1
00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:13,840
Speaker 1: This is the OTP presented by Farm Bureau Health Plans.

2
00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:16,240
Speaker 1: Turn to the folks who've been in the game since

3
00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:20,720
Speaker 1: nineteen forty seven. Farm Bureau Health Plans offers the great

4
00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:24,880
Speaker 1: healthcare coverage you need with a price tag you can afford.

5
00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:26,960
Speaker 1: With Amy Wells on Mike Keith, We're glad to have

6
00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:31,360
Speaker 1: you with us. As the first week of Veterans departed

7
00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:34,360
Speaker 1: is winding up, they have been gone for a week now.

8
00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:37,680
Speaker 1: The rookies are finishing up their week where they've sort

9
00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:40,280
Speaker 1: of been on tour a little bit around town. They have.

10
00:00:40,479 --> 00:00:43,199
Speaker 1: We've seen the Titans rookies pop up all over the

11
00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:46,880
Speaker 1: place at libraries, at football camps. They've kind of done

12
00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:50,160
Speaker 1: a tour of Nashville just to get familiar with the city.

13
00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:52,559
Speaker 1: There's been a lot of stuff they've been around, all right.

14
00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:54,760
Speaker 1: So they are getting out of town now and we

15
00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:59,400
Speaker 1: are fully into downtime. Everybody is backed by July twenty seventh,

16
00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:02,880
Speaker 1: I think correct. Okay, so five weeks yep. Some big

17
00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:06,800
Speaker 1: news though where it concerns the Titans, and that is

18
00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:10,600
Speaker 1: where it concerns the oilers. Amy Adams, Trunk Titans controlling owner,

19
00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:14,160
Speaker 1: has been pushing the NFL for years to be able

20
00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:17,640
Speaker 1: to wear an alternate helmet so that you could have

21
00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:20,800
Speaker 1: a full, as you like to say, outfit with an

22
00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:25,520
Speaker 1: alternate uniform. The NFL has approved that for twenty twenty two,

23
00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:30,040
Speaker 1: so if the Titans want to wear a complete Oilers

24
00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:33,360
Speaker 1: look for an Oiler's Day, they will be able to

25
00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:36,480
Speaker 1: do that, not this season, but next season. She was

26
00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:40,000
Speaker 1: one of the driving forces behind that and it has happened. Yeah,

27
00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:42,600
Speaker 1: And this was something that has been very important to

28
00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:45,560
Speaker 1: her because she has said that she likes the idea

29
00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:49,640
Speaker 1: of an Oiler's throwback. She wants to commemorate that history.

30
00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:52,600
Speaker 1: But you've got to have the helmet. It's not a

31
00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:56,800
Speaker 1: proper throwback without the oil Derek helmet. It's just it's

32
00:01:56,840 --> 00:02:00,840
Speaker 1: not the same. So now that the league has approved that,

33
00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:03,240
Speaker 1: it is something, as you said, that she has really

34
00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:06,040
Speaker 1: been pushing over the last couple of years. To finally

35
00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:09,399
Speaker 1: have that approved is exciting, not for twenty twenty one,

36
00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:12,400
Speaker 1: but maybe twenty twenty two and beyond. So in two

37
00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:18,880
Speaker 1: thousand and nine, we wore the Oilers original uniform ensemble

38
00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:23,720
Speaker 1: look for the fiftieth anniversary of the AFL, and it

39
00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:27,519
Speaker 1: was the light blue helmet with the white Derek, and

40
00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:31,160
Speaker 1: some people really liked it. I was not phenomenally crazy

41
00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:34,360
Speaker 1: about the look. I hope that as we go to

42
00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:37,480
Speaker 1: this next year, if she decides to go forward, we

43
00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:40,200
Speaker 1: will go with the white helmet, with the I guess

44
00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:43,040
Speaker 1: with the red oil Derek, right, And then they had

45
00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:45,519
Speaker 1: the the white jerseys and the light blue pants. I

46
00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:47,920
Speaker 1: thought that was a good look. Those were the oilers.

47
00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:51,200
Speaker 1: To me, I wasn't old enough to remember the early

48
00:02:51,480 --> 00:02:55,200
Speaker 1: AFL oilers. But you're right, it wouldn't have looked right

49
00:02:55,639 --> 00:02:58,720
Speaker 1: with if you're still wearing a Titans helmet right, It

50
00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:02,480
Speaker 1: just wouldn't have had the complete vibe. And I think

51
00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:04,880
Speaker 1: if we know anything about Amy Adams drunk, it's that

52
00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:07,120
Speaker 1: she wants to do it all the way and she

53
00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:10,680
Speaker 1: wants to do it correct. So I think that for

54
00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:13,920
Speaker 1: something like that that has so much history attached to

55
00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:17,400
Speaker 1: it and fans get so passionate about it, let's wait

56
00:03:17,639 --> 00:03:20,320
Speaker 1: until everything is approved, everything can be the way it

57
00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:22,560
Speaker 1: needs to be, and then we can rock and roll.

58
00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:25,519
Speaker 1: This was not something we would have ever thought possible

59
00:03:25,639 --> 00:03:30,040
Speaker 1: twenty three years ago, because the name thing was so controversial.

60
00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:34,359
Speaker 1: Mister Adams initially said, we're gonna move to Tennessee, and

61
00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:37,160
Speaker 1: we're going to change the name. And then he started

62
00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:41,520
Speaker 1: pulling back on that because he saw what happened when

63
00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:45,920
Speaker 1: the Browns went to Baltimore. The history of the Browns

64
00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:50,000
Speaker 1: stayed behind in Cleveland, and the Cleveland Browns of now

65
00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:55,520
Speaker 1: another generation of Browns got that history. The idea of

66
00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:59,200
Speaker 1: leaving the Oiler's history in Houston for somebody else to

67
00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:03,240
Speaker 1: be able to pick up that history, that crushed mister Adams, right,

68
00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:07,520
Speaker 1: I mean absolutely crushed him. He started the AFL with

69
00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:11,120
Speaker 1: Lamar Hunt, he started the Oilers. The Oilers where his baby.

70
00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:14,560
Speaker 1: He never really wanted to leave. They didn't give him

71
00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:18,039
Speaker 1: any choice financially, and that's probably a podcast for a

72
00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:22,640
Speaker 1: different story. But the thought of somebody else taking his

73
00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:26,080
Speaker 1: history just absolutely crushed him. And so I don't know

74
00:04:26,120 --> 00:04:28,919
Speaker 1: that he was going back on saying that he was

75
00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:32,040
Speaker 1: going to change the name, but it was a huge issue.

76
00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:34,360
Speaker 1: I sat in a meeting they took us to see

77
00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:37,520
Speaker 1: the marketing people my first week on the job, and

78
00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:40,360
Speaker 1: I was a talk show host before that for nine years,

79
00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:42,440
Speaker 1: and they said, hey, as you come in, you kind

80
00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:45,599
Speaker 1: of have a unique perspective. What do you hear from

81
00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:47,840
Speaker 1: the people I said, what I hear from the people

82
00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:51,520
Speaker 1: is we better change the name. That's what they say, overwhelmingly,

83
00:04:51,880 --> 00:04:54,440
Speaker 1: that there is no chance they're accepting us if we

84
00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:57,080
Speaker 1: stay the Tennessee Oilers. And one of the guys on

85
00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:00,240
Speaker 1: the committee who's no longer with its unfortunately good p person,

86
00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:04,080
Speaker 1: talented guy, he said, yeah, let's talk about another issue.

87
00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:06,440
Speaker 1: I said, there is no other issue to the fan base,

88
00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:12,919
Speaker 1: and it got a little nasty over club Sandwiches because

89
00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:16,840
Speaker 1: he didn't understand what I was hearing. I didn't need

90
00:05:16,839 --> 00:05:19,280
Speaker 1: a focus group. I mean I talked to people all

91
00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:21,200
Speaker 1: the time and they're like, look, I'm never going to

92
00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:23,920
Speaker 1: support that franchise unless they changed the name. And when

93
00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:27,600
Speaker 1: he finally announced he would do it. And when we

94
00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:32,640
Speaker 1: finally went forward, we announced the name change on a Saturday,

95
00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:36,720
Speaker 1: and Tennessee fans remember the Saturday because it was the

96
00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:40,760
Speaker 1: same Saturday during the Valls National Championship year where Clint

97
00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:43,480
Speaker 1: Sterner fumbled at the end of the Tennessee Arkansas game.

98
00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:45,320
Speaker 1: Tennessee went on to win a game, So it was

99
00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:47,800
Speaker 1: sort of a historic day and it was very much

100
00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:51,280
Speaker 1: overshadowed in the paper the next day because of how

101
00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:54,599
Speaker 1: Tennessee ended up winning this football game. So we made

102
00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:58,200
Speaker 1: this announcement in what is now parking lot M right

103
00:05:58,279 --> 00:06:01,320
Speaker 1: outside the stadium and produced mister Adams and he announced

104
00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:04,200
Speaker 1: we were going to be the Titans. And there was

105
00:06:04,279 --> 00:06:08,640
Speaker 1: no social media reaction because there was no social media. Yeah,

106
00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:11,599
Speaker 1: so the reaction would have come that night on the news,

107
00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:14,839
Speaker 1: the next day in the paper. Whatever. Well, Tennessee wins

108
00:06:14,880 --> 00:06:18,920
Speaker 1: this game in the rain that spurs them on to

109
00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:23,760
Speaker 1: be national champions, and it totally took away our thunder.

110
00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:28,400
Speaker 1: I mean, had Tennessee one forty two to seven, the

111
00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:31,960
Speaker 1: name would have been the headline, but instead it was

112
00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:35,480
Speaker 1: about the Valls. And so at that point, the reaction

113
00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:40,600
Speaker 1: to Titans, but this was true, The reaction to anything

114
00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:45,720
Speaker 1: oilers was bad. Well, now we've got a generation behind us.

115
00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:48,839
Speaker 1: People are like, hey, that oiler stuff is cool. I

116
00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:51,640
Speaker 1: can pull out my oiler stuff occasionally now, and you know,

117
00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:54,080
Speaker 1: if I wore something oilers to the grocery store, somebody

118
00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:56,880
Speaker 1: would say that's really cool, you know. But I have

119
00:06:56,920 --> 00:06:59,800
Speaker 1: a whole bunch of oiler stuff that I saved because

120
00:06:59,839 --> 00:07:02,200
Speaker 1: I liked it, and I was proud to have worked

121
00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:04,440
Speaker 1: for the Tennessee Oilers because I knew what that meant

122
00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:08,480
Speaker 1: to mister Adams, but the issue was it was such

123
00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:12,559
Speaker 1: a negative connotation. And yet twenty three years later, now

124
00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:15,520
Speaker 1: people are excited that we're going to have a chance

125
00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:18,360
Speaker 1: to have a throwback helmet and be the oilers for

126
00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:22,520
Speaker 1: a game. It is very interesting how being removed from

127
00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:26,240
Speaker 1: that immediate history, I guess being a little bit a

128
00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:30,800
Speaker 1: generation removed from that change's perspective. But also, we are

129
00:07:30,840 --> 00:07:34,119
Speaker 1: living in a time right now where throwbacks are all

130
00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:38,920
Speaker 1: the rage. You see throwbacks and reunions of TV shows

131
00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:42,480
Speaker 1: and remakes of movies, and like, this is kind of

132
00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:45,120
Speaker 1: the era we're in. So to be able to capitalize

133
00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:51,320
Speaker 1: on that and have the Tennessee Titans highlighting their history

134
00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:54,680
Speaker 1: and their roots is so cool. And to have this

135
00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:58,360
Speaker 1: new generation of Titans fans be so excited about that

136
00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:02,040
Speaker 1: part of the history because listen, there are so many

137
00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:06,440
Speaker 1: young Titans fans who don't remember the Houston Oilers, the

138
00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:09,800
Speaker 1: Tennessee Oilers, any of that. It was before their time.

139
00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:14,520
Speaker 1: And to have them embracing that those roots really cool. Well,

140
00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:17,680
Speaker 1: I think it's smart. From maybe Adams Strunk's perspective, she

141
00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:22,400
Speaker 1: reads the room and that is it's time now, ye now,

142
00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:25,760
Speaker 1: we can do this. We're not insulting anybody. Nobody's going

143
00:08:25,800 --> 00:08:29,040
Speaker 1: to get upset. But I mean, in nineteen ninety eight,

144
00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:32,880
Speaker 1: it was a hot button. I mean the minute we

145
00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:37,280
Speaker 1: got the first Titans gear, you know, that's what you

146
00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:39,079
Speaker 1: were supposed to have on all the time. I went

147
00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:42,280
Speaker 1: to a meeting. It was a Monday night in December,

148
00:08:43,160 --> 00:08:46,480
Speaker 1: and the folks from the NFL were there. We went

149
00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:48,760
Speaker 1: to the Low's Vanderbilt Plaza and we were in a

150
00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:53,080
Speaker 1: conference room and they gave us all the stuff to

151
00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:56,120
Speaker 1: take out to unveil the logo. And it was like

152
00:08:56,200 --> 00:08:58,920
Speaker 1: we were part of the CIA or you know, a

153
00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:04,720
Speaker 1: secret mission, because we unveiled the logo simultaneously in multiple

154
00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:07,960
Speaker 1: markets the next day. And so I had in my

155
00:09:08,040 --> 00:09:11,920
Speaker 1: trunk some of the first Titans hats, some of the

156
00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:17,560
Speaker 1: first Titans t shirts, and people initially liked it. They thought, well,

157
00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:21,200
Speaker 1: that's cool because it wasn't the oilers, right, you know,

158
00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:25,840
Speaker 1: They're like, oh, yeah, that's great. The controversy initially was

159
00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:29,800
Speaker 1: people like the secondary logo better than the fireball the sword.

160
00:09:30,280 --> 00:09:33,360
Speaker 1: And so as we got into that and got heavy

161
00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:36,840
Speaker 1: into that discussion, there was some talk about do we

162
00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:39,720
Speaker 1: want to change this, and the league I think quite

163
00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:43,559
Speaker 1: wisely said no, with what we've got in production now

164
00:09:43,679 --> 00:09:46,320
Speaker 1: for a period of time, we're gonna stick with the

165
00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:51,560
Speaker 1: fireball and the sword will just be the secondary logo.

166
00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:54,160
Speaker 1: And now I can't imagine it not being the fireball.

167
00:09:54,320 --> 00:09:57,760
Speaker 1: How did the fireball come to be? Who landed on that?

168
00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:01,079
Speaker 1: How was that created? Is there lady around that? If

169
00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:04,320
Speaker 1: there's a story, I was not privy to that. What

170
00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:07,600
Speaker 1: I know is, like with the name stuff, one of

171
00:10:07,640 --> 00:10:10,240
Speaker 1: the things that they thought is at one point is

172
00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:13,120
Speaker 1: we would be the Tennessee Thunder. That was a name

173
00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:15,760
Speaker 1: they liked, They liked the alliteration, they liked all of that.

174
00:10:16,040 --> 00:10:18,520
Speaker 1: There was the Garth Brooks. Of course, Garth Brooks is

175
00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:20,440
Speaker 1: coming to the East Sun Stadium July thirty first. But

176
00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:23,360
Speaker 1: Garth Brooks had the song the Thunder rolls, and there

177
00:10:23,440 --> 00:10:25,720
Speaker 1: was this thought that that could be envisioned as sort

178
00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:32,600
Speaker 1: of you know, yeah, but they had given Thunder to

179
00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:38,400
Speaker 1: the Berlin Thunder in NFL Europe. Interesting and so there

180
00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:43,760
Speaker 1: were questions about licensing and trademark and confusion. The most

181
00:10:43,840 --> 00:10:49,920
Speaker 1: popular names were snakes. The copper Heads was popular, and

182
00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:54,040
Speaker 1: a guy in Tri Cities produced a whole literal outfit

183
00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:57,640
Speaker 1: logo thing. He was a graphic designer and he owned it,

184
00:10:57,840 --> 00:11:01,840
Speaker 1: which was problematic because the League, as you know, does

185
00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:05,720
Speaker 1: not share no. So the fact that he had trademarked

186
00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:07,440
Speaker 1: it all. He was like, well, I'll give it to

187
00:11:07,559 --> 00:11:09,440
Speaker 1: you if you and they're like, we don't do if you,

188
00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:14,000
Speaker 1: right us. Well it's well they weren't going there. They

189
00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:16,280
Speaker 1: weren't going to get into some sort of litigation. There

190
00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:18,640
Speaker 1: was also talk about like the rattle snakes or the

191
00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:21,920
Speaker 1: rattlers or whatever. But here's what they found. People hate snakes.

192
00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:26,520
Speaker 1: That's it. So the most popular names were the snake names.

193
00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:31,079
Speaker 1: The most unpopular names were the snake names, So that

194
00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:35,439
Speaker 1: eliminated the snakes. Interesting, Yeah, there was a whole thing

195
00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:40,239
Speaker 1: with that. Now. Pioneers was another name. Mister Adams liked Pioneers.

196
00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:43,880
Speaker 1: The League was not crazy about it. Nobody in our

197
00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:48,240
Speaker 1: office was crazy about it because A, it's not real tough.

198
00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:51,160
Speaker 1: Here come the Pioneer. I mean, it just didn't. And

199
00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:53,480
Speaker 1: the other part of it too, is it sounded way

200
00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:57,080
Speaker 1: too much like volunteers. For those of us who had

201
00:11:57,120 --> 00:12:00,160
Speaker 1: a Tennessee background, We're like, man, you do not want

202
00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:02,880
Speaker 1: to get in their space, and you got to realize Tennessee,

203
00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:05,040
Speaker 1: at that point they were forty five and five, I mean,

204
00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:09,000
Speaker 1: they were rolling in everything, and so the thing you

205
00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:11,880
Speaker 1: didn't want to do is you did not want to

206
00:12:11,880 --> 00:12:14,120
Speaker 1: get in their space. I don't know how far that went.

207
00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:17,960
Speaker 1: I just heard about it like ninth hand, yeah, which

208
00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:19,760
Speaker 1: is how it worked for me at that time, being

209
00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:24,360
Speaker 1: a new employee. Titans was the compromise to all of it,

210
00:12:24,559 --> 00:12:27,640
Speaker 1: and mister Adams liked Titans because it had been an

211
00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:30,640
Speaker 1: original AFL name. The New York Jets were the New

212
00:12:30,679 --> 00:12:35,440
Speaker 1: York Titans initially. Yeah, And so they ask the Jets

213
00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:38,480
Speaker 1: to relinquish the name, and the Jets relinquish the name

214
00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:41,440
Speaker 1: with the understanding that in throwback situations they could be

215
00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:44,560
Speaker 1: the New York Titans, which they have done at different points,

216
00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:46,880
Speaker 1: one time actually against us in two thousand and nine.

217
00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:49,240
Speaker 1: That's petty. Well, what was funny in two thousand and

218
00:12:49,320 --> 00:12:53,280
Speaker 1: nine is I was originally directed that when I called

219
00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:56,360
Speaker 1: that game where we played the Jets, that I was

220
00:12:56,400 --> 00:12:59,320
Speaker 1: supposed to call the Jets the Titans, and I was

221
00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:02,600
Speaker 1: supposed to call all the Titans the Oilers because we

222
00:13:02,600 --> 00:13:06,040
Speaker 1: were both in our throwback uniforms. No chance. I said

223
00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:10,360
Speaker 1: absolutely not, because I said, there is no way I'm

224
00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:13,960
Speaker 1: doing that to our audience, because, as you know, radio

225
00:13:14,080 --> 00:13:17,480
Speaker 1: is not a terribly visual medium. It's zero percent visual.

226
00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:21,120
Speaker 1: It turns out, yeah, yes, there's no way for you.

227
00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:24,800
Speaker 1: You're driving and you're listening to Titans radio and I said, oh,

228
00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:27,840
Speaker 1: you know, touchdown Titans, and you think, oh, hey, we

229
00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:30,920
Speaker 1: did it. Chris Johnson has scored or Vince Young has

230
00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:34,760
Speaker 1: scored or whatever, and then you're like, yeah, Mark who

231
00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:38,560
Speaker 1: Mark Sanchez? What who? Yeah? He plays for the Jets.

232
00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:40,800
Speaker 1: You would have been totally confused. But that's what they

233
00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:43,520
Speaker 1: They wanted us to carry it out that far. And

234
00:13:43,559 --> 00:13:47,200
Speaker 1: I said, absolutely not. I'm not doing that. I'm I'm

235
00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:51,199
Speaker 1: all for history, I'm all for throwbacks, but for our audience,

236
00:13:51,679 --> 00:13:55,360
Speaker 1: this won't work. New Wow. Yeah, there's no way you

237
00:13:55,360 --> 00:13:59,959
Speaker 1: could have pulled that off that. Yeah. Yeah, And that's

238
00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:03,800
Speaker 1: an interesting did the TV do it? Do you know?

239
00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:07,640
Speaker 1: I don't know interesting. I don't know the answer to that,

240
00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:09,680
Speaker 1: but I know we sure didn't do it on radio.

241
00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:13,520
Speaker 1: And my colleagues with other teams did not do it either. Yeah,

242
00:14:13,559 --> 00:14:16,280
Speaker 1: that's just too hard. You can't change a team name,

243
00:14:16,559 --> 00:14:20,120
Speaker 1: especially in a room thinking wouldn't this be a great

244
00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:23,600
Speaker 1: idea and not thinking about the practical part of it,

245
00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:26,040
Speaker 1: right from the standpoint of how it would affect a

246
00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:29,640
Speaker 1: listener and somebody following along. A lot of broadcast confusion

247
00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:32,800
Speaker 1: with that, But it's it's interesting that someone even thought

248
00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:36,240
Speaker 1: that would be a good idea given that you're basically

249
00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:39,480
Speaker 1: you're not just using their throwback name. You're using the

250
00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:42,160
Speaker 1: name of the other team. Like it's different if they

251
00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:45,320
Speaker 1: wanted to be called the Cubs, you know, because that

252
00:14:45,400 --> 00:14:47,800
Speaker 1: was their throwback name, right, so then you have like

253
00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:50,800
Speaker 1: the Cubs and the Oilers. That's confusing, but like maybe

254
00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:53,640
Speaker 1: someone could figure it out. But if the team playing

255
00:14:53,640 --> 00:14:55,560
Speaker 1: the Titans now wants to be called the Titans, that's

256
00:14:55,560 --> 00:14:57,960
Speaker 1: like if someone if I insisted on being called Mike

257
00:14:58,040 --> 00:15:00,280
Speaker 1: for the entirety of a program, people w I think

258
00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:02,960
Speaker 1: that was strange? Odd, Yeah, it would be confusing. Odd.

259
00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:05,640
Speaker 1: I would not want to be called Amy, no offense,

260
00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:07,320
Speaker 1: but it just would because of a great name. It

261
00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:09,200
Speaker 1: is a great name. You can spell it however you want.

262
00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:13,160
Speaker 1: Very confusing. Okay, So when they convinced mister Adams that

263
00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:15,520
Speaker 1: he had to change the name, the story is that

264
00:15:15,560 --> 00:15:18,200
Speaker 1: Paul Tagley Boo, the Commissier himself, told him, you have

265
00:15:18,400 --> 00:15:21,640
Speaker 1: to change the name. Interesting, so, mister Adams, and I

266
00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:24,040
Speaker 1: think Paul Tagleboo called him mister. He might have called

267
00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:27,040
Speaker 1: him Bud, but everybody called him mister Adams. You have

268
00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:30,080
Speaker 1: to change the name. From a marketing standpoint, all of

269
00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:32,920
Speaker 1: this research shows and what we're gonna do is we're

270
00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:36,920
Speaker 1: gonna let you retire the history. So unlike the Browns

271
00:15:36,960 --> 00:15:39,480
Speaker 1: who had to leave their history in Cleveland for the

272
00:15:39,560 --> 00:15:42,720
Speaker 1: new Browns to take over and for the Ravens to

273
00:15:42,760 --> 00:15:46,560
Speaker 1: start as like an expansion team in Baltimore, we were

274
00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:49,760
Speaker 1: able to keep the history because that was how they

275
00:15:49,760 --> 00:15:52,400
Speaker 1: got mister Adams to change the name. And that's why

276
00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:57,680
Speaker 1: there's some contention in Houston still, yeah about who the

277
00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:00,760
Speaker 1: Oilers belonged to. Right, it's not the tech S, correct,

278
00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:03,840
Speaker 1: it's us Because he knew Houston would get another team.

279
00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:07,720
Speaker 1: Mister Adams one percent understood that the moment he walked

280
00:16:07,720 --> 00:16:11,080
Speaker 1: out of town, they would build somebody else another stadium.

281
00:16:11,280 --> 00:16:14,480
Speaker 1: And what was so wild about it is it literally

282
00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:19,080
Speaker 1: literally cost them three to four times as much to

283
00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:21,280
Speaker 1: let him walk out of town. Then it would have

284
00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:24,040
Speaker 1: been to just build him a stadium. Wow. He and

285
00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:29,360
Speaker 1: the mayor were so sideways that they you know, it

286
00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:32,600
Speaker 1: was done really over spite. If you read the story

287
00:16:32,640 --> 00:16:36,080
Speaker 1: and follow the history, it was really done just to

288
00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:39,920
Speaker 1: spite him. Wow. And so that's why he had the

289
00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:44,000
Speaker 1: bitterness that he did, why he wanted to beat the Texans.

290
00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:46,000
Speaker 1: And you know, now, I mean, the Texans has been

291
00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:47,680
Speaker 1: around since two thousand and two, so this will be

292
00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:51,360
Speaker 1: their twentieth year, their division rival, and their you know whatever.

293
00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:55,800
Speaker 1: Now they want to beat us, right, We're not as salty, right.

294
00:16:56,040 --> 00:17:00,840
Speaker 1: I guess the rivalry now kind of comes from what's

295
00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:04,760
Speaker 1: happening from season to see. Right, it's football related, not

296
00:17:04,840 --> 00:17:09,080
Speaker 1: so much history and pride. And Amy has embraced the

297
00:17:09,119 --> 00:17:14,080
Speaker 1: Oilers alumni so much in doing things for them because

298
00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:16,280
Speaker 1: you know, she felt like it was time. And she

299
00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:19,119
Speaker 1: was also to hear her say, worried that we're losing

300
00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:23,000
Speaker 1: some of those gentlemen. And we lost another alumni this

301
00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:24,879
Speaker 1: week as a matter of fact. So there, you know,

302
00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:27,280
Speaker 1: if you're gonna do it, you better do it now, right.

303
00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:32,199
Speaker 1: And I've been fortunate enough to go to those alumni

304
00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:35,520
Speaker 1: weekends that she had in Houston, the very first one,

305
00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:39,440
Speaker 1: and man, it was incredible seeing guys get together who

306
00:17:39,520 --> 00:17:42,720
Speaker 1: hadn't been in the same space for years. There were

307
00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:45,720
Speaker 1: trainers and equipment guys who worked for the Titans now

308
00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:48,440
Speaker 1: who were part of the Oilers, and some staff who

309
00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:52,040
Speaker 1: went down and man, just to see everybody get together

310
00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:55,520
Speaker 1: and have such a good time, it was really really cool.

311
00:17:55,600 --> 00:17:57,720
Speaker 1: It was a great event. And I mean they went

312
00:17:57,760 --> 00:18:00,280
Speaker 1: to Top Golf and there was a dinner and there

313
00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:03,800
Speaker 1: were all these mixers just creating spaces for guys to

314
00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:06,920
Speaker 1: catch up well. And it's really been nice because they

315
00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:11,240
Speaker 1: were almost the children of divorce, if you will, when

316
00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:17,080
Speaker 1: we couldn't really acknowledge that Oilers passed because we were

317
00:18:17,119 --> 00:18:20,680
Speaker 1: trying to become the Titans. We were trying to shift gears.

318
00:18:21,480 --> 00:18:24,840
Speaker 1: When that happened, we really couldn't do much with him.

319
00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:29,160
Speaker 1: Arren Moon came here to receive his Hall of Fame ring, right,

320
00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:32,800
Speaker 1: and the applause was like for you know, a golfer

321
00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:36,040
Speaker 1: on the fifteenth hole of the you know, memorial class.

322
00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:39,480
Speaker 1: I mean, it was just very polite, and he said

323
00:18:39,480 --> 00:18:41,199
Speaker 1: as much. I interviewed him later and he said as

324
00:18:41,240 --> 00:18:42,960
Speaker 1: much to me, because they don't know who I am

325
00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:45,720
Speaker 1: and I don't know who they are and and it'll

326
00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:49,680
Speaker 1: never be quite the same. But to see her embrace

327
00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:53,959
Speaker 1: now and the fact that she brings those players around

328
00:18:54,080 --> 00:18:57,000
Speaker 1: us in Nashville and the fan base comes to know

329
00:18:57,119 --> 00:19:00,280
Speaker 1: their stories. Maybe there's not the connection there was when

330
00:19:00,320 --> 00:19:02,679
Speaker 1: there was a player, but there is some connection and

331
00:19:02,720 --> 00:19:06,560
Speaker 1: there is some respect and it's fun. And I don't

332
00:19:06,600 --> 00:19:11,200
Speaker 1: think mister Adams did not do that because of an oversight.

333
00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:14,480
Speaker 1: I know the context of where we were at that

334
00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:19,840
Speaker 1: moment as an organization, and the context here, which is

335
00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:22,400
Speaker 1: where your team was going to be, where they built

336
00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:25,160
Speaker 1: you a stadium, where they needed to buy your tickets.

337
00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:28,800
Speaker 1: The people here did not want to hear about Dan

338
00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:32,720
Speaker 1: Pastorini and Ken Burrow and Elvin Buffet and they didn't care. Yeah,

339
00:19:32,960 --> 00:19:35,720
Speaker 1: They're like, that was Houston's team. This is our team. Well,

340
00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:40,919
Speaker 1: now Nashville's grown up. Nashville's a big city. Nashville has

341
00:19:40,920 --> 00:19:44,800
Speaker 1: its own pro teams and a history, and we've got

342
00:19:45,119 --> 00:19:50,160
Speaker 1: generational guys that are coming through our doors and we're

343
00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:53,280
Speaker 1: seeing this. You know, We've had Javonne and Steve and

344
00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:56,400
Speaker 1: Eddie and Frank and all of these people. So it's

345
00:19:56,440 --> 00:20:01,040
Speaker 1: like we're more confident. Now Amy's more confident in it,

346
00:20:01,119 --> 00:20:03,560
Speaker 1: and this can happen. So it took a while, but

347
00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:06,520
Speaker 1: I think the right thing is happening. Absolutely, it feels

348
00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:09,560
Speaker 1: like a bridge is being built. I was able to

349
00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:11,800
Speaker 1: talk to Robert Brazil before he went into the Hall

350
00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:14,640
Speaker 1: of Fame and what was that twenty eighteen, And he

351
00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:19,200
Speaker 1: was very emotional after because Amy had him come out

352
00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:21,879
Speaker 1: to a game and he was kind of recognized and

353
00:20:21,920 --> 00:20:26,919
Speaker 1: celebrated during halftime, and he was emotional about feeling like

354
00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:30,360
Speaker 1: he had a home right. He felt like this fan

355
00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:34,000
Speaker 1: base really embraced him, and this team embraced him, and

356
00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:35,880
Speaker 1: he felt like he had a place to go. Well

357
00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:38,760
Speaker 1: because Amy told him to. Yeah, not in a bad way,

358
00:20:38,800 --> 00:20:41,800
Speaker 1: but because she said, hey, this is one of ours,

359
00:20:41,800 --> 00:20:43,959
Speaker 1: this is one of ours. This is important to me.

360
00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:47,359
Speaker 1: And she has credibility with the fan base to where

361
00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:49,680
Speaker 1: they say, if it's important to Amy Adam Strunk, it's

362
00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:53,000
Speaker 1: important to me absolutely. You know, the evolution of all

363
00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:55,760
Speaker 1: of this is really amazing. This will be our twenty

364
00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:59,159
Speaker 1: fifth year to play in Tennessee. Wow, Memphis Vanderbilt, and

365
00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:01,600
Speaker 1: now this will be the twenty third year that we

366
00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:05,199
Speaker 1: play at Nissan stadium and to see where it was

367
00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:08,760
Speaker 1: to where it is now and the evolution of the

368
00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:11,399
Speaker 1: fan base. That really the evolution of the state in

369
00:21:11,600 --> 00:21:15,239
Speaker 1: terms of their fandom. It's been so much fun to

370
00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:20,000
Speaker 1: see the development. Because we started off, you weren't exactly

371
00:21:20,040 --> 00:21:22,040
Speaker 1: sure how it was going to go. This was so

372
00:21:22,359 --> 00:21:28,119
Speaker 1: college and it was very polarizing, and fortunately we got

373
00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:32,800
Speaker 1: good fast. We had big name college players who became

374
00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:37,439
Speaker 1: stars for us. We won some big games. The venue

375
00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:41,560
Speaker 1: was new and fun. Nashville was taking off at the

376
00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:44,600
Speaker 1: same time. I got several friends who would come from

377
00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:48,760
Speaker 1: other cities two or three times a year, and they

378
00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:50,920
Speaker 1: would get a room downtown and they and their wife

379
00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:52,560
Speaker 1: would stay and they get up and have brunch and

380
00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:55,919
Speaker 1: they'd be like, gosh, we love Nashville. Yeah, and you know,

381
00:21:55,960 --> 00:21:57,800
Speaker 1: we walk across the bridge, we go to the game.

382
00:21:57,840 --> 00:22:01,600
Speaker 1: We were home by six thirty, you know, And so

383
00:22:02,040 --> 00:22:07,199
Speaker 1: their experience became not the Titans experience, but the Nashville experience.

384
00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:09,359
Speaker 1: And as more and more people went back. I've got

385
00:22:09,359 --> 00:22:12,199
Speaker 1: a great friend in Jackson, same thing for him, you know.

386
00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:14,359
Speaker 1: He would drive up with his boys the morning of

387
00:22:14,359 --> 00:22:16,040
Speaker 1: the game, and they would get here early enough to

388
00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:18,720
Speaker 1: tailgate and they went to the Grand ol Opry the

389
00:22:18,800 --> 00:22:21,080
Speaker 1: night before, or they came up and they did their

390
00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:23,760
Speaker 1: Christmas shopping at Opry Mills. That you know, all these

391
00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:26,239
Speaker 1: sorts of things that seem silly when you talk about it,

392
00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:29,399
Speaker 1: but it's sort of the evolution of every bit of this.

393
00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:35,280
Speaker 1: It feels that the Titans team organization has grown up

394
00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:39,000
Speaker 1: with this city in a way that is so organic,

395
00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:43,600
Speaker 1: which is not something that every team in the NFL

396
00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:49,160
Speaker 1: can say. It feels as though this team fortunately hit

397
00:22:49,359 --> 00:22:52,560
Speaker 1: Nashville at right the right moment where if you started

398
00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:56,520
Speaker 1: growing a fan base here, little did anybody know what

399
00:22:56,680 --> 00:22:59,679
Speaker 1: Nashville was going to end up becoming. And so to

400
00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:02,800
Speaker 1: have this team with a homegrown fan base that will

401
00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:05,960
Speaker 1: just ride with this team no matter what. And then

402
00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:08,840
Speaker 1: as you bring people into the city, they also kind

403
00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:12,159
Speaker 1: of adopt the Tennessee Titans, and it's grown in the

404
00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:14,520
Speaker 1: same way that the city has grown. And look at

405
00:23:14,560 --> 00:23:17,080
Speaker 1: the things that this team is doing now from the

406
00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:21,320
Speaker 1: football standpoint with five straight winning seasons to some of

407
00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:23,520
Speaker 1: the initiatives that the Titans are going to be doing

408
00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:26,240
Speaker 1: in the city and the way that they're investing not

409
00:23:26,359 --> 00:23:29,760
Speaker 1: only in Nissan Stadium, but in the neighborhood around Nissan Stadium,

410
00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:33,160
Speaker 1: because this is where this city is and also where

411
00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:37,119
Speaker 1: this organization is. It's such an embedded part of the

412
00:23:37,240 --> 00:23:41,119
Speaker 1: Nashville experience now that that is just so cool. But

413
00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:44,760
Speaker 1: it's not forced. It's part of the culture here, and

414
00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:47,159
Speaker 1: that is something that is so cool to be a

415
00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:50,679
Speaker 1: part of and to see developed just for myself and

416
00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:53,399
Speaker 1: then to hear even the earlier stories of how that

417
00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:58,000
Speaker 1: has developed. It's a very unique thing to the Titans experience.

418
00:23:58,000 --> 00:23:59,800
Speaker 1: And I think that that's a lot due to the

419
00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:02,879
Speaker 1: Nashville experience. I think that's right, and I think a

420
00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:06,000
Speaker 1: lot of people, you know, because we teased early on,

421
00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:08,960
Speaker 1: we said, if you were a Washington fan or a

422
00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:13,240
Speaker 1: Dallas fan, or Pittsburgh fan, whatever, we can't get you

423
00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:15,600
Speaker 1: because you've been a Washington fan or a Dallas fan

424
00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:17,680
Speaker 1: or Pittsburgh fan all your life. But we're gonna get

425
00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:20,679
Speaker 1: your kids. You know, We're gonna get your children. Because

426
00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:24,200
Speaker 1: I didn't grow up here with the Tennessee Titans, right,

427
00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:27,399
Speaker 1: I grew up here following another national team, which if

428
00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:29,159
Speaker 1: you lived in this part of the country, that's what

429
00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:32,000
Speaker 1: you did. It was our help and our hindrance as

430
00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:36,119
Speaker 1: we came in, because honestly, I couldn't name five people

431
00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:40,240
Speaker 1: that had any opinion whatsoever of the Houston Oilers. Yeah,

432
00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:43,040
Speaker 1: they were not a team we really considered the same

433
00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:46,520
Speaker 1: way we never really considered the Seattle Seahawks or the

434
00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:50,000
Speaker 1: Detroit Lions or you know, unless you moved here from

435
00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:53,280
Speaker 1: one of those cities, your opinion of that was. They

436
00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:57,080
Speaker 1: weren't the national powerhouse that the Steelers, the Cowboys, well,

437
00:24:57,119 --> 00:25:00,080
Speaker 1: and the Dolphins, the Raiders. I mean there were a

438
00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:04,640
Speaker 1: eight yeah. Outside of that, everybody else was just oh okay,

439
00:25:04,720 --> 00:25:07,240
Speaker 1: the New England Patriots, who cares? You know? I mean

440
00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:09,959
Speaker 1: because at that time they were not a national brand

441
00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:13,520
Speaker 1: in that way. So that helped because there was no

442
00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:16,480
Speaker 1: negative stigma about them as a football team, But it

443
00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:19,520
Speaker 1: also hurt because nobody knew anything about their history, right,

444
00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:22,240
Speaker 1: there was not the built in part of it. And

445
00:25:22,760 --> 00:25:25,959
Speaker 1: we were not a true expansion team to where we

446
00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:28,040
Speaker 1: were starting from scratch. And so, I mean, we had

447
00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:31,720
Speaker 1: we had a fighting claw early on. But I think this,

448
00:25:32,119 --> 00:25:34,640
Speaker 1: you know, this moment when we get to twenty twenty two,

449
00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:36,600
Speaker 1: if Amy Adams drunk and we don't want to fully

450
00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:38,800
Speaker 1: speak for but if she does what she said she

451
00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:41,200
Speaker 1: was going to do. And because you can wear another

452
00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:45,600
Speaker 1: helmet now she has an Oiler's get up. I think

453
00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:48,440
Speaker 1: people will love it. Yeah, it will be a really

454
00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:52,239
Speaker 1: cool experience because it'll bring a lot of aspects of

455
00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:56,120
Speaker 1: this team, both present and past, on the field at

456
00:25:56,119 --> 00:25:58,600
Speaker 1: one time. And if we can do it while we're

457
00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:02,520
Speaker 1: kicking the snot out of I don't know, Jacksonville, that'd

458
00:26:02,520 --> 00:26:04,240
Speaker 1: be kind of fun. Well, I think it sort of

459
00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:07,080
Speaker 1: completes the circle. Like I said, I still have my

460
00:26:07,119 --> 00:26:09,359
Speaker 1: Oilers stuff, and I was very proud of that because

461
00:26:09,359 --> 00:26:12,280
Speaker 1: they hired me. You know, they gave me a chance.

462
00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:14,600
Speaker 1: And so if an NFL owner wanted to keep the

463
00:26:14,680 --> 00:26:16,639
Speaker 1: name Oilers and he was giving me a job, I

464
00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:19,200
Speaker 1: didn't care. I say whatever you want, because I didn't

465
00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:20,840
Speaker 1: have a lot of NFL owners called me. I'll go, hey,

466
00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:22,680
Speaker 1: you want a job. So the fact that he gave

467
00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:24,879
Speaker 1: me a chance, I was for him whatever he wanted

468
00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:27,679
Speaker 1: to do. Privately, though I knew what a problem it

469
00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:30,879
Speaker 1: was right in dealing with the public. And I always

470
00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:33,360
Speaker 1: thought the Oiler stuff was cool. I put it away.

471
00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:36,639
Speaker 1: I did the whole vacuum out the bags because I

472
00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:39,600
Speaker 1: wanted to save it and keep it nice, and so

473
00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:42,639
Speaker 1: I'll bust out something that day. I'll bust out a

474
00:26:42,680 --> 00:26:45,640
Speaker 1: little jacket or a little pull over or whatever. And

475
00:26:46,119 --> 00:26:50,120
Speaker 1: here's what's funny. So in nineteen ninety eight, when we're

476
00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:53,719
Speaker 1: the Oilers, we could still go to the stadiums. This

477
00:26:53,840 --> 00:26:57,439
Speaker 1: was before September eleventh, two thousand and one, before all

478
00:26:57,480 --> 00:26:59,800
Speaker 1: the security was such. So we would get up on

479
00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:03,399
Speaker 1: Sunday mornings and we would take a cab to the

480
00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:05,399
Speaker 1: stadium and we would all pile in the cab. So

481
00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:08,560
Speaker 1: we're in Pittsburgh. Of course, the Oilers in Pittsburgh were

482
00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:13,639
Speaker 1: old AFC Central rivals. Pittsburgh cost the Oilers two Super

483
00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:17,359
Speaker 1: Bowl appearances and so they were big rivals. So we

484
00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:20,960
Speaker 1: get in the cab in November nineteen ninety eight wearing

485
00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:26,560
Speaker 1: our Oilers gear. So it's Larry Stone, Rhett Bryan, Jeff Lyon,

486
00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:29,879
Speaker 1: and Jim Curry. Jim Curry has just passed away. He

487
00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:33,399
Speaker 1: was our statistician, one of the all time great human

488
00:27:33,440 --> 00:27:37,520
Speaker 1: beings ever and unfortunately the fact that the stats are

489
00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:40,359
Speaker 1: now handed to you momentarily that changed all of that.

490
00:27:40,440 --> 00:27:43,560
Speaker 1: And that was one of my great disappointments with Titan's

491
00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:47,200
Speaker 1: Radio is that we couldn't keep Jim. But long story short,

492
00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:49,840
Speaker 1: So Jim gets in and his Oiler stuff, and the

493
00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:53,040
Speaker 1: cab driver is a huge Steeler fan, and he starts

494
00:27:53,320 --> 00:27:57,640
Speaker 1: ragging us about being with the Oilers, and for some reason,

495
00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:01,159
Speaker 1: someone in the car said, you know, you're in the

496
00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:03,520
Speaker 1: presence of royalty, and the cab driver goes, what do

497
00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:06,919
Speaker 1: you talk about. He says, sitting back here, and he

498
00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:10,080
Speaker 1: points to Jim Curry. He goes, that is George Blanda

499
00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:14,520
Speaker 1: right there. Of course, George Blanda is in the Hall

500
00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:17,359
Speaker 1: of Fame. He's best known for his later days with

501
00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:20,360
Speaker 1: the Raiders, but before he was with the Raiders, he

502
00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:24,320
Speaker 1: was the original quarterback of the Oilers. Mister Adams and

503
00:28:24,359 --> 00:28:26,480
Speaker 1: staff decided he was too old at the age of

504
00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:28,160
Speaker 1: thirty eight, they let him go in then he played

505
00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:30,880
Speaker 1: nine more years and he kicked and everything. So Jim

506
00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:36,399
Speaker 1: Curry totally plays along that he's and the cabby totally

507
00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:39,840
Speaker 1: changes expression. Oh He's like, oh sir, He goes, I'm

508
00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:42,680
Speaker 1: so sorry. He goes, I'm just a fan. I've respected

509
00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:44,360
Speaker 1: your career so much, you know, I remember when you

510
00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:46,200
Speaker 1: played for the Bears and then the Oilers and then

511
00:28:46,240 --> 00:28:49,080
Speaker 1: the Raiders and he goes, you know you are You're

512
00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:51,560
Speaker 1: an icon, And I mean it's hilarious because the guy's

513
00:28:51,560 --> 00:28:54,160
Speaker 1: just going on and on. He's totally gone one eighty

514
00:28:54,280 --> 00:29:00,400
Speaker 1: from being the smart Alec pittsburgher to a fan pulls

515
00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:03,080
Speaker 1: us up underneath the stadium. We get out in our

516
00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:06,040
Speaker 1: oilers gear. They're Steeler fans all the way around again

517
00:29:06,480 --> 00:29:09,480
Speaker 1: before September eleventh, two thousand and one, so they could

518
00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:12,360
Speaker 1: get very close to the stadium underneath the stadium and

519
00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:14,920
Speaker 1: they would wait to try to get autographs from players. Right,

520
00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:18,120
Speaker 1: So the cab pulls up underneath, we get out, they

521
00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:21,400
Speaker 1: see our oilers gear and they start just mocking us.

522
00:29:22,920 --> 00:29:26,479
Speaker 1: About that time, the cabby get jumps out and this happened.

523
00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:30,440
Speaker 1: He goes, Hey, this is George Blanda right here, and

524
00:29:30,520 --> 00:29:35,440
Speaker 1: the Steeler fans immediately just start clapping. No. Jim Curry

525
00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:38,120
Speaker 1: is waving to them as he's walking into the stadium.

526
00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:41,320
Speaker 1: He played along. It was one of the most beautiful

527
00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:46,440
Speaker 1: bits I've ever seen in my life. But I still

528
00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:49,120
Speaker 1: have the oiler's jacket that I had on that day.

529
00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:52,520
Speaker 1: I haven't pulled that out in twenty three years. Cab

530
00:29:52,600 --> 00:29:58,880
Speaker 1: driver tells everybody that George Ever Yep, yep, sure he does.

531
00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:03,040
Speaker 1: Oh my god, so great. That's pretty great. It's so great.

532
00:30:03,080 --> 00:30:05,280
Speaker 1: We'll see now, though, what would happen is he would

533
00:30:05,320 --> 00:30:08,440
Speaker 1: pull up his phone and he would look for a pig, Yeah,

534
00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:10,200
Speaker 1: google him, and that he would realize it was not

535
00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:12,600
Speaker 1: George Blant. Yeah, you can't do that anymore. But in

536
00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:16,040
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety eight, no such thing. Smartphones ruined. We barely

537
00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:19,920
Speaker 1: even had a phone at that point. Oh my god,

538
00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:23,000
Speaker 1: Farn Bureau Health Plans. Let the experts at Farm Bureau

539
00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:24,920
Speaker 1: Health Plans coach you through it. When you did great

540
00:30:24,920 --> 00:30:26,920
Speaker 1: healthcare coverage to the price you can afford. They've been

541
00:30:26,960 --> 00:30:31,520
Speaker 1: protecting Tennessee and since nineteen forty seven. Anything else you'd

542
00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:33,400
Speaker 1: like to throw in here before we wrap up talking

543
00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:36,840
Speaker 1: about uniform stuff. No, I mean I I'm just really

544
00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:40,280
Speaker 1: excited about it, and we'll see what happens. But we

545
00:30:40,360 --> 00:30:43,960
Speaker 1: all have to remember this is a twenty two things,

546
00:30:44,200 --> 00:30:47,200
Speaker 1: not a twenty one thing. So and she still hasn't

547
00:30:47,200 --> 00:30:49,360
Speaker 1: said for sure, she hasn't said it. We don't. Well,

548
00:30:49,560 --> 00:30:51,240
Speaker 1: we know she was for it. She came on the

549
00:30:51,240 --> 00:30:53,560
Speaker 1: OTP and said she was one of the ones pushing

550
00:30:53,600 --> 00:30:58,120
Speaker 1: for it, but we'll leave it to her to we're speculating.

551
00:30:58,160 --> 00:31:01,120
Speaker 1: I guess I think it was her OTP with Eddie George,

552
00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:03,880
Speaker 1: maybe right when she did that. So if you want

553
00:31:03,880 --> 00:31:07,040
Speaker 1: to go back and check them out, I've got to

554
00:31:07,040 --> 00:31:10,120
Speaker 1: give her back on the OTP. I've got a running list,

555
00:31:10,280 --> 00:31:13,640
Speaker 1: Mike Keith, and to anyone listening to the OTP right now,

556
00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:16,800
Speaker 1: send me a tweet of names to put on my list,

557
00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:19,000
Speaker 1: because I've got a running list of names that we

558
00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:22,440
Speaker 1: either need to rehab on the OTP or need to

559
00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:26,000
Speaker 1: get for the first time. So if anybody has any thoughts,

560
00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:28,440
Speaker 1: names they want to add to my list, tweet them

561
00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:31,320
Speaker 1: to me at Titans Amy. Next week's OTP is a

562
00:31:31,560 --> 00:31:35,640
Speaker 1: nod towards July the fourth. It's a holiday weekend, and

563
00:31:35,720 --> 00:31:38,960
Speaker 1: so we did something really special. We have some great

564
00:31:39,040 --> 00:31:44,800
Speaker 1: stories next weekend, Larry Stone and I recapping the best

565
00:31:44,800 --> 00:31:47,280
Speaker 1: stories from Titans Care of It, which I can promise

566
00:31:47,320 --> 00:31:49,600
Speaker 1: you you've never heard. Oh, I'm sure that if there

567
00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:54,160
Speaker 1: was ever a book that came from the Titans now,

568
00:31:54,200 --> 00:31:55,920
Speaker 1: like if we win the Super Bowl this year, that's

569
00:31:55,920 --> 00:31:58,040
Speaker 1: obviously a book. I mean, you know, something like that.

570
00:31:58,600 --> 00:32:02,200
Speaker 1: The move there's probably a book in there, right, yeah, there,

571
00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:04,760
Speaker 1: I mean, there's all kinds of stuff like that, I

572
00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:08,080
Speaker 1: can assure you. However, the real book would be The Caravan,

573
00:32:08,320 --> 00:32:13,680
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, especially the earlier days of the Caravan,

574
00:32:14,560 --> 00:32:20,760
Speaker 1: the non Google, non cell phone, non directions version of

575
00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:24,080
Speaker 1: the Caravan. So when you go on the Caravan, one

576
00:32:24,120 --> 00:32:28,040
Speaker 1: of the rules is whatever happens on the caravan stays

577
00:32:28,160 --> 00:32:30,959
Speaker 1: on the caravan. We break that rule next week. I

578
00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:33,480
Speaker 1: am very excited to break that rule next week. We

579
00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:36,840
Speaker 1: decided it's time to open the vault. We opened the vault.

580
00:32:37,760 --> 00:32:41,040
Speaker 1: Larry and I ended up talking for well over an hour.

581
00:32:41,440 --> 00:32:43,760
Speaker 1: That's not how long the podcast is. I'm sure it's not,

582
00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:46,400
Speaker 1: because I'm sure Ashley Farrell had to cut some of it.

583
00:32:47,560 --> 00:32:51,120
Speaker 1: If some of the stories that I'm hoping we're told

584
00:32:51,160 --> 00:32:54,320
Speaker 1: are actually on there, you do not want to make

585
00:32:54,360 --> 00:32:56,440
Speaker 1: you don't want to miss it, y, I mean, if

586
00:32:56,440 --> 00:33:00,160
Speaker 1: you're driving to Grandma's house next weekend, you'll want the

587
00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:04,800
Speaker 1: Titans Caravan stories because some of your favorite Titans are involved.

588
00:33:05,120 --> 00:33:07,120
Speaker 1: There are some funny, funny stuff that went on and

589
00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:11,400
Speaker 1: some heartwarming stuff and the fan base the greatest Caravans

590
00:33:11,440 --> 00:33:14,120
Speaker 1: story I've heard recently was Ramone Foster, who's on the

591
00:33:14,240 --> 00:33:17,320
Speaker 1: radio in Nashville on one O four five, saying that

592
00:33:17,400 --> 00:33:19,760
Speaker 1: one of his teachers took him on the caravan in

593
00:33:19,840 --> 00:33:22,880
Speaker 1: Ripley to meet Javon Kurse and it was literally a

594
00:33:22,920 --> 00:33:26,200
Speaker 1: life changing experience for him. That it was. It was

595
00:33:26,320 --> 00:33:28,760
Speaker 1: motivating that he met it one of his heroes, and

596
00:33:28,760 --> 00:33:30,720
Speaker 1: he said, I can do this, and then you know,

597
00:33:30,760 --> 00:33:32,320
Speaker 1: he went on to play for Tennessee and then he

598
00:33:32,320 --> 00:33:35,640
Speaker 1: played eleven years in the NFL. And I've heard two

599
00:33:35,720 --> 00:33:38,880
Speaker 1: or three of those stories lately from people, a couple

600
00:33:38,920 --> 00:33:41,480
Speaker 1: of them not as well known as Ramon. But that's

601
00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:44,320
Speaker 1: what we were going for with Titans Caravan, and it

602
00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:46,720
Speaker 1: worked and we got it. We got a lot more

603
00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:50,520
Speaker 1: in the process. Yeah, Oh, Mike, this is gonna be good.

604
00:33:50,520 --> 00:33:53,080
Speaker 1: I haven't heard this yet. I know you guys recorded

605
00:33:53,160 --> 00:33:55,680
Speaker 1: a couple of days ago. I'm so excited. Yeah, that's

606
00:33:55,760 --> 00:33:58,760
Speaker 1: next one. So for Amy Wells, I'm Mike Keith. Thanks

607
00:33:58,800 --> 00:34:04,040
Speaker 1: for listening to the teams where the legends go. Everybody

608
00:34:04,200 --> 00:34:09,759
Speaker 1: knows it's our house fighting for Tennessee, making history. Cleanness

609
00:34:09,800 --> 00:34:14,120
Speaker 1: is meant to be ours now. We got tight and

610
00:34:14,200 --> 00:34:15,760
Speaker 1: butter running through our face,