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Speaker 1: Welcome to the OTP. My name is Mike Keith, and

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Speaker 1: I am joined this week by a very special guest.

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Speaker 1: He's the president and CEO of the Tennessee Titans, now

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Speaker 1: three and a half years roughly into this term of service,

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Speaker 1: Steve Underwood. Welcome to the OTP. Thanks Mike. It's a

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Speaker 1: pleasure of being with you now. Your first tour of

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Speaker 1: duty was thirty seven years, right, thirty five or so? Okay,

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Speaker 1: I was giving you too much credit. I was retired

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Speaker 1: in there somewhere for about three or three and a

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Speaker 1: half years and enjoyed being retired. By the way, how

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Speaker 1: did you get started with mister Adams? In the mid

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Speaker 1: seventies when I graduated from law school, I had two offers.

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Speaker 1: One was from the Harris County, Texas District Attorney's Office

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Speaker 1: and the other was from a very small, kind of

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Speaker 1: specialized Houston law firm that most of our work was

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Speaker 1: for mister Adams and his business interests. So how did

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Speaker 1: you get to the football part of mister adams business interests?

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Speaker 1: That was in nineteen seventy seven when I became licensed

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Speaker 1: to practice law, and at the time the NFL was

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Speaker 1: not what it is now. It was not nearly as

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Speaker 1: big a business or as big an enterprise. It was

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Speaker 1: a very different time, a very different era for the

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Speaker 1: National Football League, and I'm guessing you could have if

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Speaker 1: they had been for sale, you could have bought an

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Speaker 1: NFL franchise then for maybe fifty million. Wow like that. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: it's way way advanced now to the point that you know,

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Speaker 1: when you talk about buying and selling franchises, you're in

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Speaker 1: the two three billion dollars, right. So back then they

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Speaker 1: didn't really have the kind of demand for legal services

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Speaker 1: that they do now because the you know, good players,

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Speaker 1: great players, they made less than six figures. You your

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Speaker 1: whole player payroll for the entire team in the mid

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Speaker 1: seventies was you know, a couple of million dollars something

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Speaker 1: like that. Was your first big football moment with the Oilers,

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Speaker 1: a contract negotiation with someone. Do you remember something vividly

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Speaker 1: as that first moment where you knew, hey, I've been football. Well,

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Speaker 1: it's kind of an interesting story. The first thing that

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Speaker 1: I was asked to work on was maybe two or

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Speaker 1: three months after I started. We got into a squabble

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Speaker 1: with a person who had written Houston Oilers number one,

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Speaker 1: and that gentleman is was became a lawyer in Nashville,

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Speaker 1: Lee Offman. I haven't spoken to Lee in many years,

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Speaker 1: but he had a public sure and they had made

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Speaker 1: the record but had not taken care of the intellectual

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Speaker 1: property on the back end of that song. So we

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Speaker 1: got into a little ruckus over who owned the song

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Speaker 1: and royalty payments and those kinds of things. But that

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Speaker 1: was my first encounter was over that, and the time

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Speaker 1: I came along, they were also we were the club

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Speaker 1: was in the process of signing Earl Campbell, who was

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Speaker 1: our first round draft pick in nineteen seventy seven or

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Speaker 1: seventy eight, I can't remember the years now, but I

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Speaker 1: was asked to look at some of the special language

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Speaker 1: that was in his contract. But it just kind of

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Speaker 1: goes to show how different things were during that time

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Speaker 1: period because he only his signing bonus was, you know,

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Speaker 1: a few hundred thousand dollars. It was a peanuts compared

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Speaker 1: to the way things are now. How did it grow

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Speaker 1: for you getting into more and more of the football

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Speaker 1: for mister Adams as far as what you did legally, well,

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Speaker 1: he had all these other businesses. And one of the

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Speaker 1: reasons that I had decided to go to work for

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Speaker 1: the law firm was Calleddwell and Hurst. The reason I

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Speaker 1: had wanted to go to work for them was that

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Speaker 1: they promised me that I could get into a courtroom

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Speaker 1: almost immediately and start trying lawsuits. Because mister Adams had

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Speaker 1: at the time one of the largest automobile dealerships in

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Speaker 1: the world. There were a lot of Consumer Protection Act

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Speaker 1: things going on at the time that I first became

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Speaker 1: a lawyer, so I had the opportunity right off the

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Speaker 1: bat to get into a courtroom, which is what I

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Speaker 1: really wanted to do, was to try lawsuits. And over time,

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Speaker 1: the business of the football team became more and more prominent,

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Speaker 1: particularly after the nineteen eighty two players strike. There were

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Speaker 1: new television contracts at the time, and it became obvious

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Speaker 1: to everyone that professional sport was going to be changing

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Speaker 1: because television injected so much money into the business, and

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Speaker 1: a lot of times when I speak to groups now,

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Speaker 1: people have trouble coming to terms with the fact that

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Speaker 1: we are Yes, we're in the football business, we're in

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Speaker 1: the entertainment business, but our business is driven by television.

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Speaker 1: That's changing some now with new media because people are

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Speaker 1: consuming media content in many different ways now, but television

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Speaker 1: is the driver of the National Football League. We know

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Speaker 1: the story of how the Titans got to Nashville. We

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Speaker 1: know the Nashville end of it, but I'd like to

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Speaker 1: ask you about the Houston end of it. So let

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Speaker 1: me start with this. When did it become apparent to you,

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Speaker 1: or maybe better said, when did it get on your

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Speaker 1: radar that mister Adams had issues with Houston and at

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Speaker 1: some point something was going to have to give as

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Speaker 1: far as the Astrodome or moving. Our original lease with

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Speaker 1: the Astrodome folks, which was actually made with Ford Motor Credit,

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Speaker 1: which owned the Astrodome at the time or had the

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Speaker 1: rights to the Astrodome, expired in nineteen eighty seven and

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Speaker 1: we went through a protracted set of issues with them

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Speaker 1: at the time because the Astrodome was not really a

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Speaker 1: great place to watch a football game. When the seats

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Speaker 1: were rotated so that the building was in football configuration,

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Speaker 1: people on the fifty yard line were good ways from

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Speaker 1: the field. It was not ideal. You know, the Astrodome

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Speaker 1: was built with you know, we can do everything here.

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Speaker 1: The Rodeo Baseball. There was just no limit to what

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Speaker 1: they could do in that building. Or what they thought

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Speaker 1: they could do in the building, But its weakest use

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Speaker 1: was for football because you were just too far away

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Speaker 1: from the field. It was designed to be primarily a

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Speaker 1: baseball stadium and was okay for baseball. It was large

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Speaker 1: and kind of noisy and smokey at the time because

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Speaker 1: people were still smoking in buildings and the Astrodome was enclosed,

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Speaker 1: so by the time the baseball game ended, where there

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Speaker 1: was a haze over the playing surface because that's where

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Speaker 1: the smoke collected. The air conditioning would eventually evacuate all

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Speaker 1: the smoke, but not when there were twenty thousand people

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Speaker 1: in the building smoking. So we had issues with the

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Speaker 1: folks that ran the Astrodome because we had no opportunity

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Speaker 1: to sell signage. We didn't get to pick the concessionaire

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Speaker 1: or the concessions. We didn't get very much of the

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Speaker 1: benefit of the concession sales. In modern stadiums, one of

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Speaker 1: the reasons that you want single purpose stadiums is that

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Speaker 1: you can control all of those various media opportunities, food

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Speaker 1: and beverage, service, staffing, all of the things that we

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Speaker 1: had literally nothing to say about it at the Astrodome.

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Speaker 1: They even limited the number of parking spaces that we

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Speaker 1: had and the parking revenue we we weren't able to

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Speaker 1: capitalize on that opportunity. So we were sort of held

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Speaker 1: hostage as far as I was concerned in the Astrodome.

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Speaker 1: And so when the lease expired, mister Adams said, you know,

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Speaker 1: I'm willing to stay here, but you're going to have

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Speaker 1: to make some improvements. There's not enough seating. We could

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Speaker 1: sell more tickets if they were available. We've got to

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Speaker 1: have some opportunity to develop some sponsorship rights in the building,

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Speaker 1: and we need more to have more input into what

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Speaker 1: goes on there in terms of parking, seating, seat assignments.

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Speaker 1: And there were no suites. You know, modern stadiums were

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Speaker 1: having luxury suites. The Astrodome had a set of the

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Speaker 1: sort of modified seats up very high, but you were

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Speaker 1: very far removed from the action and skyboxes. I mean

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Speaker 1: there was a reason they were called skyboxes. You were

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Speaker 1: literally a couple hundred feet above the playing surface and

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Speaker 1: it was just not a very opportune thing. And the

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Speaker 1: suites that they had were not really of a modern

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Speaker 1: enclosed configuration. So we made all those complaints and really

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Speaker 1: got rebuffed by Harris County and by the Houston Sports

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Speaker 1: Association on almost all of those fronts. So mister Adams

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Speaker 1: said that he would only agree to a tenure extension

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Speaker 1: and it was going to have to be based on

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Speaker 1: getting suits built, which they did. They built about sixty

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Speaker 1: modern suites in the building and added several thousand seats

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Speaker 1: in what was the outfield for those that never had

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Speaker 1: the opportunity to be in the astrodome, there was a

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Speaker 1: gigantic electronic score sac that lit up like literally like

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Speaker 1: a Christmas tree when somebody hit a home run. But

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Speaker 1: it was not very efficient in terms of having outfield

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Speaker 1: seats and that sort of thing. So we had made

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Speaker 1: our complaints and own kind of county wide at the

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Speaker 1: time about what needed to be done to get the

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Speaker 1: building into a condition where we felt comfortable being a

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Speaker 1: long term tenant, and those things happened. But we were

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Speaker 1: promised at the time, both by Harris County and by

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Speaker 1: the City of Houston. We were given assurances that at

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Speaker 1: some point we would get our own stadium, and we

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Speaker 1: took that to heart. I mean, it wasn't committed to

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Speaker 1: writing or anything, but those commitments were made, all right,

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Speaker 1: So let me jump in at this point in nineteen

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Speaker 1: eighty seven ten year lease. Yes, new stadium is in

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Speaker 1: the offing. So you think so we were told so,

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Speaker 1: you were told the Oilers get really good. Yes, Warren Moon,

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Speaker 1: Dean stein Cooler and Bruce Matthews and Mike Munchak and

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Speaker 1: the defense. You go to the playoffs seven straight years.

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Speaker 1: From the outside, and I was starting my career covering sports,

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Speaker 1: this never made any sense to me because I'm thinking,

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Speaker 1: this is a great organization. They're winning, they're exciting, They're

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Speaker 1: on the verge of the Super Bowl. How did the

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Speaker 1: football momentum not transfer into the business end with Harris

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Speaker 1: County in the city of Houston. I think there are

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Speaker 1: a couple of reasons. One of those was that we

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Speaker 1: never advanced far enough in the playoffs. We were you know,

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Speaker 1: I would lose in the first sometimes the second round,

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Speaker 1: and we never got the comfort level that we in

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Speaker 1: the playoffs. Another reason was the disastrous a loss in

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Speaker 1: Buffalo after we had a thirty point lead. Blowing the

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Speaker 1: lead and losing that game. It was It damaged our

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Speaker 1: franchise as Houston Oilers in ways from which I'm not

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Speaker 1: sure we would have ever completely recovered. There was another

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Speaker 1: problem too. And before I go out on this limb,

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Speaker 1: I want to make clear that his memory is something

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Speaker 1: that I love and respect. Mister Adams was not a

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Speaker 1: great communicator in the public sense of that word. Now,

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Speaker 1: if you were in a living room with him or

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Speaker 1: in his office and it was one on one or

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Speaker 1: there was a small group of people there, you know,

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Speaker 1: he was very erudite and you knew exactly what he

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Speaker 1: wanted done and never had a problem. But in his

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Speaker 1: public communications, mister Adams was as he was, not as

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Speaker 1: good at that, and I think that also impacted sort

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Speaker 1: of our long term prospects in Houston. Other owners of

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Speaker 1: other professional football teams did a better job, shall we say,

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Speaker 1: managing their public relations than Mistradams was able to do.

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Speaker 1: I don't buy that. I don't certainly don't want to

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Speaker 1: dim his memory. I think the world of him even now,

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Speaker 1: even though he's been gone for five years or so.

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Speaker 1: But I think even he would admit that some part

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Speaker 1: of our inability to get things going in Houston in

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Speaker 1: terms of a new stadium was because we didn't make

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Speaker 1: the case as well as we could have. And then

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Speaker 1: just jump ahead just briefly. He certainly did make that

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Speaker 1: case of what he needed to Nashville. Oh yes, and

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Speaker 1: so if that was maybe not what he had hoped

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Speaker 1: it would be in Houston, he certainly rectified that. And

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Speaker 1: then some what he eventually talked to Mayor Brettison and

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Speaker 1: the fine folks here in Nashville, no doubt, because he

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Speaker 1: was able to develop a quick, quick, in quick fashion,

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Speaker 1: a great relationship with then Mayor Brettison and just did

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Speaker 1: a You know, he was very well accepted here in

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Speaker 1: Nashville the whole time that he was here, no matter

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Speaker 1: what circumstances you were in. I never heard anyone here

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Speaker 1: that was say anything negative really about mister Adams. I

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Speaker 1: think there was some negativism in connection with the relocation

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Speaker 1: here because there were people who preferred that the money

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Speaker 1: be spent on something other than a new football stadium.

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Speaker 1: But none of that was ever ad hominem towards mister Adams.

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Speaker 1: It was never personal to him. That was not the

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Speaker 1: case in Houston. Mister Adams had a I think was

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Speaker 1: treated unfairly in many respects. Some of that I think

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Speaker 1: he would admit he brought on himself. And then, of

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Speaker 1: course the inability to advance in the playoffs and the

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Speaker 1: loss in Buffalo. All those factors worked against us. When

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Speaker 1: did you first get a notion that the franchise could move?

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Speaker 1: Do you remember what year that hit you? When Mike

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Speaker 1: McClure was hired by mister Adams, that was his Mike's

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Speaker 1: second tour of duty. Now, let's explain who Mike McClure is,

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Speaker 1: if you don't mind, not at all. Mike came to

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Speaker 1: work for mister Adams originally around seventy nine or eighty,

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Speaker 1: and at that time his focus was on media relations

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Speaker 1: what in the modern vernacular would be media relations in sales.

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Speaker 1: Then Mike left the company in the early eighties, maybe

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Speaker 1: eighty three or so, and then came back to work

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Speaker 1: for mister Adams in nineteen eighty nine as an executive

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Speaker 1: vice president of the company. And Mike, I think understood

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Speaker 1: very early on that we were not going to get

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Speaker 1: the building that we had been promised, that we were

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Speaker 1: not going to have an opportunity to have our own building,

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Speaker 1: and that we were going to be sort of shackled

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Speaker 1: with the astrodome. So very early in the process, maybe

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Speaker 1: within a couple of years, Mike was already looking around

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Speaker 1: for other opportunities. The first of those was when we

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Speaker 1: moved our training camp to Trinity University in San Antonio

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Speaker 1: because San Antonio had just finished building a brand new

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Speaker 1: dome stadium downtown that they did in association with the

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Speaker 1: transit authority there, and so we started playing some of

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Speaker 1: our preseason games at the Alamo Dome, which was not

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Speaker 1: popular thing with the Astrodome. They wanted those games played

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Speaker 1: in Houston in their building because they thought, you know,

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Speaker 1: that we were a captive audience there. But Mike was

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Speaker 1: making clear, making a statement even then that we had

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Speaker 1: to get another building. Jacksonville. Yes, could have been that

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Speaker 1: Jacksonville Oilers should have been How did that happen? And

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Speaker 1: the second part is did that ever get close? And

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Speaker 1: we're talking two yes. Mister Adams, I think was willing

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Speaker 1: to look at opportunities that Mike presented to him for

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Speaker 1: possible relocation, and Jacksonville was talking about the prospect of

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Speaker 1: a football only stadium just for our franchise. But I

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Speaker 1: was never convinced that mister Adams wanted to go to Jacksonville.

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Speaker 1: You know, it was another very small market area. Mister

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Speaker 1: Adams loved Houston and I think wanted to have keep

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Speaker 1: his team in Houston, and so he brushed up again

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Speaker 1: that fire. I think there were people in our organization

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Speaker 1: who wanted to go to Jacksonville and who felt like

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Speaker 1: there was a great opportunity for us there, but they

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Speaker 1: were not able to convince mister Adam. Wasn't there a

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Speaker 1: famous picture of him getting off the plane in Jacksonville

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Speaker 1: shaking hands with the mayor and they had a nice

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Speaker 1: had a great meeting. I never went to Jacksonville at

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Speaker 1: the time, but it was very closely followed, and that

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Speaker 1: episode was with Jacksonville, in my mind, was always sort

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Speaker 1: of the beginning of the end of our tenure in Houston,

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Speaker 1: because people there sort of resented the fact that mister

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Speaker 1: Adams was asking for a new building in Houston, but

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Speaker 1: at the same time was kind of shopping our franchise

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Speaker 1: in places like Jacksonville, looking for other opportunities. Steve Underwood,

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Speaker 1: Titans president and CEO in Houston, he worked with mister

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Speaker 1: Adams as a senior vice president I guess an executive

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Speaker 1: vice president and Lee council. We've gotten to the point

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Speaker 1: that mister Adams has hired Mike McClure. The deal with

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Speaker 1: the Astrodome is not good. We're in a situation where

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Speaker 1: he's looked at Jacksonville as a possible landing site. What

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Speaker 1: comes next is the disaster in the playoff game against Buffalo,

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Speaker 1: which ironically hurt the franchise according to you and many others,

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Speaker 1: as much as the Music City Miracle game would later

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Speaker 1: help the franchise, the two most significant games in franchise history.

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Speaker 1: All Right, so we're to that point. The mayor and

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Speaker 1: mister Adams are not getting along. There's not going to

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Speaker 1: be a new stadium. When do you know, when does

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Speaker 1: everyone in the organization know, as we've set it up

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Speaker 1: that you're going to have to make a move, that

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Speaker 1: it's real that this team is going to leave Houston, Texas.

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Speaker 1: That would have happened, I think sometime early in nineteen

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Speaker 1: ninety five. By then, Mike had already made contact with

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Speaker 1: people here in Nashville. Among the very first people that

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Speaker 1: Mike spoke to was but Spiridon, who was the head

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Speaker 1: of the even then of the Convention and Visitors Bureau,

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Speaker 1: and was making contact with other influential people opinion leaders

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Speaker 1: here in the Nashville area. And we were beginning to

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Speaker 1: do demographic studies of Middle Tennessee. What was here were

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Speaker 1: the what were the pros and cons of coming to Nashville.

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Speaker 1: And we were also exploring other opportunities, including the one

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Speaker 1: that was in Baltimore in Maryland. Because Baltimore had an

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Speaker 1: already negotiated lease, they had a building designed. I'm not

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Speaker 1: sure that it was fully drawn, but it was let's say,

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Speaker 1: close to construction ready, and they had the money on

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Speaker 1: hand to build a building. They had had, as I recall,

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Speaker 1: some sort of state lottery program, and they were just

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Speaker 1: dangling it out there like bait for anybody that would

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Speaker 1: that would sign the lease. And the sort of the

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Speaker 1: icing on the Baltimore cake was that the day you

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Speaker 1: signed the lease, they wrote you a check for fifty

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Speaker 1: million dollars. Now this was wow, twenty almost twenty five

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Speaker 1: years ago, so they had a lure that was already

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Speaker 1: kind of in the water. We had looked at it closely,

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Speaker 1: and I think I had gone so far as to

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Speaker 1: read the lease and to read what the provisions were

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Speaker 1: for the development agreement so to speak in Baltimore. And

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Speaker 1: it would be building in the same general area as

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Speaker 1: Kimden Yards. Why didn't you take it? Boy? That's the

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Speaker 1: sixty four thousand dollars questions. Yes, I asked mister Adams,

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Speaker 1: because as a staff, you know, we were sort of

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Speaker 1: trying to offer him the best advice we could, and

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Speaker 1: when he would ask us about where to go, we

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Speaker 1: would say, you know, mister Adams, the very best choice

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Speaker 1: is the ready made opportunity in Baltimore. It's fifty million

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Speaker 1: dollars in cash. They're going to build a four hundred

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Speaker 1: and fifty million dollars state of the art stadium. You're

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Speaker 1: going to get it to operate at three hundred and

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Speaker 1: sixty five days a year at their expense. They're going

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Speaker 1: to pay all the bills, You get all the merchandising, sponsorship,

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Speaker 1: promotional opportunities that exist with the building, and you get

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Speaker 1: the income from other events for us. Sort of a

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Speaker 1: no brainer. But mister Adams had already been attracted to

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Speaker 1: Tennessee and to Nashville. He had some heritage here as

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Speaker 1: a member of the Cherokee tribe, because the Cherokee tribe

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Speaker 1: had such an eventful history in the state of Tennessee,

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Speaker 1: and that all had some appeal to mister Adams. He

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Speaker 1: had also spoken and met Mayor Bredesen, who then as

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Speaker 1: now had great great leadership skills, and I have mentioned

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Speaker 1: before and have mentioned when I speak publicly. I think

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Speaker 1: one of the most serious levels of attraction for us

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Speaker 1: to Nashville was the leadership that was shown by the

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Speaker 1: community here, including Phil Bredesen, someone who I still deeply admire.

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Speaker 1: He has a set of skills that appealed not only

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Speaker 1: to me, but to mister Adam. More importantly to mister Adams,

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Speaker 1: and a vision that made the opportunity here seem better

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Speaker 1: to mister Adams than the one in Baltimore, which was

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Speaker 1: actually more favorable financially, and so it just felt better it, did,

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Speaker 1: you know. When so when people then would talk to

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Speaker 1: me about, you know, mister Adams only being concerned about money,

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Speaker 1: I would say, you know, you just don't know how

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Speaker 1: wrong you are. He's turned down what was a financially

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Speaker 1: better opportunity. And I think one of the reasons that

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Speaker 1: Art Modell moved as quickly as he did to take

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Speaker 1: the opportunity in Baltimore was because he was afraid mister

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Speaker 1: Adams might beat him to the punish. But you know,

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Speaker 1: if I had been asked, I would have said, no,

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Speaker 1: he's already been. I think he's already sort of made

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Speaker 1: up his mind. If he's leaving Houston, he's going to Nashville.

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Speaker 1: You and I had a discussion at one point years ago,

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Speaker 1: so pardon me if I don't remember the exact details,

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Speaker 1: but you and essence said, when mister Adams sort of

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Speaker 1: gave the word to Mike McClure and the rest of

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Speaker 1: the staff that it was time to look, he had

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Speaker 1: you came up with a list of cities, and that

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Speaker 1: Nashville got to sort of the final part of the

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Speaker 1: list because it was a city without a professional franchise

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Speaker 1: that sort of hit all of the targets that you

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Speaker 1: hoped for. Yes, it was on the list. We as

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Speaker 1: I recall, Mike, there were maybe ten or eleven cities

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Speaker 1: on that list, by the way. One of them was Memphis,

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Speaker 1: another was Baltimore. Nashville was, of course kind of at

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Speaker 1: the bottom of the list. The Los Angeles was on

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Speaker 1: the list. There were San Antonio was on the list.

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Speaker 1: Jacksonville was on the list, Charlotte was on that list.

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Speaker 1: There were a number of places in the South and

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Speaker 1: mid South that were on the list of cities that

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Speaker 1: we thought at least needed to be explored. If you

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Speaker 1: were going to rank those, and I'm sure at some

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Speaker 1: point we did. Baltimore had to be near the top

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Speaker 1: of that list just because of the financial aspects of

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Speaker 1: the arrangement. It was just a very very favorable thing

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Speaker 1: for whoever the tenant was going to be. When you

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Speaker 1: sat down to call Nashville a what made Nashville the

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Speaker 1: place you were going to call? When did it? Do

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Speaker 1: you remember how this is going to go? And were

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Speaker 1: you in the room for the phone call? Well, as

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Speaker 1: things had progressed in Nashville over the summer of nineteen

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Speaker 1: ninety five, mister Adams finally said, well, you all need

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Speaker 1: to go and have a conversation with them in person

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Speaker 1: and see what it is they're able to do, because

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Speaker 1: I'm not convinced that we can make it work there.

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Speaker 1: So in August of nineteen ninety five, I came to

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Speaker 1: Nashville for the first time and we met with Mayor

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Speaker 1: Brettison and with a group of his advisers in his

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Speaker 1: office in the City Hall, and we had a list

403
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Speaker 1: of things that we needed if we were going to

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Speaker 1: make the move That included the exclusive use of the

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00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:13,640
Speaker 1: building are exclusive to us, We could have what other

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Speaker 1: events there were a kind of baseline budget for what

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Speaker 1: we thought the building would cost, relocation money paid by

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Speaker 1: the city or by a PSL campaign, or however was

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Speaker 1: going to be done. You know, Mike, at that point

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Speaker 1: in ninety five, we still had three years left on

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Speaker 1: our lease ninety seven and still to go, and so

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Speaker 1: we were it was all kind of rudimentary. But um,

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Speaker 1: Phil Brettison looked at that list, he consulted with the

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Speaker 1: people that were in the room briefly, and then to

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Speaker 1: my huge surprise, he looked at our group on our

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00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:02,800
Speaker 1: side of the table and said, well, you know, I

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Speaker 1: think this is something we can do well. I was

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Speaker 1: still a nonbeliever at the time, shall we say, and

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Speaker 1: I've had some skepticism about whether or not it's that

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Speaker 1: you're a nonbeliever. I'm staying in sorry. So I suggested,

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Speaker 1: or someone in the room suggested that what we needed

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Speaker 1: to do was memorialize the conversation because they had already

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Speaker 1: thought through the proposal that they were going to make

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Speaker 1: that day, and their concern, and very understandable, was, hey,

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Speaker 1: if you all want to talk about this, we're perfectly

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Speaker 1: willing to talk, but we don't want to get into

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Speaker 1: a bidding war with some other city as long as we're,

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Speaker 1: you know, can moving forward in good faith, will you

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00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:04,440
Speaker 1: limit your discussions just to us? They didn't want to

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Speaker 1: get played, correct, And that's perfectly understandable. It didn't dawn

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Speaker 1: on any of us because mister Adams was already leaning

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Speaker 1: in their direction. Now we didn't say that at the time,

433
00:29:16,720 --> 00:29:19,640
Speaker 1: of course, but we did that day put a letter

434
00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:23,880
Speaker 1: together that was a page and a half something like that,

435
00:29:24,360 --> 00:29:28,280
Speaker 1: where we agreed to limit our discussions only to Nashville

436
00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:32,920
Speaker 1: for so long as we were having good faith conversations

437
00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:37,400
Speaker 1: about the possibility of relocating. And of course the letter

438
00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:41,840
Speaker 1: got out right away and got back to Houston, and

439
00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:46,000
Speaker 1: then just a few days later, we had a scheduled

440
00:29:46,080 --> 00:29:51,200
Speaker 1: preseason game against the Chargers in the Astrodome, and it

441
00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:55,800
Speaker 1: became the first canceled game in the history of the

442
00:29:55,880 --> 00:29:59,840
Speaker 1: National Football League. And of course there were all kinds

443
00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:04,200
Speaker 1: of misunderstandings about what had actually gone on that day

444
00:30:05,360 --> 00:30:09,440
Speaker 1: when they were preparing the playing surface for our preseason game,

445
00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:16,440
Speaker 1: but the cancelation made national headlines in conjunction with the

446
00:30:16,560 --> 00:30:19,800
Speaker 1: letter that had been signed for us to begin the

447
00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:24,920
Speaker 1: process of relocating to Nashville. Can you even describe how

448
00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:27,840
Speaker 1: crazy all of this is. You come to Nashville, you

449
00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:32,040
Speaker 1: meet with Bretticon and the team, his team, you signed

450
00:30:32,120 --> 00:30:35,880
Speaker 1: the letter of understanding. It gets out the Tennessee and

451
00:30:36,120 --> 00:30:40,840
Speaker 1: pops the story. The day that you're playing a preseason

452
00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:46,280
Speaker 1: game in Knoxville against Washington, right, everything gets out during

453
00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:49,360
Speaker 1: the first part of that game. You go home, you

454
00:30:49,440 --> 00:30:54,320
Speaker 1: have the preseason game with the Chargers that you don't

455
00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:58,080
Speaker 1: end up playing because of the cancelation. And then the

456
00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:00,960
Speaker 1: national media is saying, wait a minute, you're going to

457
00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:05,400
Speaker 1: move an NFL team from Houston, Texas, one of the

458
00:31:05,440 --> 00:31:10,560
Speaker 1: biggest markets in the country, to Nashville. It's not this Nashville.

459
00:31:10,640 --> 00:31:14,840
Speaker 1: It's not twenty eighteen Rashville. It's nineteen ninety five Nashville,

460
00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:18,640
Speaker 1: which is not even a top forty market. At the

461
00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:21,600
Speaker 1: league's got to be going, seriously, this is the plan.

462
00:31:21,800 --> 00:31:25,520
Speaker 1: I mean, everybody was kind of nuts at this moment. Well,

463
00:31:26,040 --> 00:31:30,280
Speaker 1: you know, even then, the league was very desirous of

464
00:31:30,360 --> 00:31:35,280
Speaker 1: teams getting modern stadiums. That became you know, sort of

465
00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:37,640
Speaker 1: we were in the vanguard, I think of the movement

466
00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:41,840
Speaker 1: to build new football only stadiums, not that you couldn't

467
00:31:41,840 --> 00:31:44,120
Speaker 1: do other things in the building, but it was the

468
00:31:44,200 --> 00:31:48,000
Speaker 1: dual use baseball and football was on the way out

469
00:31:48,080 --> 00:31:52,080
Speaker 1: because the collective bargaining agreement and free agency that had

470
00:31:52,120 --> 00:31:55,680
Speaker 1: come in with the salary cap meant that having suites

471
00:31:55,760 --> 00:32:00,480
Speaker 1: and club seats all important WASS was a necessary revenue

472
00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:03,760
Speaker 1: stream in the whole business model, and that had just happened. Yes,

473
00:32:03,920 --> 00:32:07,320
Speaker 1: and the more revenue you don't have to share, the

474
00:32:07,400 --> 00:32:10,000
Speaker 1: more money you get to keep. I mean, I hate

475
00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:14,080
Speaker 1: to put it in those terms, but that was the

476
00:32:14,200 --> 00:32:17,960
Speaker 1: labor agreement was one of the driving forces of new

477
00:32:18,080 --> 00:32:23,160
Speaker 1: stadium construction because teams realized in order to survive financially,

478
00:32:23,480 --> 00:32:27,080
Speaker 1: they had to have the opportunity to sell club seats, suites,

479
00:32:28,120 --> 00:32:33,400
Speaker 1: and sell stadium advertising in ways that would not only

480
00:32:33,480 --> 00:32:36,040
Speaker 1: finance the player salaries that they had to pay, but

481
00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:38,040
Speaker 1: all of the other things that the teams had to do,

482
00:32:38,120 --> 00:32:42,080
Speaker 1: including in many cases helping pay for the stadium. That

483
00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:46,200
Speaker 1: was not the case here in Nashville. But we do

484
00:32:46,280 --> 00:32:48,680
Speaker 1: have to pay rent, and we have to pay the

485
00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:53,360
Speaker 1: operating expenses for the building, which are considerable, and do

486
00:32:53,440 --> 00:32:55,160
Speaker 1: a lot of other spend a lot of other money

487
00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:59,000
Speaker 1: in the building to help keep it up. So but

488
00:32:59,120 --> 00:33:02,000
Speaker 1: all of those things were sort of converging, if you will,

489
00:33:02,200 --> 00:33:07,360
Speaker 1: just as your question anticipated. And so what we were

490
00:33:07,400 --> 00:33:11,160
Speaker 1: trying to do was find the best opportunity that we

491
00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:15,040
Speaker 1: could that would afford us a new stadium. We had

492
00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:20,040
Speaker 1: hired consultants who had looked very closely at Nashville. It

493
00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:23,800
Speaker 1: was not a very big media market. I think it

494
00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:25,920
Speaker 1: was like thirty eight or something in the country in

495
00:33:26,040 --> 00:33:29,840
Speaker 1: terms of television households. It was a slightly bigger radio

496
00:33:29,960 --> 00:33:33,160
Speaker 1: market because there were so many big radio players in

497
00:33:33,280 --> 00:33:36,320
Speaker 1: Nashville at the time still are for that matter, and

498
00:33:36,440 --> 00:33:40,760
Speaker 1: a lot of national radio broadcasting signals that came out

499
00:33:40,760 --> 00:33:47,400
Speaker 1: of Middle Tennessee. So what we decided as a organization

500
00:33:47,720 --> 00:33:51,840
Speaker 1: was to make a list of the things that we

501
00:33:51,920 --> 00:33:55,320
Speaker 1: felt like we had to have to survive because it

502
00:33:55,400 --> 00:33:57,560
Speaker 1: was so obvious to us we were not going to

503
00:33:57,560 --> 00:33:59,840
Speaker 1: get a building in Houston. That was not going to happen.

504
00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:03,760
Speaker 1: They were perfectly willing to build a new baseball stadium

505
00:34:04,040 --> 00:34:07,440
Speaker 1: in spite of the fact that they already had the Astrodome.

506
00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:11,120
Speaker 1: And I've always gotten a kick out of what mister

507
00:34:11,200 --> 00:34:14,399
Speaker 1: McLain would tell us when we were trying to get

508
00:34:14,560 --> 00:34:17,479
Speaker 1: changes made to the Astrodome. He'd say, oh no, the

509
00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:21,600
Speaker 1: Astrodome's great. It's a great place. And right away as

510
00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:23,520
Speaker 1: soon as we left town, well, he had to have

511
00:34:23,560 --> 00:34:27,480
Speaker 1: a new baseball mclin Yes, and I don't blame him

512
00:34:27,520 --> 00:34:29,839
Speaker 1: for wanting to get a new building, but they were

513
00:34:29,880 --> 00:34:33,719
Speaker 1: willing to build a new building for him. A few

514
00:34:33,800 --> 00:34:35,920
Speaker 1: years after we left, they were willing to build a

515
00:34:35,960 --> 00:34:40,200
Speaker 1: new building for the Texans kudos to them, by the way.

516
00:34:41,120 --> 00:34:44,640
Speaker 1: And they were willing to build a new basketball facility

517
00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:48,759
Speaker 1: or multi purpose facility downtown and take on roughly two

518
00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:52,640
Speaker 1: billion dollars worth of bonded indebtedness to pay for those buildings.

519
00:34:53,239 --> 00:34:56,200
Speaker 1: But what we needed there wasn't going to be any

520
00:34:56,200 --> 00:35:00,480
Speaker 1: conversation about that. So we weren't going to get what

521
00:35:00,640 --> 00:35:03,279
Speaker 1: we needed in Houston, and we had to find the

522
00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:08,000
Speaker 1: best alternative that we could, and so we put together

523
00:35:08,080 --> 00:35:11,520
Speaker 1: a list kind of we call them milestones in the

524
00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:16,879
Speaker 1: second Agreement about things that had to be accomplished or achieved.

525
00:35:17,560 --> 00:35:20,359
Speaker 1: Are how close you had to come to achieving those?

526
00:35:20,440 --> 00:35:23,200
Speaker 1: Prove if you will that we can get where we

527
00:35:23,239 --> 00:35:27,480
Speaker 1: need to be with the stadium itself, How are you

528
00:35:27,520 --> 00:35:29,560
Speaker 1: going to pay for it? How long is it going

529
00:35:29,560 --> 00:35:31,839
Speaker 1: to take? To build, When can we move into it,

530
00:35:33,400 --> 00:35:36,840
Speaker 1: What kind of local media opportunities exist for us in

531
00:35:36,920 --> 00:35:41,680
Speaker 1: television and radio, What kind of sponsorship opportunities are there.

532
00:35:41,800 --> 00:35:44,520
Speaker 1: How many suites are there going to be can we

533
00:35:44,560 --> 00:35:48,200
Speaker 1: sell the suites? What about club seats? Can we sell

534
00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:50,600
Speaker 1: or get a guarantee about how many club seats are

535
00:35:50,600 --> 00:35:53,120
Speaker 1: going to be sold? And how the building is going

536
00:35:53,160 --> 00:35:57,080
Speaker 1: to be financed? And those milestones were what we worked

537
00:35:57,160 --> 00:36:02,640
Speaker 1: off of in the negotiations for the relocation here. We

538
00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:05,319
Speaker 1: also had to have a place to play if we

539
00:36:05,320 --> 00:36:08,480
Speaker 1: were going to leave Houston, and we haven't touched on

540
00:36:08,719 --> 00:36:11,320
Speaker 1: any part of that yet, but there was a whole

541
00:36:11,400 --> 00:36:14,040
Speaker 1: lot of moving parts about what was going on in

542
00:36:14,120 --> 00:36:18,400
Speaker 1: Houston while we were trying to exit that market. But

543
00:36:18,640 --> 00:36:21,720
Speaker 1: we'll we'll come back to that. Because we were trying

544
00:36:21,719 --> 00:36:23,960
Speaker 1: to look ahead, we had to have a place to train,

545
00:36:25,560 --> 00:36:29,240
Speaker 1: we had to have a place for to play our games,

546
00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:34,239
Speaker 1: and we had to have assurances about, you know, what

547
00:36:34,320 --> 00:36:36,080
Speaker 1: was going to happen while we were in the process

548
00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:41,239
Speaker 1: of moving. One of those items, incidentally, was a making

549
00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:43,279
Speaker 1: sure that if the league was going to charge a

550
00:36:43,320 --> 00:36:46,239
Speaker 1: relocation fee, that there was going to be a way

551
00:36:46,280 --> 00:36:49,080
Speaker 1: to pay for that, and then we were going We

552
00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:52,479
Speaker 1: knew that we were going to lose money operationally while

553
00:36:52,480 --> 00:36:55,359
Speaker 1: we were in the process of having to move, and

554
00:36:55,560 --> 00:36:57,920
Speaker 1: was there going to be a funding source so that

555
00:36:57,960 --> 00:37:00,600
Speaker 1: we didn't have to file for bankruptcy a part of

556
00:37:00,680 --> 00:37:03,799
Speaker 1: the as a part of the relocation. And over the

557
00:37:03,840 --> 00:37:09,359
Speaker 1: next six or eight months, we worked through all of

558
00:37:09,400 --> 00:37:13,759
Speaker 1: those problems while we were fighting a rearguard action in

559
00:37:13,880 --> 00:37:19,000
Speaker 1: Houston with the lawsuit there, and while we were trying

560
00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:22,120
Speaker 1: to make arrangements to play our games in yet a

561
00:37:22,239 --> 00:37:28,240
Speaker 1: third city. You know, most people that work for NFL teams,

562
00:37:28,400 --> 00:37:31,280
Speaker 1: they may do one or two stadium leases in a career.

563
00:37:31,600 --> 00:37:34,160
Speaker 1: We were playing in four different buildings over a four

564
00:37:34,239 --> 00:37:38,359
Speaker 1: year period, and it was a Yeah. I look back

565
00:37:38,360 --> 00:37:40,360
Speaker 1: on it even now and I'm like, how did we

566
00:37:40,440 --> 00:37:45,120
Speaker 1: get all that done? How was that accomplished? Because we

567
00:37:45,120 --> 00:37:48,759
Speaker 1: were still the same size organization that we had always been,

568
00:37:49,280 --> 00:37:52,200
Speaker 1: but we had to call on so many outside resources

569
00:37:52,239 --> 00:37:57,160
Speaker 1: in terms of lawyers and consultants and stadium construction specialist

570
00:37:57,200 --> 00:37:59,800
Speaker 1: and all that to get done where we needed to

571
00:37:59,840 --> 00:38:03,400
Speaker 1: be because mister Adams was not big on hiring a

572
00:38:03,480 --> 00:38:05,279
Speaker 1: lot of extra people, if you know what I mean.

573
00:38:05,440 --> 00:38:09,920
Speaker 1: So we continue to do our regular job, but at

574
00:38:09,920 --> 00:38:12,360
Speaker 1: the same time we're working on all of these other projects.

575
00:38:12,760 --> 00:38:15,960
Speaker 1: Truth in life is what you tell your spouse. For

576
00:38:16,080 --> 00:38:20,080
Speaker 1: Steve Underwood, that's Francis Underwood, right. What I want to

577
00:38:20,080 --> 00:38:23,920
Speaker 1: know is, do you remember when you went home and

578
00:38:24,080 --> 00:38:29,520
Speaker 1: told Francis Underwood the franchise is definitely moving. Boy? Do

579
00:38:29,560 --> 00:38:34,200
Speaker 1: I ever? You know Francis has beautiful eyes, but they

580
00:38:34,200 --> 00:38:38,400
Speaker 1: got a specially big during that time period, And you

581
00:38:38,400 --> 00:38:41,200
Speaker 1: have to kind of put it in context. We had

582
00:38:41,480 --> 00:38:46,560
Speaker 1: three children, all of whom were very young. Our oldest

583
00:38:46,760 --> 00:38:50,080
Speaker 1: was five. He was a special needs child, Dennis, and

584
00:38:50,120 --> 00:38:55,960
Speaker 1: then we had two little girls. And our youngest, Liberty,

585
00:38:56,400 --> 00:38:59,959
Speaker 1: spent one hundred and twenty one days in a Level

586
00:39:00,160 --> 00:39:06,240
Speaker 1: three neonatal intensive care unit because she was premature seventeen weeks,

587
00:39:06,280 --> 00:39:10,160
Speaker 1: and so my wife was juggling all of those things,

588
00:39:11,360 --> 00:39:16,080
Speaker 1: and at the same time, her husband was moving between Nashville, Memphis,

589
00:39:16,080 --> 00:39:19,719
Speaker 1: and Houston kind of on an irregular basis and not

590
00:39:19,840 --> 00:39:23,920
Speaker 1: at home very much. So one of the conversations that

591
00:39:23,960 --> 00:39:26,319
Speaker 1: we had was about getting her some help, which we did.

592
00:39:27,640 --> 00:39:30,520
Speaker 1: We got kind of a full time person to help

593
00:39:30,560 --> 00:39:34,680
Speaker 1: her at home with the two infants and a third

594
00:39:34,760 --> 00:39:40,319
Speaker 1: child who needed round the clock help. So she was

595
00:39:40,400 --> 00:39:44,160
Speaker 1: willing to put up with it. But I think there

596
00:39:44,160 --> 00:39:49,080
Speaker 1: were times in our personal life where we were it

597
00:39:49,160 --> 00:39:53,320
Speaker 1: was a strain, there's no getting around it. But on

598
00:39:53,880 --> 00:39:57,960
Speaker 1: the other side of it, it made our marriage, I think,

599
00:39:58,040 --> 00:40:01,160
Speaker 1: much stronger. When you go through tough things like that

600
00:40:01,440 --> 00:40:05,239
Speaker 1: and make it through, I think you end up with

601
00:40:05,400 --> 00:40:09,320
Speaker 1: a better bond, a better relationship, and that was certainly

602
00:40:09,320 --> 00:40:12,320
Speaker 1: the case with us. We've now been married twenty nine years,

603
00:40:12,920 --> 00:40:18,239
Speaker 1: that's coming August. So and she knew that when she

604
00:40:18,320 --> 00:40:22,200
Speaker 1: and I got married in nineteen eighty nine. Her dad

605
00:40:22,200 --> 00:40:26,400
Speaker 1: had been a lawyer. I was a lawyer. She knew

606
00:40:26,520 --> 00:40:32,560
Speaker 1: that it was not always an easy existence. But we

607
00:40:32,600 --> 00:40:39,520
Speaker 1: got through all that, and I think now have accomplished

608
00:40:39,600 --> 00:40:43,719
Speaker 1: as a married couple pretty much as as much difficulty

609
00:40:43,760 --> 00:40:47,120
Speaker 1: as you can go through as a result of your employment.

610
00:40:48,719 --> 00:40:51,720
Speaker 1: Because I've always felt, and I think she does too,

611
00:40:51,880 --> 00:40:54,360
Speaker 1: we take pride in what we do for a living.

612
00:40:55,400 --> 00:40:58,440
Speaker 1: I have always taken a huge pride in working for

613
00:40:58,480 --> 00:41:01,640
Speaker 1: a National Football League team. You know, there are hundreds

614
00:41:01,640 --> 00:41:06,000
Speaker 1: of people just here in Nashville alone who would love

615
00:41:06,040 --> 00:41:09,760
Speaker 1: to have my job, and so It's something I don't

616
00:41:09,800 --> 00:41:14,480
Speaker 1: take lightly and certainly don't take for granted, and always

617
00:41:14,520 --> 00:41:16,359
Speaker 1: want to do as good a job as I can.

618
00:41:16,719 --> 00:41:20,000
Speaker 1: But you also have to balance your family life with

619
00:41:21,360 --> 00:41:25,400
Speaker 1: your work life. If nineteen ninety six was the toughest

620
00:41:25,480 --> 00:41:30,400
Speaker 1: year career wise being a lame duck in Houston, it

621
00:41:30,440 --> 00:41:35,000
Speaker 1: was nineteen ninety seven a close second. Yes, And you

622
00:41:35,160 --> 00:41:37,680
Speaker 1: move a team, and the move was late, it was

623
00:41:37,800 --> 00:41:42,360
Speaker 1: it was not fast. You get to Nashville, the franchise

624
00:41:42,520 --> 00:41:46,440
Speaker 1: is in three different places in Nashville, the stadium is

625
00:41:46,480 --> 00:41:52,600
Speaker 1: being built. You're playing in Memphis, which is three hours away, right,

626
00:41:54,400 --> 00:41:56,719
Speaker 1: I mean, where do you do you think at that

627
00:41:56,760 --> 00:41:59,600
Speaker 1: point point this move has really been worthwhile. I'm so

628
00:41:59,640 --> 00:42:03,680
Speaker 1: glad he did this. No, I think everybody was. Everybody

629
00:42:03,800 --> 00:42:06,160
Speaker 1: was pretty much sick to their stomach most of the time.

630
00:42:06,880 --> 00:42:12,719
Speaker 1: The move to Memphis was so abrupt and so unplanned

631
00:42:13,360 --> 00:42:20,000
Speaker 1: ad hoc, if you will. Everyone struggled there, including Memphians.

632
00:42:21,040 --> 00:42:23,640
Speaker 1: There were I think there was a little bit of

633
00:42:23,640 --> 00:42:27,480
Speaker 1: a backlash there about the kind of one night stand

634
00:42:27,600 --> 00:42:29,560
Speaker 1: that we were doing, if you will, If I can

635
00:42:29,640 --> 00:42:34,319
Speaker 1: use that analogy. In Memphis, they knew we weren't going

636
00:42:34,360 --> 00:42:37,680
Speaker 1: to be staying there. There has always been a little

637
00:42:37,680 --> 00:42:41,799
Speaker 1: bit of I'm not sure what the right word is,

638
00:42:42,360 --> 00:42:46,680
Speaker 1: friction between Memphis and National. Let me help you. There's

639
00:42:46,719 --> 00:42:49,880
Speaker 1: a rifle there is and there always has been, and

640
00:42:49,960 --> 00:42:54,960
Speaker 1: they didn't so people there, even the football fans in Memphis,

641
00:42:55,080 --> 00:42:57,279
Speaker 1: I think, had a little bit of trouble with the

642
00:42:58,040 --> 00:43:01,200
Speaker 1: upcoming rejection that we weren't going there. We were going

643
00:43:01,280 --> 00:43:06,160
Speaker 1: to Nashville and there, Mike, you're going to little brother. Yes,

644
00:43:06,280 --> 00:43:10,080
Speaker 1: that's right. I always remember the line from Castaway where

645
00:43:10,680 --> 00:43:14,560
Speaker 1: Tom Hanks is confronting his former girlfriend about, Okay, we've

646
00:43:14,600 --> 00:43:18,040
Speaker 1: got an NFL team in Tennessee now, but it's in Nashville,

647
00:43:19,520 --> 00:43:22,920
Speaker 1: because they were all in Memphis, and it just was

648
00:43:22,960 --> 00:43:28,560
Speaker 1: a very, i don't know, uncomfortable time in the history

649
00:43:28,560 --> 00:43:34,719
Speaker 1: of the franchise and people there, they never warmed up

650
00:43:35,400 --> 00:43:38,840
Speaker 1: to us, and I completely get it. We tried to

651
00:43:38,880 --> 00:43:41,759
Speaker 1: tell mister Adams that it was, you know, not going

652
00:43:41,840 --> 00:43:45,800
Speaker 1: to be an easy transition, but he was expecting great things,

653
00:43:46,000 --> 00:43:48,879
Speaker 1: and Mike would tell him he'd look right, he'd look

654
00:43:48,960 --> 00:43:52,000
Speaker 1: right at mister Adams and say, this is the NFL.

655
00:43:52,640 --> 00:43:56,000
Speaker 1: You know there, of course they're going to come. In fact,

656
00:43:56,520 --> 00:43:59,719
Speaker 1: I don't tell everyone this story, but I guess I'm

657
00:43:59,760 --> 00:44:04,239
Speaker 1: going to now. I told mister Adams in one of

658
00:44:04,239 --> 00:44:06,359
Speaker 1: the many meetings that we had about what was going

659
00:44:06,400 --> 00:44:11,080
Speaker 1: on in Memphis. I said, you know, Stradams, I don't

660
00:44:11,120 --> 00:44:13,399
Speaker 1: think you're going to have fifty five thousand people come

661
00:44:13,400 --> 00:44:16,719
Speaker 1: to every one of our home games in Memphis. And

662
00:44:16,760 --> 00:44:20,120
Speaker 1: he got very angry with me, and he said, if

663
00:44:20,160 --> 00:44:22,239
Speaker 1: you ever come in this office again and tell me

664
00:44:22,280 --> 00:44:24,520
Speaker 1: that we're not going to have fifty five thousand people

665
00:44:24,560 --> 00:44:28,080
Speaker 1: at every home game in Memphis, I'll fire you. I said,

666
00:44:28,120 --> 00:44:32,000
Speaker 1: all right, sir, I won't ever say that again. But

667
00:44:32,080 --> 00:44:34,600
Speaker 1: he had been fully persuaded that it was going to

668
00:44:34,719 --> 00:44:37,640
Speaker 1: be a huge success in Memphis, and of course we

669
00:44:37,680 --> 00:44:41,080
Speaker 1: all wanted it to be successful, but it was just

670
00:44:41,160 --> 00:44:45,799
Speaker 1: not realistic for Memphians to turn out in droves to

671
00:44:45,840 --> 00:44:47,560
Speaker 1: watch a team that was only going to be there

672
00:44:47,600 --> 00:44:52,279
Speaker 1: for a couple of years. It was something that I

673
00:44:52,320 --> 00:44:55,640
Speaker 1: don't think had been thought through very well. But we

674
00:44:55,680 --> 00:44:59,000
Speaker 1: couldn't come to Nashville Vanderbilt at the time, and I

675
00:44:59,120 --> 00:45:02,880
Speaker 1: understood this to They had not warmed up to us

676
00:45:02,880 --> 00:45:07,319
Speaker 1: either and did not want us playing in in their

677
00:45:07,840 --> 00:45:13,040
Speaker 1: on campus stadium, which I get you know, we didn't

678
00:45:13,560 --> 00:45:17,759
Speaker 1: try to force our way in. But after the end

679
00:45:17,840 --> 00:45:20,200
Speaker 1: of the ninety seventh season, when we were playing in

680
00:45:20,239 --> 00:45:30,040
Speaker 1: Memphis as the Tennessee Oilers, Mayor Brettison then went to

681
00:45:30,440 --> 00:45:34,279
Speaker 1: the chancellor at Vanderbilt and said, Hey, things are just

682
00:45:34,400 --> 00:45:38,759
Speaker 1: not working. Can we sit down and talk about them

683
00:45:39,040 --> 00:45:41,920
Speaker 1: going ahead and moving to Nashville and playing in your building?

684
00:45:42,520 --> 00:45:45,359
Speaker 1: And he was willing to talk about it. We had

685
00:45:45,440 --> 00:45:48,200
Speaker 1: a couple of conversations. Mister Adams came to Nashville, we

686
00:45:48,239 --> 00:45:53,960
Speaker 1: had a meeting with Joe Wyatt, Yes, and who was

687
00:45:54,000 --> 00:45:59,680
Speaker 1: a Texan by the way, and he well, we came

688
00:45:59,719 --> 00:46:03,959
Speaker 1: to terms at the table that day. But we owe

689
00:46:04,000 --> 00:46:08,320
Speaker 1: that to Phil Brettison also because he leaned on Vanderbilt.

690
00:46:08,360 --> 00:46:11,200
Speaker 1: He did it publicly too, to try and get that done.

691
00:46:11,400 --> 00:46:16,200
Speaker 1: And we were grateful to the university for allowing us

692
00:46:16,200 --> 00:46:19,600
Speaker 1: to play there. We offered to let them play games

693
00:46:19,600 --> 00:46:22,280
Speaker 1: in our stadium, which they took us up on. Several times.

694
00:46:23,040 --> 00:46:29,360
Speaker 1: We've entertained Vanderbilt at Nissan Stadium. So however, that also

695
00:46:29,440 --> 00:46:32,800
Speaker 1: created another set of issues because then we had to

696
00:46:32,800 --> 00:46:34,680
Speaker 1: get out of Memphis. We had signed a two year

697
00:46:34,840 --> 00:46:40,080
Speaker 1: lease there. What held it all together, well, I think

698
00:46:40,120 --> 00:46:42,759
Speaker 1: the fact that we knew there was eventually going to

699
00:46:42,800 --> 00:46:46,920
Speaker 1: be a new stadium. The stadium was not under construction

700
00:46:47,080 --> 00:46:52,360
Speaker 1: yet or had it was drawn and construction was getting

701
00:46:52,440 --> 00:46:54,719
Speaker 1: under way by while we were playing in Memphis, but

702
00:46:54,760 --> 00:46:56,960
Speaker 1: it didn't look like much, if you know what I'm saying.

703
00:46:57,680 --> 00:47:00,400
Speaker 1: It wasn't very far along. But the notion that we

704
00:47:00,400 --> 00:47:02,080
Speaker 1: were going to have a new home, that we were

705
00:47:02,080 --> 00:47:05,080
Speaker 1: going to have a building of our own, that everybody

706
00:47:05,200 --> 00:47:11,040
Speaker 1: was working toward that goal. And we had a head

707
00:47:11,040 --> 00:47:13,879
Speaker 1: coach at the time and a general manager who were

708
00:47:14,000 --> 00:47:17,200
Speaker 1: very you know, they were not experienced in a team

709
00:47:17,280 --> 00:47:20,480
Speaker 1: playing you know, all over the place over a short

710
00:47:20,520 --> 00:47:23,480
Speaker 1: period of time, but they had a great rapport with

711
00:47:23,520 --> 00:47:28,759
Speaker 1: the players and with our football and business operations, and

712
00:47:28,840 --> 00:47:32,719
Speaker 1: so without Floyd and Jeff, I'm not sure how well

713
00:47:32,760 --> 00:47:36,520
Speaker 1: all that would have ever come off. And even now

714
00:47:36,560 --> 00:47:40,560
Speaker 1: when I look back at what happened in those seasons

715
00:47:40,600 --> 00:47:47,759
Speaker 1: where we were playing at Vanderbilt in Memphis, I'm amazed

716
00:47:48,080 --> 00:47:50,480
Speaker 1: really that we played as well as we did all

717
00:47:50,480 --> 00:47:55,120
Speaker 1: those things considered, and it's a tribute to Jeff mostly,

718
00:47:55,520 --> 00:47:58,440
Speaker 1: but also to Floyd and to the other people that

719
00:47:58,480 --> 00:48:02,399
Speaker 1: were in our football operation. You know, everyone struggled, our

720
00:48:02,760 --> 00:48:06,719
Speaker 1: video guys, our equipment people, our trainers. It was just

721
00:48:06,760 --> 00:48:12,080
Speaker 1: a very difficult undertaking for everyone in those of us

722
00:48:12,080 --> 00:48:15,120
Speaker 1: that were involved in doing the paperwork and the negotiating

723
00:48:15,200 --> 00:48:19,600
Speaker 1: and the construction supervision. It was tough on us too.

724
00:48:20,040 --> 00:48:23,239
Speaker 1: But you know, explaining to players how you have to

725
00:48:23,280 --> 00:48:26,879
Speaker 1: travel to every game. Every game was an away game

726
00:48:27,000 --> 00:48:30,359
Speaker 1: if you were one of our football players, at least

727
00:48:30,360 --> 00:48:33,160
Speaker 1: in ninety seven, because even had to travel to Memphis

728
00:48:33,520 --> 00:48:37,160
Speaker 1: to play your home games. So it was what I

729
00:48:37,239 --> 00:48:42,880
Speaker 1: tell people now kind of to encapsulate what was what

730
00:48:43,000 --> 00:48:47,520
Speaker 1: went on those years. We had by far the most

731
00:48:47,520 --> 00:48:51,480
Speaker 1: tumultuous relocation in the history of professional sports. It's not

732
00:48:51,560 --> 00:48:55,480
Speaker 1: I don't think there's anything that even comes close. You

733
00:48:55,600 --> 00:48:59,440
Speaker 1: had what was going on here and playing in multiple stadiums,

734
00:49:00,080 --> 00:49:04,160
Speaker 1: supervising the construction of an existing a not yet existing building,

735
00:49:04,200 --> 00:49:06,200
Speaker 1: and you got a pop of a referendum right in

736
00:49:06,239 --> 00:49:09,239
Speaker 1: the middle of that that was not expecting. They got

737
00:49:09,360 --> 00:49:15,040
Speaker 1: enough petition signatures to force an election on whether or

738
00:49:15,080 --> 00:49:18,520
Speaker 1: not the building could be financed. Using the approach that

739
00:49:18,880 --> 00:49:23,080
Speaker 1: Mayor Breticon wanted to use. We also got through that again,

740
00:49:23,400 --> 00:49:28,520
Speaker 1: I think thanks largely to Mike and to Mayor Bredeson's leadership.

741
00:49:29,320 --> 00:49:35,719
Speaker 1: So and how about we were also fighting Harris County, Texas, Houston, Texas,

742
00:49:36,400 --> 00:49:41,640
Speaker 1: and the Houston Sports Association, our astro of known the

743
00:49:41,640 --> 00:49:45,080
Speaker 1: tenants of the baseball stadium because we were trying to

744
00:49:45,120 --> 00:49:48,120
Speaker 1: get out of that lease early, and so all of

745
00:49:48,160 --> 00:49:53,759
Speaker 1: those things were happening at once. And I'm reminded now

746
00:49:53,800 --> 00:49:56,279
Speaker 1: about your question about my wife at the time, who

747
00:49:56,320 --> 00:50:02,480
Speaker 1: had the three children under six at and didn't have

748
00:50:02,800 --> 00:50:05,520
Speaker 1: nearly enough help. All that was going on in our

749
00:50:05,560 --> 00:50:08,399
Speaker 1: personal life as well. So it was just a very

750
00:50:10,400 --> 00:50:13,480
Speaker 1: difficult and strained time, not just for me but for

751
00:50:13,560 --> 00:50:16,000
Speaker 1: ione in our organization. And I think there are other

752
00:50:16,040 --> 00:50:17,960
Speaker 1: people that might have even had it worse than me.

753
00:50:19,480 --> 00:50:23,200
Speaker 1: But the things that kept it together were the prospect

754
00:50:23,239 --> 00:50:26,719
Speaker 1: that we had of a home that we could stay

755
00:50:26,760 --> 00:50:30,920
Speaker 1: at forever, and the leadership that we had on our

756
00:50:30,960 --> 00:50:37,480
Speaker 1: football side. Even now, Jeff and Floyd, I'm willing to

757
00:50:37,480 --> 00:50:40,080
Speaker 1: give them another pad on the back, even twenty years later.

758
00:50:40,920 --> 00:50:45,759
Speaker 1: What would mister Adams think in twenty eighteen, the twentieth

759
00:50:45,800 --> 00:50:48,759
Speaker 1: year of the Titans, the NFL Draft is going to

760
00:50:48,840 --> 00:50:53,319
Speaker 1: be here? His daughter is the owner. She's made some

761
00:50:53,440 --> 00:50:56,080
Speaker 1: great hires, has made all kinds of great moves. She

762
00:50:56,280 --> 00:51:00,160
Speaker 1: is wildly popular in this market. The franchise is back

763
00:51:00,200 --> 00:51:02,960
Speaker 1: on the Upswing went to the playoffs last year, one

764
00:51:02,960 --> 00:51:07,160
Speaker 1: a playoff game, and now Nashville is one of the

765
00:51:07,280 --> 00:51:10,800
Speaker 1: it cities in the country. Would that be the first

766
00:51:10,840 --> 00:51:14,279
Speaker 1: thing he would say, is I knew it all along? No?

767
00:51:14,680 --> 00:51:21,360
Speaker 1: I think mister Adams would be both surprised and profoundly

768
00:51:21,640 --> 00:51:26,520
Speaker 1: proud of not only the people that work for him

769
00:51:26,560 --> 00:51:29,319
Speaker 1: here and of the decision that he made to come

770
00:51:29,320 --> 00:51:33,360
Speaker 1: to Nashville, but also of his daughter and what she

771
00:51:33,480 --> 00:51:39,959
Speaker 1: has accomplished here. I know as a father myself how

772
00:51:40,000 --> 00:51:44,200
Speaker 1: proud I am of my children's accomplishments. And I think

773
00:51:44,280 --> 00:51:48,640
Speaker 1: he would have never dreamed that Amy would take over

774
00:51:48,960 --> 00:51:55,759
Speaker 1: and be as operationally efficient and as successful as she

775
00:51:55,840 --> 00:51:59,400
Speaker 1: has been. But I do think he would be enormously

776
00:51:59,520 --> 00:52:03,759
Speaker 1: proud of what she has accomplished. I have thought of

777
00:52:03,800 --> 00:52:07,400
Speaker 1: that before, and Amy and I have had a conversation

778
00:52:07,520 --> 00:52:11,759
Speaker 1: or two about it, because I'm very proud of what

779
00:52:11,840 --> 00:52:15,400
Speaker 1: she has accomplished and the fact that she's been willing

780
00:52:15,480 --> 00:52:20,399
Speaker 1: to make a complete shift in her lifestyle to take

781
00:52:20,440 --> 00:52:24,120
Speaker 1: over and work. You know, she has conversations with all

782
00:52:24,120 --> 00:52:27,520
Speaker 1: of us every day and decisions to make every day,

783
00:52:28,280 --> 00:52:31,279
Speaker 1: and that hasn't been the story of her life. In

784
00:52:31,320 --> 00:52:34,840
Speaker 1: the last three to three and a half years, she's

785
00:52:34,880 --> 00:52:38,960
Speaker 1: had to completely shift gears from what she was accustomed

786
00:52:39,000 --> 00:52:43,000
Speaker 1: to doing into working what is essentially a full time

787
00:52:43,400 --> 00:52:46,719
Speaker 1: a decision maker role. We've asked you for far too

788
00:52:46,840 --> 00:52:50,279
Speaker 1: much time. But what a history, And thank you so much.

789
00:52:50,320 --> 00:52:54,440
Speaker 1: And I think what we all say is to this

790
00:52:54,520 --> 00:52:57,600
Speaker 1: conversation and to what you went through, it was all

791
00:52:57,640 --> 00:53:00,600
Speaker 1: worth it. Oh gosh, no doubt, no doubt, you know

792
00:53:01,400 --> 00:53:06,120
Speaker 1: to me, we Stuart Spears and I were sitting next

793
00:53:06,160 --> 00:53:10,279
Speaker 1: to each other in Jacksonville during the conference championship game.

794
00:53:11,480 --> 00:53:15,960
Speaker 1: I haven't ever said this before either. I was on

795
00:53:16,000 --> 00:53:19,640
Speaker 1: the verge of tears as the game was slipping away

796
00:53:19,640 --> 00:53:22,160
Speaker 1: from Jacksonville and became one obvious that they were going

797
00:53:22,239 --> 00:53:25,239
Speaker 1: to lose and that we were not only going to

798
00:53:25,280 --> 00:53:27,680
Speaker 1: win that game, but that we were going to the

799
00:53:27,680 --> 00:53:32,319
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. And I felt so good about sitting next

800
00:53:32,320 --> 00:53:36,400
Speaker 1: to Stuart, who has worked for us since nineteen eighty seven,

801
00:53:37,560 --> 00:53:41,359
Speaker 1: and he went through all that himself and had to

802
00:53:41,400 --> 00:53:45,040
Speaker 1: move here early, pick up his family and moved to

803
00:53:45,120 --> 00:53:48,480
Speaker 1: Nashville to be part of the transition. I was still

804
00:53:48,480 --> 00:53:53,080
Speaker 1: commuting back and forth between Houston, Nashville, and Memphis while

805
00:53:53,080 --> 00:53:55,960
Speaker 1: he was picking up his family and moving here, and

806
00:53:56,040 --> 00:53:58,240
Speaker 1: I think he's very glad that he did that too.

807
00:53:58,680 --> 00:54:02,759
Speaker 1: But when I realized that we were going to go

808
00:54:02,800 --> 00:54:07,040
Speaker 1: to the Super Bowl as the Tennessee Titans, that made

809
00:54:07,239 --> 00:54:10,120
Speaker 1: everything that we had had to go through worth it.

810
00:54:11,160 --> 00:54:14,960
Speaker 1: I will never be more proud than I was that afternoon,

811
00:54:15,600 --> 00:54:19,680
Speaker 1: realizing that for all of the difficulty and tumult that

812
00:54:19,800 --> 00:54:22,000
Speaker 1: we had had to go through, that we were going

813
00:54:22,040 --> 00:54:24,120
Speaker 1: to have a chance to compete to the world champions.

814
00:54:24,320 --> 00:54:27,560
Speaker 1: Time to go again, Yes, no doubt, I'm ready. Sign

815
00:54:27,600 --> 00:54:31,320
Speaker 1: me up. Steve Underwood, President and CEO of the Tennessee Titans,

816
00:54:31,320 --> 00:54:34,000
Speaker 1: thanks for joining us on the OTP. The honor has

817
00:54:34,000 --> 00:54:41,680
Speaker 1: been mine.