a retractable roof on Arrowhead in nineteen seventy
Speaker 1: one for twenty five million dollars And it was crazy
Speaker 1: at the time. There was a roof they could have
Speaker 1: slid back and forth between the baseball stadium and the
Speaker 1: football stadium and so there you know, there actually been
Speaker 1: designs in this way. And we're going to go to
Speaker 1: Indianapolis this weekend. Who knows whether they'll have the roof
Speaker 1: open or not.
Speaker 2: And it's a process. They got to kind of decide
Speaker 2: to do it, and it takes a while to get
Speaker 2: it open.
Speaker 1: So the thing that I'm I'm excited about a lot
Speaker 1: of things about the new stadium, but the terraces too.
Speaker 1: That's going to give Bob Mueller the chance to look
Speaker 1: over downtown and look over the rear.
Speaker 2: Are Are you surprised? And I know it's because partially
Speaker 2: because of the footprint that it's actually gonna be a
Speaker 2: little smaller than the Sun Stadium.
Speaker 1: No, No, not at all. The design. I mean, I
Speaker 1: think the league's I don't think mantra is not right, but.
Speaker 2: Sort of a lot smaller, but a little bit.
Speaker 1: Well, they wanted to go fifty five and the Titans do.
Speaker 1: We couldn't go to fifty five. We had to stay
Speaker 1: in the sixties. But what's happened, Bob is the change
Speaker 1: in the public's feeling about like the upper deck yep.
Speaker 1: And that's why you're going to see the upper deck
Speaker 1: be at least in part, sort of the party deck
Speaker 1: where people can hang out. People have changed how they
Speaker 1: use tickets, how they use the stadium, and I think
Speaker 1: that's going to be fun because my kids would certainly
Speaker 1: buy a ticket on the party deck and stand there
Speaker 1: with their friends and eat the food and drink the
Speaker 1: drink and go out on the terrace tracks.
Speaker 2: A different audience.
Speaker 1: It attracts a different audience. And you know, Burkenye Hill
Speaker 1: has said it consistently, and that is we have to
Speaker 1: give fifteen, sixteen, seventeen different experiences. We're now at Nissan Stadium.
Speaker 1: You get about four and that's that's life.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, yeah, I'm looking forward to it's going to be.
Speaker 2: It's going to be an experienced when that stadium is
Speaker 2: up and running.
Speaker 1: This has been an experience to have you here. Thanks
Speaker 1: for doing this. And I was thinking about anybody who
Speaker 1: follows you on any of your socials or.
Speaker 2: Oh me on my boat and my ski, Well we know.
Speaker 1: I mean you were an active guy, You were an
Speaker 1: athlete growing up, and so getting has to talk sports
Speaker 1: for the news guys kind of probably love.
Speaker 2: You know. When I was in college, like I said,
Speaker 2: I tried to play some baseball. Wasn't quite good enough,
Speaker 2: but I did get to do play by play for
Speaker 2: baseball for football and kind of soccer and basketball. And
Speaker 2: I absolutely am envious of you. I think it's why
Speaker 2: did you give it up? I think it's the most
Speaker 2: fun because in the seventies when I was graduating and
Speaker 2: getting in, it was when they first started hiring people
Speaker 2: that were former athletes, and that's it was a big trend,
Speaker 2: and they weren't really that everybody was kind of going
Speaker 2: in that route. So I went to new and I
Speaker 2: love news. I'm a big news guy. But by far
Speaker 2: of everything I've done, the years I was in college
Speaker 2: doing baseball play by play were the most fun I
Speaker 2: ever had. I loved doing baseball play by.
Speaker 1: It's pretty great.
Speaker 2: It's so much fun sitting in the stands doing play
Speaker 2: by play.
Speaker 1: Well, you go to the park, you stand around during
Speaker 1: BP and you talking to the to the manager or
Speaker 1: whoever you're talking to the guy. I mean, it's just
Speaker 1: it is the leisurely game that when it goes in
Speaker 1: the seventh or eighth thing, when it really goes, it's
Speaker 1: very exciting.
Speaker 2: And baseball, to me, is the hard sport. You've got
Speaker 2: to be a storyteller. You to be really hard good
Speaker 2: baseball announcer. It is there's a lot of downtime and
Speaker 2: you don't want to You don't just fill it with stats,
Speaker 2: need to fill it with personality. You need to fill
Speaker 2: it with something that's going to keep an audience well.
Speaker 1: And the part of it too, that's very complicated in
Speaker 1: calling baseball is you're you're talking about the hot dog
Speaker 1: you eate and the experience you have, and then a
Speaker 1: guy hits one in the gap and you go from slow, slow,
Speaker 1: slow to really fast and it's a it's hard to
Speaker 1: keep up that pace and keep up with everything. But
Speaker 1: the guys who do it well, they're the best.
Speaker 2: I was a big Jack Buck fan. Jack Buck and
Speaker 2: Harry Carey in the day Jack Bucks book at my
Speaker 2: high school senior football graduation Bankwood, I got a picture
Speaker 2: with him when I'm seventeen years old. It was you know,
Speaker 2: he was my hero. He was such a good announcer.
Speaker 1: I know he and Harry were together, but he and
Speaker 1: Mike Shannon yep, oh, yep, Mike. You know. I remember
Speaker 1: we went to Atlanta to a game in nineteen ninety
Speaker 1: two and bucking Shannon. You know, one of the big
Speaker 1: reasons I wanted to go is I wanted to see
Speaker 1: them in the booth. So I brought my binoculars and
Speaker 1: by the second inning it was filled with smoke and
Speaker 1: we could see the beer cooler. I mean they were
Speaker 1: old school man. They were working on some Marboroughs and
Speaker 1: at some bud Why.
Speaker 2: It was a different time.
Speaker 1: It was a different time man. Thank you for doing
Speaker 1: this absolutely, thank you for joining the Snickers hot seat.
Speaker 1: You go there, you go, Bob Mueller news to forty
Speaker 1: three years. Congratulations on a great career.
Speaker 2: I appreciate you come back and do this again. I'd
Speaker 2: love to thanks for the invitation, all right.
Speaker 1: For Bob Mueller, I'm Mike Keith, thanking you for joining
Speaker 1: us for the Oh Team. Peete,