This is the OTP presented by Farm Bureau Health Plans. Plan on paying less for the coverage you need with Farm Bureau Health Plans. Get a quote today at FBHP dot com. I'm Mike Keith, joined by coach Dave McGinnis and Rhetbrian from Titans Radio. Here in the bet MGM studio. Gentlemen, great to have you with us.
It is good to be here. Great to be here. Week seventeen.
Here we go, here we are.
Will Levis wants to play.
Dave McGinnis, what is the balance between being excited that your young quarterback wants to play and trying to play with everything he's doing, and then protecting him from himself.
Well, they'll they'll have to determine whether he can protect himself with movement because you know one day of practice he participated fully on the first day, but it wasn't a full speed day, which you know, they're trying to get everybody up to speed, as you said, at the seventeenth week of the season. But as the week unfolds, seeing if he can protect himself movement wise, you know, throwing wise and everything of that nature. He's fine, but
it's just you know, with a lower extremity injury. You want to be sure your quarterback can get himself out of harm's way, because we all know that they're sooner or later. Any quarterback in the league is going to have to move and maneuver the cylinder. So that's what they'll look at.
Fans say, he's been involved with a team that has given up fifty six sacks this year. He hasn't taken all of them, but they have given up fifty six sacks. So don't send him out there for the last two games. How do you answer that?
No, you got you know you're competing. You you cannot. You cannot play coach this game or play this game with fear of something bad might happen. You've got to out go out there and make something good happen. That's just not how you approach it at all. But they will consider his health as far as to what he can do to protect himself, and then I mean my answer to that is block them.
Right, what is the value in him playing the last two games?
He still needs experience. This is going to be the quarterback, he's the quarterback of the future, and he still needs experience. He's had eight games and that's a small microcosm of what he needs to develop. Being a starting quarterback in the National Football League and playing two division games coming up.
Those take on a different nature unto themselves, and so any experience that he gets right now, you can do all the whiteboard stuff you want, you can do all the walkthroughs you want, you can do all the film study you want. But until you experience it full and in life and when everything is rolling, that experience doesn't get embedded in your DNA. That's what he needs.
He watched the first six games of the year ret then he started the next eight, and then he watched last Sunday. I thought in his press availability this week, Will Levis was very insightful about how different it was to watch last week than it was in September in October.
And I think that's one of the reasons why, outside of the obvious one that coach Mack pointed out about competing, I think you want to see what he does when he gets the next opportunity after he's had a different vantage point. You know, first handful of weeks there of the regular season, he was doing it watching him from the sidelines as the emergency quarterback. And now he has
a different perspective. But he did. He told all of us how much it was different, in how much more quickly the game will come to him and is coming to him because of things that he recognizes and sees as they're out there trying to do their thing, and he's, you know, an observer.
What's the most impressive thing you've seen will Levis do as a rookie coach?
Mac He's he's fearless in the pocket. He is fearless in the pocket. And then you know, you can you can watch somebody, uh throw the ball when there's not live things coming at him and you and making quick decisions. But his ability to stand in until the last instant and then flick it and get it downfield and get it to where it needs to go, that's very impressive. But the first thing is is he doesn't watch the rush. He doesn't watch the rush most young quarterbacks sooner or later.
You mentioned the number of sacks. He hasn't taken all of those, but he's taken too many of them, but it still has not detereared him from looking downfield and letting routes develop. He's not looking at the rush and that's the first thing you look for, you know, if you know, it's like taking a you know, getting a brand new hunting dog and the first time that gun goes off, is he gonna flinch or is he gonna
is he gonna? Is he gonna watch when the bird goes down and go to get it and he doesn't flinch. That's what impresses me.
Reference to a hunting dog here early in the OTP sounds like a franchise hunting dog.
I've got a lot of references. I know you in my life.
I love I love the references. I wish we were winning more because I think the references come out more on Titan's radio when we're winning. They do, and they're just less up.
Yes, you know you've heard that. You've heard that, that old axiom that dog will hunt. Yes, well that comes from when you drop the tailgate, you know, and you got you got hunting dogs that they're ready to go, jump out, spinning around, ready to go. And you got that one sitting in the back going what are we doing? You don't want that one?
Yes, will Levis is the first group of dogs.
Till Levis is the first one out of the tailgate.
But he has pocket awareness. He really does, because because some guys, I mean, like David Carr, for example, was a quarterback who took seventy two sacks in a year and it was like he just never knew it was coming. And there are some quarterbacks that just stand in there and you're like, fella, I mean, you've got to have awareness that there has to be that clock in your head. And I sense that while Levis has the toughness to not look at the rush, he also does have the clock in his head.
Well he does, but you know, and David carrs is a great example. Of course. You know, he was with a brand new team, right he had put a lot of brand new guys together. I had David Carr and the Senior Bowl when I was the head coach down there, and he had all the physical attributes you want and he was a smart guy. But you could see him start looking at the rush about halfway through his rookie year because as you said, it wasn't only the awareness.
He didn't know what was coming from and that and he never got out of that and that was a shame.
But he did win a Super Bowl with the Giants. He was the backup quarterback. He now he's on TV.
And you know what, and doing a good job with that too.
He does a nice job on television.
You know the other thing that impresses me about will levis in the eight games that he started, it'd be easy for a guy like him, who's afforded a great weapon in DeAndre Hopkins, just to go there a bunch. He found all how many of those games? In post game we're talking about, he found six and seven different receivers and deals the ball to to You know, he doesn't he didn't go into the well at one particular Well, he's distributing the ball like you would want to see a pro quarterback do it.
I mean, I think he's been coached to do that well.
And that's a good point that Rehd makes because the first time he went out there, he was forcing the ball to hop. He was forcing the ball to Hop And I think I wasn't privy to their conversations, but they talk a lot, and I'm sure you know that that DeAndre Hopkins has helped him a lot. And I'm and I know DeAndre Hopkins is not telling him just throw it to me, because DeAndre Hopkins is way savvy in the way that this works. And to Rett's point, you have seen him grow in that instance. Now is
he there yet? No, he's not there yet. That's why, again back to the original question, why it's important or why it would be helpful if he could be able to play these next two weeks those types of things.
I'd like to see Hopkins go back to Houston and have a good game, because he had a less than stellar game against Houston when the two teams played up here, and it would be nice he'd get a chance to go over one thousand yards back in the familiar stomping grounds. Derek Henry very close to his fifth thousand yard season, I'd like to see him be able to accomplish that. I mean, there are individual marks that are out there. We talk about Hopkins with a thousand yards, we talk
about Henry with a thousand yards. Landry is a half sack away from double digits. He's got nine and a half. And we've talked about the fact that Deniko Autrey is four sacks away from setting the franchise record for sacks in.
A season that's hard to believe, and career numbers for him, career numbers at age thirty three, twelve quarterback sacks.
Well, and it just shows with this season with seven one score losses. It's not like you were getting rolled every ball, right, and guys are playing and of course any of these guys would trade any of those individuals for wins. I mean you ask any one of them, they would. But it's an important part of it because and they are still performing at a high level. Everybody that you just mentioned, I mean, all of those guys
are professionals to the max. They're performing at a high level regardless of the disappointment of not We've talked about this before. The rewards in this league are not money. The rewards are winning games, but they're still going at it even without that reward at the end that has been you know, happened seven times with one score losses.
Feel like we're going to get a healthier football team this weekend.
It sure seems like it. And I think that would based off of just the initial look at the injury report that came out Wednesday afternoon, in the fact that I know they probably didn't do a ton of things, but there was no one who didn't participate, right. That was my just looking at things Okay, where's the silver lining here? Okay, that's good.
So you know, I think healthy relative to where we are now. Yeah, healthier than last week, Healthier.
Than last week. Well, he declared what eight players out on Friday, Coach Frabele did.
Right, and then had to put some on ir because they just weren't going to be ready to get back for the next week. It's it's not that guys would necessarily be out for the year in some of the cases. It's that you need a healthy body. Now there you go. It doesn't feel like that's going to be the case at the end of this week. And so that's a good thing is that you know, potentially could take a team down there that has more available bodies and some more experience as part of it. I mean, you looked
at last week. If you took out the three specialists, Josh Wiley wasn't going to play. He was dressed, but he was not going to play. And then you know, a couple other guys were kind of dinged up too. I mean, they had maybe forty one forty two guys who could.
Really who could really help.
Yeah, if you're being honest, that's exactly that's that's the number. That's the number they You know, they had guys dressed. It's a great point that you might, but they didn't have a full compliment of players that could help in the game.
And Houston was not good against Cleveland.
Well, first of all, we've mentioned it on the OTP before, that Cleveland defense real deal. But yeah, they made life difficult for them. I mean case Keenum throws two interceptions pretty early on. They end up putting Davis Mills in there, and offensively, they had no answer for a month of Mauri Cooper. I mean they just they dominated.
Two hundred and sixty five yards receiving. Do you have him on your fantasy team?
I do not. I wish that I did.
I had you playing. Were you playing the guy who had or the person?
No? No? And I did lose in this round, but not by a ton of points because if the guy played had him, it would have been a boat race pros.
So let me let me ask you this question, who who are the best players in twenty twenty three in fantasy? Christian McCaffrey has to be.
Mm hmm, absolutely who else? Uh, I'll tell you one who has been really good as a rookie two that have been good as rookies Jamir Gibbs, the running back for the Detroit Lions. Okay, Sam Laporta, the rookie tied end for the Detroit I had both of them, okay. And I'll tell you one that's a solid person who just gets you double digit digit points every week is Rashie Rice with the Kansas City Chiefs because they don't have a lot of the weapons they've been used to having.
I've never played fantasy, so I don't I don't know how this works. And the reason I don't play fantasy is because I don't want to pull for a player against the Titans, because I'm I'm a competitive person, so if I'm playing. When I used to play Fantasy Baseball, I was like up every more reading the box scores. You know, crazy, just crazy, and so but I don't want to pull against anybody against the Titans because I don't want one of my players on my fantasy team
to score a touchdown against the Titans. And I get just as excited about them as I do a Titan scoring a touchdown, which could happen, because I would lose it and then that would be bad.
There's a lot of times when I construct my roster, I have that in mind, going, oh, they're not playing them this year.
I like to take this guy. Yeah, I see I could. I'm too I can't do it.
Sure, I never have.
Never you did real football. You don't have to hang around with bozo's like us, who have to you know, pick Well, there's thirty one years of you got to pick pick the team.
There's other reasons I like hanging with both of sols, like y'all, well, okay, there's other reasons. Fantasy football is way down the list.
I've played fantasy football off and on for over twenty years, and I really I enjoy it. It's a good thing to do with your friends or co workers, buddies, whatever.
You make money.
Uh. When I used to play in a league for those things. Yes, this league is just for pride. There's nothing invested so much get you zero. But I made it to the semi finals in the league that I'm in this year, which I thought that's pretty good because I had Justin Jefferson and the quarterback with the Vikings who three to Kirk Cousins, both you know, injured off throughout the year, and that kind of. So I felt fortunate that I made it that far in the thing.
But it's fun, that's the thing about it's it's fun.
But who was the first pick in your draft? I'm interested to know who who is?
I don't know that. I think it was Christian McCaffrey. Christian McCaffrey, because I took I took Justin Jefferson to overall.
Okay, you know the fantasy football that the Titans sponsored that, you know, I went to the event that they had, you know, where they had the drafting, where they had the drifting.
Fascinating.
Fascinating that Now, that fascinates me because I mean those people had computers, they they knew all they knew.
What was all electronic.
It was, it was, it was real. It was a snake draft, and I was I was fascinated by it.
You know.
They asked me, would you come there and spend about half an hour just visit with everybody, which I have no problem.
I love that.
But I stayed for a long time just watching it. I mean, it's fascinating the details that go into it.
Well, what's funny is when fantasy became a thing, we could not play as NFL employees. Correct, we were not allowed to play. Correct was gambling. And then the NFL realized how many people were playing fantasy. Oh yeah, and so then all of a sudden, fantasy was great, so that then the league was sponsoring fantasy, embraced it. Well, it's like, what's happened with gambling? Sure it's It's like so when when the realization hits that there's a way to do it to you know, up your product.
Prophet is not a dirty word.
Prophet is not a dirty word. But it's also at the time, and I think it's probably even higher than this. Now, one in ten Americans was playing fantasy football, and to me, I believe it.
That's crazy.
It's great for the game, sure it is.
I have at the heart of the way that fantasy football has gone for I guess it's been around thirty years, maybe thirty five, whatever it is. I have a cousin, Greg who lives in Memphis, and he literally has been playing fantasy football with his same friends from college for thirty one years on the lague r They all it's how they stay together, stay in touch with each other, right, life things happens, They go play golf together, but all the time. He's the one that kind of got me
turned onto it years ago. Cousin Greg, cousin Greg's big from Memphis. Yeah, cousin Greg from Memphis. Yea, works for FedEx and has for his whole career, and but he loves fantasy football and it's a way he and his college buddies have stayed connected.
I really I like I like it for what it does. I really do. I really I like it for what it does.
Well, that's why the NFL whips everybody else in terms of the ratings, is because they have so many different ways that they pull you in and they're always looking to pull at any thread to add audience. It's like just what they did on Christmas. You know, the NBA was always supposedly the owners of Christmas in terms of television. Well guess what, guess what not this time? Not this time. And you know, there there's some talk is when when Christmas is on different days, does the NFL play a
Wednesday game? That's what will be next year Wednesday because it's a leap year, and so yeah, do they start looking to do that. But fantasy football was one of the first threads that they pulled. They understood the power of the draft, and we understand it. I mean, we'll spend the next four months doing draft related things on the OTP, on Tennessee Titans dot Com, on the Titans YouTube site. Everything we do will be available via one
of our platforms. Yes, because people love the draft and then the gambling aspect, you know them talking about gambling now on ESPN and other things about here's the over and under, and here's the line, and here here's.
I've got some interesting prop bets for you.
Well, but you know that used to be an outlier, and the thing was, you didn't you know, like I couldn't have when I did a radio show, I could not have a gambling guy on because I was in a college town and I was on the flagship station for the for the University of Tennessee, and so I could not have a gambling guy on.
Well, now gambling.
Guys are They're part of every segment of of different shows everywhere. So you have all of these different things that pull people in, and it's it's like the Taylor Swift thing. The league is embracing the Taylor Swift thing because it pulls more people in, It brings in a little bit different audience of people who who want to be interested.
Well, because this is you know, professional football is professional sports, but it's also the entertainment. It is entertainment, it's entertainment business, and it's all of that stuff is great. I hope the Titans invite me back for their fantasy draft next year. I loved it.
I mean I thought i'd say, you'll get an invitation.
I would say, so, well, I'm begging for one here on the kind of are what is it? What is it about the draft process of that that interests you?
The fact that first of all people are they are? I love, of course, you know, the real draft, how much I'd love that. We all sure done that in my whole life. You know, I've got notebooks full of draft stuff. But I was amazed at how knowledgeable everybody was.
And it was it was all different types of people on the team, but they all knew and as I said, they all had their computers there, and so you know, I would I would go around to each table and start talking, and then they would I'd say, well, who who you guys looking at? And when I opened that can, when I opened that can up, they could start telling me start pulling and seeing it and here's where this I was going, Wow, these people are invested in this.
But that's what I like, wouldn't you say that?
Over the last seven years joining Titans Radio, that finding out that fans are as invested as they are and are as knowledgeable as they are is maybe the thing you've enjoyed learning the most.
Well, I've enjoyed. I've enjoyed it. It's a great point. I enjoyed now being able to interact with the fans, right because as a coach, you don't get that chance, you know, maybe once or twice a year at a you know, at a at a big event that you're asked to go to you can do that. But now I can be. I can be with the fans, and yes, I love that. And and fans of the National Football League, for whatever reason, they're fans of the National Football League.
They are fervent about fervent about it, and I love that well.
And that's a mistake I think a lot of people in coaching, no matter what level it is, make is they assume that people, all all fans, all fans are dopey. That's the assumption that some coaches makes every wrong. It is completely wrong. And then there are other coaches who don't. We have a coach here who does not think all fans are dope and not at all. Mike Rabel doesn't feel that way. But when you you know, if you open yourself up to it, and it's like some guys too.
And this is interesting rep because how many guys get out of coaching, go into media and then in some cases go back into coaching and they have a different vantage point from where they've been dealing with fans, dealing with people behind the scenes at ESPN or CBS or wherever they are, and it makes them better, It helps them.
They're more amenable, sure are because more respectful, they are understanding of what is really good. They've walked in some different shoes, right, they really have in a small way. It's what we've just been talking about with Will Levis. I'm interested to see what he does if he plays in these last two games with that one game of watching from the sidelines with a different perspective now that he's played and started eight games prior.
That's a good comparison.
That's a good point, good point.
And then some coaches don't care at all.
Zero zero.
Well, I mean there's a certain level you can't care what everybody thinks and what everybody's that's that's different though.
That's different worrying about what people think are as far as respecting people's fervor for the game, and that's that's a that's a big thing to me, and I enjoy it. I mean I enjoy everything about Titans Radio. I mean it's it's it's great. I mean, there's a lot of things, but some of the most fun is after a ball game, especially at home, when the Titans win, being able to hang out of that window and see the fans it's waving.
Like the Pope of have to hold his legs as he hangs out to it.
I don't want him to fall out. That would not be good.
I just love that because there everybody everybody can because that's the that is the reward for this whole thing, and the fans feel it. I mean they live it, they feel it, and I respect that.
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So the Titans fans can fan nicely done Red wave out the window.
Hey can wave out the window. Coach, So I want to I want to go into an area of expertise that Coach Mack has has certainly shown on the OTP lately. You are the great defender of officials among us. You started this two weeks ago defending them for calling off sides in a in a late game situation in Kansas City.
They called it again.
I know, I know they and then they started calling it again miraculous during the holiday season. We had another miraculous after I don't know, yes it was anyway, what's the deal not signaling anything after the DK Metcalf play in the end zone last Sunday at Nissan Stadium. He catches or doesn't catch a pass.
That's ridiculous.
Nobody signals anything. Explain that to me, Coach, What what teaching point is that in the officials? In the officials, I think, I think you go to page three, page three and go pay three and say not good professional malpractice.
Went in doubt. Don't do anything quent in doubt. Just fade away.
That's awful.
So he catches the ball, but the question is did he possess it? And did he get two feet down? There's an official standing right there.
That's way too many questions. You can't expect you've got to that's way too many questions. The answers.
The answer is if he's not sure, signal touchdown, because then it is automatically reviewed.
Because they are anyway.
The answer is, it's horrible, but it's professional malpractice. Mike. I mean, I'm standing, I'm standing right there with you.
But I think on Titan's radio at that point, I've gone crazy because I'm looking out there, I see nothing, and at that that's the biggest fear in what we do is that, you know, because radio is not a visual medium, so people can't see it. We're trying to help them see it through the radio, so to speak. And the guy gives no signal. Nobody gives any signal.
Why would he?
Why nobody anywhere gives any signals.
Let me ask you something.
They don't throw the arms up, they don't, they don't wave in complete.
It's like the play never happened.
It's like it never happened.
Can I ask both of you something. Why would they give a signal? I mean they're only they're only officials. I mean, why would they give it us mark the ball? It's awful.
Well, so I look at Brad Willis. Whose spots and by the way, if they're present, company excluded because you were a very great, great spot or at when you did that job. Brad Willis is a fabulous spot, tremendous. I mean he I could just I could not look at the field and just look at Brad and he could show me the game. I could do the game just looking at him, because he could point here's who's got the ball, Here's where the ball went. He I mean, he's amazing. I look at him, thinking, Okay, this is
the point where I've lost my mind. I knew it would happen someday, but this is the point. You listen, I thought, at that moment in time, I thought, I have lost twenty four. And they've got that camera right there in the booth on us, And so you could see the look of horror on my face because I don't know what's happened. Because he's going away from us. He's at the far end of the field, far end to us. He's on the far end of the far end of He's on the far end of the end zone,
on the far end of the field. Yes, we can't see it. It's obvious he's caught the ball, but we can't tell and no signals. So I look at Brad and Brad looks at me like I got nothing. I got nothing, I got absolutely nothing. It I mean, you can't do that, do the.
Total deer in the headlights total mike.
It It just it just points out. And again, I know how hard it is. I lived I lived on the sideline for thirty one years. I know how hard it is. But it's not hard to do your job. And when you're that indecisive, I think all the instant replay is paralyzed these guys. It has paralyzed these guys to the point as and again I keep talking about they fast tracked people into this league so fast that it's just it's it's it's too much for him. It's
like the screen went blank on that dude. And I'm just sitting there looking going this is amazing because the no call and it took them a while to sort it out.
I want to ask you. Yeah, there's been talk about will they ever be be made full time officials. I don't think that will matter, is okay, that's my question.
Well what would they My question to that is I've heard the advocates for full time officials.
Yeah, what would.
They do all day?
Yeah?
But here's the thing, Touchdown fantasy Football are so they'll watch every play that ever happened, and that I think they're just paralyzed right now.
And I think this is a great example. And it goes back to the off side thing, and and it's like,
are we are we gonna call everything? I mean, I mean they called so they called illegal contact on a play that if it was beyond five yards down the field, it was five and a half and it was on the other side of the field, and it just wow, and you're just like, okay, so we're I understand you're seeing this, and I understand it's your job to call certain things, but doesn't there have to be a bit of common sense in it?
Well there is no common sense now. And here's the thing. There used to be common sense because there was no replay and a call was a call and it was over.
But per Arra had it when he was running the official.
Frara had it because but here's what he did. I mean, look at the number of years that you had to be in the National Football League when I first start, right before you could be a referee, a referee in a white hat. Now they're fast tracking those guys so fast. What does that tell you about the roster that's behind them. They don't have enough experience in the big time doing it. And also all of this, all of the scrutiny that they are under, now they're choking on it. They're just choking on it.
My question for you is how much of the league tweaking rules every offseason has accelerated this a lot. It's a significant part of the blame Pope it is.
But to Mike's point, and I think they need to go back that they I mean, I've been in competition meetings. They need to go back and say, hey, how about all of these holding calls away from the play that have nothing to do with the play downfield that all of a sudden alter the whole sense of what's going on in that series. Can we come to an agreement that maybe this isn't part of it? And then the other thing is is start making them make definitive calls.
Make a definitive make a call. If you're wrong, you're wrong. But by not making a call, then you're never right because just as you said, we're sitting up there and I feel it now more than ever, when you're on the sideline. On the sideline is the worst vantage point sure to watch a game. That's why there's people in the booth that tele ahead coach when the challenge. There's a lot that goes on communication wise, because you can
see but we can see it. And when we see something like that, all we need is a little indication as to where they're initially going to go. That that just happened in this last ballgame was frightening to me because there was nothing, nothing called, and then it took him forever to figure out nothing.
Well, it was unfair to Seattle, yes, because Pete Carroll had to challenge that yes, and he used his second challenge to do it, so he had over ten minutes remaining in the fourth quarter where he didn't have a challenge left. Yeah, and that's not fair. That's not fair
to Seattle. That's not fair to Pete Carroll. The other part of it, too, is we're talking about fantasy football, and we're talking about the different things that go on with the draft and Taylor Swift and how many gambling and how many different things people choose to follow because they love the NFL.
I mean, this is entertainment.
And if you're calling something forty five yards away from the play that doesn't affect the play, is that good for the business?
No, it's not.
It's not and and so and and and they're going to come back and say, well, you know we're calling it by the letter of the law.
No you're not.
No, you're not. Now what you're doing.
Is so you now agree they shouldn't have called that off side?
He was offside.
It all comes back to that.
He was off side.
It was off side? Did it effect? Should you have called that in that moment? Based on what I'm you know, And that's what I'm talking about with some of these other things. He was off sides, you're right, But some of these things, I think it's the common sense element to me that I mean, the call on the illegal contact was in on al Shire, I believe it was. I mean I was looking at it. I mean, you have five yards. He didn't punch the guy in the neck.
He just sort of he bumped him pretty good. But if if it was beyond five yards, it was six, you're right coming on, I mean really well.
And the the other thing that that just wears me out, who is of course I agree with protecting the quarterback, but when you got somebody and we had a call on us and then I mean I saw twice last week where they're hitting a quarterback in the mid section at the step and a half and then it right. So it's way out of whack, Mike, It's way out of whack. And I'm not saying this because I am
I'm trying to detegrate the officials. I'm just I just know that the ground swell that's coming, even the uninitiated can watch it and go, is this right?
Yeah? Yeah, Well, you know, I think a lot of where the problem starts. We're at the.
State high school associations all over the country are having a brutal time finding officials. They are they are begging, they're advertising for officials for Friday nights, and there has to be carryover to college from that. And if there's carryover from that, it's got to work its way up the pool from which you start. Because I mean, you don't start in the NFL. No, you start in high school.
And that's the daisy chain of it. Sure, you're one hundred percent right, and there's not enough. Aren't they changing when high schools have to play games the day of the week, because.
In Tennessee, every high school is required to play at least one Thursday so they can make sure and have enough cruise for for every weekend, so a crew can work a Thursday in a Friday.
I mean, it is, it's it's it's a problem that I don't think is. I think it's one of those things that that you try to people try to dismiss and think they'll just go away.
It's not going away. And you heard Mike Vrabel address it at his press conference on Tuesday, and the frustration you're hear in his voice is he said, all I want is consistency and stop the indecisiveness. Now, he mentioned his son Carter, who plays baseball now at what Tennessee Tech. Right, He's like, you got a ball, you got to strike, you got an out. You know it's there's a definitive
call there. Then there's replay elements to help you know, figure out exactly what things are for something in question. He said, you know, the indecision is is a part as well.
And I thought how he talked about the particular play we were discussing, he sounded much more like a member of the competition committee, correct, than he did the head coach of the Titans, because, like I said, it wasn't necessarily unfair to the Titans as much as it was unfair to Seattle in that instance. I mean, the official to me has to know if I'm not sure I've got a call touchdown, because then it automatically goes to replay.
Well, and that's and you're right, And Mike Rabel wasn't talking as the head coach of the Titan, No, he was talking for the good of the league.
Sure, but he's what this is affecting.
He's not the only one talking about this, right, And we're not just talking about you know, you know, calls against the Titans, That's not what we're talking about. We're talking about administration of the game. That's what we're talking.
You know, what would really help the officials Duncan. Duncan, they need to if they had more Duncan on game day, this wouldn't go on this wouldn't go on. Yes, officiating runs on Duncan. A Titans fans and future officials. It's always game on with Duncan. So grab a coffee and kick off the action. Whether that's drin keep a cup of coffee on your way to the game, or grabbing one to go before watching the game at home, or officiating a game, Duncan is always there to help you
get your game on. Just like the pros, we need to be at our best come game time, which is why Duncan is the most important part of your game day ritual because it's always the best call for football America runs on Duncan. Ready to go to Houston.
Let's go.
Yes, I'm ready to go. Let's go to Houston. Let's go to Houston.
That's what a lot of folks they ask. You know, how do we keep going when the season's not going well? We get to go watch NFL football.
Every week. You build up, you talk about and we've all been doing this a long time, but it's what you do when you when you when you want the competition part of it, you build up to it. For Get. I mean, we're talking about game day in the NFL.
It's the best. It's the absolute best. I mean, do you have those moments Mike were looking, go, how are we We're to do this?
This is crazy.
It is crazy because because because you're a couple of goofs, y'all are really good at it. And I'm just I'm not disputing an agreement. Well, he's been there the whole time, so he knows full time, goof full time. All fans are not dopey. That's correct. That ought to be on a T shirt.
The other thing about going to Houston, and of course it's just it's a sidebar to all this is that you got the original text Mex Restaurant down there.
That we might go by there.
Oh no, we're going. Okay, we must.
We're going and that and that and I as long as I've been with with Titans Radio, I've I've decided there's two things that as long as I'm with Titan Radio, I'm gonna do. And it's gonna be Coach Max centered. We're gonna go to Mama Niphas and and we're going to Saint Elmo's.
Well we're gonna eat, yeah, but I mean we're we're gonna I mean, we're gonna go.
That's my one thing.
Yeah, And and the other thing is is you're not you're you're not those two. Those two Like I'm just saying this for the o T. People know you're not paying for those two, So just get ready for that.
Well, I appreciate that. We'll see you're welcome.
No, we're not seeing nothing.
But but the thing is, we're we're gonna eat. We're gonna eat some spots.
You mean, like the officials, you're not seeing nothing. That's like not seeing nothing.
Didn't you like how I came up with the follow me through Tennessee features so I could go eat good.
Places in Tennessee's genius.
First, it's it's my highlight of twenty twenty.
Gen Mike. I like the feature to begin with because I'm always interested in places in our great state of Tennessee. The excuse to eat just makes it.
Oh, it's so great. The one we have this week where we took Brett Kern to Jiffy Berger in Manchester. Okay, I don't want to say it's my favorite. It's right up there because of Kern because he was I mean, he had just retired, he had he had just retired, and I had just had my shoulder replaced two weeks earlier, so we had an opportunity to go. And he says, listen, if we're going to do it before I start traveling with my family this summer, we've got to go now. So I didn't know if I could drive.
Yeah, because you're all sling Oh.
I was totally slinged up and I might have spent part of that day without the sling on orders.
Oh and I'm mean.
He paid for it, dude, didn't you?
I did? Yeah, I did.
But the Bonner Burger was totally worth it. If you go to Manchester, go to Jeffy Berger. First of all, have your pick picture taken with the Titans helmet that we have there. They have a game warm Titans helmet now that they're very proud of. So ask them if you can be photographed with the Titans helmet and send it to us. We'd love to see it. But the Jiffy Burger is crazy with this Bonner Uberger. They have a lot of good stuff. Apparently they have a great breakfast too. It's an egg.
Come on, you're starting off with cheese.
Two patties, an onion ring, mayonnaise.
While we're talking about on the road with Mike Keith. Let's where's the place that you stop when we go.
To Mobile Durbin Farms. Oh, Durban Farms. Unbelievable, it's pretty great. It is un believe Clanton, Alabama, Exit two oh five.
I mean we went.
The ice cream is unbelievable.
The whole setup is great.
Well, so it's a farmer's market. It is that, and so you can get all kinds of produce and good preserve preserves and pecans and peanuts and I mean anything you want. And then you go inside and then they do like they've got a kitchen, and so they do sandwiches and so on and so forth. So it's good lunch. They kind of have a little bakery delio, but they they homemade. The ice cream is all homemade.
It is.
It's the greatest cookies and cream ice cream that I've ever had.
The whole thing was I was just fascinated. I mean I loved it.
I loved it.
Those kind of places that you find, I loved it. And then you go on to that farmer's market. I mean I walked around in there with you and read for a long time. It took us longer to get the mobile. But it's worth the stop.
Well, we hit it on the way back and I brought home all kinds of produce. And next time you have to pay for it. Though it is.
You can't just walk out of there with it like you did last time.
Right now, I don't even know if you tell me.
That was a good move though cheaper, that was a good move.
Made the keys, but against the I kind of wondered why you were in such a hurt.
Give me the keys.
Well, Durbin Farms, if you go there, tell them. We said, Hey, people who are on the way to thirty A will stop at Durban Farms.
Great on the road with Mike Keith. There are some places that are really cool.
But I love that. I love that stuff. I mean, I admit it. Amy when she comes back, you know, we got started doing the follow me through Tennessee because she made fun of me on the OTP. She's like, I bet you know a spot and and I don't know a spot in every county, but I know enough, man, it's close. I know enough. And then I know enough people who can tell me make recommendation places to go. Yep, And it's like we went you know, we went to.
The pie Shop.
It's so great.
And just outside of cook Fulle that is that is so great, the Rose Guarden, the Rose Garden off exit two seventy three, and you.
Know, and it's so good. The first time I was ever exposed to it is going to cook Will to record something with Larry Stone and Doug Matthews just whips off the road and starts driving sauce. Where are we going? He said, you'll find.
Out if you're going east. Just get off at two seventy three, take a rite and you go quarter of a mile and it sits there and it just says restaurant.
It says restaurant.
And you know a place is good when it just says restaurant, because that's really all you need to set food. Yeah, here and the food is fantastic, but the pie unbelievable, unbelievable. And I'm not even the world's biggest pie guy. I would be more of an ice cream guy than a pie guy.
The thing is cool about that place, though, And it's just like all these kind of places we're talking about. I'm sure throughout Tennessee and Texas, anywhere you want of these these off you walk in there and if you walk, if you go by two or three weeks later, same people will be sitting there, right, the same people will be sitting there. I love that stuff.
Yeah, it's it's been a lot of fun. But this one this weekend Jiffy Berger in Manchester. Uh, sweet people too, Golly David and his daughter, well.
They're they're excited to when the voice of the Titans comes walking in the door and he comes bearing gifts.
Couldn't lift it, but I had one at that point. Yeah. I was like, okay, you picked this up, but you hand this to them please. There was some trick photography involved with that shoot because if you watch.
There some Titans c G I involved.
It's not really c G I. But they had to, like because I couldn't bump into anybody when you have that kind of surgery, you know, the big thing is you can't take a hit of any sort. So they let me get to the booth and then I was back in the corner of the booth with my shoulder just up against the wall so nobody would would bump into me. And then I'm just sitting there. It's it was kind of like, oh, he's really lazy because Brett Kerr went in the kitchen and flip burgers and I
would normally love to do that. That would be a lot of fun, but I couldn't get near anybody at that point.
See that's a little scene.
Behind the city. Yes, So if you watch it on Titans All Access or you watch it on the Titans YouTube channel, keep an eye out for the fact that And I mean, I'm I've got like a wind jacket on with a T shirt because that was all I could.
Pull over my shoulder.
I couldn't do it in other way.
You see this feature this weekend and you're gonna go, what the Devil's wrong with my whoa at the shoulder? There you go.
But Brett Kerr is just the best.
Well, of course, of course he is.
He was hilarious, he because he just really didn't care anymore. So he told like every story on the in the truck going down and yeah, that's good.
Be the next OTP. As a matter of fact, that's awesome, outstanding.
Well, that's what we do we attempt to do outside subscribe to the OTP. It's worth please what do they say, subscribe, rate and review? All right, well, thanks for rating and reviewing. And watching and good to be headed to Houston with you boys, final road trip. Happy, happy New Year.
Happy New Year, Happy New Year, Mike
All right for Ret Brian and coach Dave mcgonnesson, Mike Keith, thanks for joining us for the t