0:10

This is the OTP, presented by Farm Bureau

0:12

Health Plans. Like the experts at Farm Bureau

0:14

Health Plants coach you through it. So we made

0:17

healthcare coverage and the place you can afford. They've

0:19

been protecting Tennesseeans since

0:21

nineteen forty seven. Mike Keith,

0:24

And she's back, Amy Wells. You

0:26

can't get rid of me, Mike. She was supposedly

0:28

off the OTP because supposedly

0:30

she was getting her own podcast. Still getting

0:32

my own podcast, Well,

0:34

Titans, the Titans Amy Coach

0:37

Mac podcast. Yes, delayed,

0:40

delayed slightly, but just

0:42

to make it even better. Well that's good. Making

0:44

it better is good, making it the best.

0:47

So it will actually be out next

0:49

Friday before the Indianapolis game,

0:51

correct your proper twenty four. Well,

0:53

I make no promises and at any

0:55

but it's sponsored by Farm Bureau Health Plans, sponsored

0:58

by Farm Bureau Health Plants, and really truly,

1:00

we're so excited to finally

1:02

release this thing into the wild. So what are you

1:04

doing here? Why are you back on this podcast?

1:07

Well, Mike, the OTP is like my firstborn,

1:10

It is my child. I

1:12

have loved this podcast and I'm

1:14

having a hard time letting go I'm having a hard

1:16

time moving on. I might not. I

1:19

don't know. We'll see what happens. We'll see when I come back

1:21

around. But I'm

1:24

having not going to leave

1:26

the OTP. Well, I mean, what are you going to do,

1:28

like forcibly remove me? Are you

1:30

just going to stop doing it? If? I don't know. I

1:32

didn't say that, but I just asked, Well, then there

1:34

you go. I think we answered our own questions now, didn't

1:37

we. I think we've got I think

1:39

we need Judge Judy here to kind of settle

1:41

we might we might need some sort of at least

1:43

some sort of division of assets when it comes

1:46

to the OTP. Yes, well,

1:48

there's so much to divide.

1:51

Actually, the ot people. We can't divide

1:54

them because they are so wonderful and so

1:56

supportive. And by the way, to the

1:58

ot people. Thursday night at Nissan Stadium

2:01

one of the most special things that

2:04

we've ever been a part of. And thanks so much

2:06

to the ot people, because

2:08

I know many of you went to Tennessee

2:10

Titans dot com slash donate

2:12

to Waverley and made a donation

2:15

to the United Way of Humphries

2:17

County to support the

2:20

flood victims and the rebuild

2:22

and everything they have to do in Humphris County.

2:25

So many people did. We called

2:28

the Waverley game with White House, which turned

2:30

out to be a fabulous high school football game

2:32

won by the Blue Devils over Waverley

2:34

thirty six to thirty four. Great experience

2:37

for us calling that game. Maybe

2:40

one of the best experiences I've ever had. It

2:42

was such a unique experience.

2:45

Everyone here was so Everyone

2:48

at the game was so thankful, They were so

2:50

happy to be there. They were having so much fun.

2:54

Besides the football of it, and

2:56

besides the fundraiser of it,

2:58

it was an escape for a lot of

3:00

people at Nissan Stadium. It gave

3:02

them something else to

3:04

think about, a distraction

3:07

from all that has been happening

3:10

to them in the last month. It

3:12

was a break. And to be able to give

3:14

people a break when they really desperately

3:17

need it is such an awesome

3:19

thing. And yes, the radio call was

3:21

phenomenal. It was such a fun broadcast

3:24

to be a part of, and just

3:26

to see people coming together

3:28

to do good and to help their neighbors was

3:31

amazing. Ridchtone gave twenty

3:33

thousand dollars to Waverley High School Academy

3:36

made a donation. Academy Sports and Outdoors

3:38

made a donation of ten thousand

3:40

dollars. Our friends at Farm Bureau

3:42

Health Plans made a donation which

3:45

was fantastic. And we know that a lot of

3:47

people went to Tennessee Titans dot com

3:49

slash donate to Waverley And by the way, that's

3:51

still up and they still need your help. Did

3:53

you know that John Robinson made a personal donation

3:55

of ten thousand dollars. I did not know that. I

3:58

didn't either. Wow, well that's yeah,

4:00

that's fantastic. Our idea was,

4:02

okay, let's take Titans

4:05

Radio and let's do a whole broadcast

4:07

and let's make it Tiger's Radio. And

4:10

so we did a pregame show, we did a postgame

4:12

show, we did the game broadcast, and the other part of

4:14

it two is Dean Warfield. Our big voice

4:16

guy went in and cut all new imaging

4:19

to say, this is Tigers Radio.

4:21

I wish I had his voice, and Rhett Brian

4:23

cut it all together, and you and Rhett

4:25

did a pregame show, and we had Bernard

4:27

Childers from the Tsuba on at halftime,

4:30

and we had the guy on whose brain child

4:32

all this was Titans President CEO Burke

4:35

night Hill and Coach Mack was

4:37

amazing as he always is. And

4:40

you know, the idea, the

4:42

stunt, if you will, was

4:45

to get attention for Waverley

4:47

and for Humphreys County. It wasn't as

4:49

much about the ball game. I mean, we could

4:51

call a high school game every week if we wanted

4:54

to. I guess yeah, I mean sure

4:56

we could, but I love high school football.

4:58

I would probably do that, actually, right,

5:01

But everybody would quit if

5:03

we work

5:06

because this was a tremendous

5:08

amount of work for a lot of people, a

5:11

lot of people to put this on at

5:13

the stadium, to do this broadcast,

5:16

for Cumulus Media to agree to

5:18

it, because they have programming from six to

5:20

ten that they can run, they have commercials

5:22

to run, they have sponsors, they have things to do. But

5:24

they said no, we'll do it. Everybody

5:27

said yes in a very

5:29

short span of time. In

5:32

thirteen days, everybody said

5:34

yes. And it coincided

5:36

with the Labor Day weekend, it coincided

5:39

with the start of the Titans regular season. And of

5:41

course it's happening on a week

5:43

where we're going to Seattle, which

5:45

is a heavy lift in terms of traveling.

5:48

It's a heavy lift in terms of traveling and

5:50

preparation for traveling because

5:53

you have to get your work done early

5:55

because you're gonna leave early. And also

5:57

because we haven't seen those guys in four years.

6:00

So if any member of our team

6:03

had said not a good

6:05

idea, I would have understood.

6:09

Every member of our team, every

6:11

man, every woman, said we have

6:13

to do this. And I'm so proud

6:16

of that, and I want the OT people

6:18

to know that because I want

6:20

you to know that the people we work with are not only

6:22

really good at their job, but they're good folks and

6:25

I'm extremely lucky to work with them.

6:28

But the other thing, too is if you heard

6:30

the broadcast, it sounded

6:33

like Titans Radio from top

6:35

to bottom, from top to bottom, and that

6:37

was the whole design. Let's give them,

6:40

Let's give these boys from Waverley, let's

6:43

give these boys from White House, let's

6:45

give everybody listening, Let's give them

6:47

what we do. And I

6:50

think, you know, I think we were able to do

6:52

that. It makes me very very proud because

6:55

I think we raised that awareness

6:57

and helped to keep you

7:00

know, I said it on the postgame. The

7:02

thing I read in the Tennessee and where the guy said

7:04

please don't forget us. Right.

7:07

It broke my heart because

7:09

because you know, this is

7:11

not a one month, two month,

7:13

three month. This is going to be probably

7:17

at least a year, maybe longer,

7:19

and they're gonna need a lot of money and they're gonna need a

7:21

lot of help. And it's a good place

7:23

and they're good people, and they deserve

7:25

the money and the help. And that's the problem

7:27

with disasters, it

7:29

seems, is that there's

7:32

the initial shock, there's the initial

7:34

rush to help however you can, which

7:36

is fantastic, but

7:39

then that rush dies down and

7:41

there's a new disaster. There's always

7:43

the next issue. And to

7:46

not leave this group of people

7:48

hanging, to make sure that they know that

7:50

we haven't forgotten them, we still

7:52

want to help you. And I mean,

7:54

they've got problems every time it rains, you

7:57

know. I Mean, it's that level of damage

7:59

and that level of rebuilding

8:01

that needs to happen. And

8:03

so to be able to do this and to keep

8:06

it fresh in people's minds is something

8:08

I'm so proud of. I was so proud to be a part

8:10

of this because being out in the middle of all

8:12

of it, really being out and experiencing

8:15

it and feeling the excitement

8:18

out in the crowd on the sidelines.

8:21

Incredible. Well you did a great job. Oh, thank

8:23

you, you did a great job. I loved the stories

8:26

from the sidelines about they

8:28

saved the chains, the chains

8:30

that they used to mark first downs, they saved that

8:33

from the flood, and all the stuff about

8:35

homecoming because this was supposed to be their

8:37

homecoming and when else are they gonna

8:39

have it? Right? Well, and I was I

8:41

spent some time talking about they don't have a chee leader. They

8:43

don't know. Yeah, what did they say? Well, they

8:45

didn't. They we were talking about homecoming,

8:48

and it's usually a big production

8:50

in their town. Every town homecoming,

8:54

but but I mean a town that size, it's

8:56

like homecoming is a big deal at White

8:59

House, right exactly. You know, when the school

9:02

is so ingrained in the community,

9:04

that's a thing. Oh yeah, there's a parade

9:07

there, floats, there's a dance

9:09

there. It's all encompassing for a

9:11

whole week. And they weren't able to have that.

9:13

They didn't have the infrastructure to do that.

9:16

Sure, it just it wasn't possible. So

9:18

she said it was a very abbreviated

9:21

homecoming, which made her sad. For the seniors,

9:24

right, and so to be able

9:26

to still give them this experience

9:28

and have it be the crescendo

9:31

at the end of a week

9:33

that they tried, however they could to

9:35

hold it together really

9:38

really cool, awesome. The thing

9:40

that touched me the most when we're talking

9:42

about giving and all the

9:45

donations are fantastic, and some of these

9:47

big donations from places like Bridgetone

9:49

Academy are incredible. I was on

9:51

the sidelines and the White House

9:54

cheerleaders came over

9:56

to the Waverley cheerleaders

9:59

and they had a big box full of what

10:01

looked like gift bags,

10:04

and they handed one to each cheerleader

10:06

and also to their coach, and they were

10:08

full of things like gift cards

10:10

to restaurants and snacks

10:12

and little soaps and toiletries

10:14

and things like that. They came over

10:17

to give them something because I'm getting choked

10:19

up just talking about they came over to give them

10:21

a little bit of something, just to try and help

10:23

however they could. And so

10:26

I asked the cheer coach about it. What's in those bags?

10:28

Is this like a cheerleader thing? And you didn't No,

10:31

I didn't try to take one, but I was genuine. I wasn't

10:33

sure if this is you know, I mean,

10:35

every cheerleading squad everywhere

10:38

has their little traditions and things that they do, and

10:40

so I thought, oh, maybe this is the thing she goes.

10:42

She goes, No, these are like, these are

10:44

supplies, These are snacks and soaps and things

10:47

like that. She goes. Every team that

10:49

we have played so far this season has done

10:51

the same that. So all of

10:53

these girls every game get gift

10:56

card. I mean it was like a Sonic gift card

10:58

or a Kroger gift card or

11:01

so like nice, good

11:03

smelling soaps and just things that you

11:05

can use, things that you need. And it

11:08

warmed my cold little heart. Well.

11:10

I thought white House handled this exceedingly

11:13

well because they

11:15

understood in

11:17

the process that there was an overriding

11:19

story about that the world

11:22

was sort of we are Waverley, right,

11:24

And they still had a football game to win, and

11:27

they did right, and they won

11:29

a big region game. But

11:31

I thought their attitude and talking through their coach

11:33

Ryan Hamilton, I thought he got it

11:36

that, Okay, the football game is one thing,

11:38

but the real life part of it is something

11:41

different, right, And I appreciated

11:44

that he separated it in that

11:46

way. White House was supposed to go out

11:48

and try to win a football game. That

11:50

was that's your job. That's your job. That's why

11:52

you have a team, and you want to go win the state

11:55

championship and go to the Blue Cross Bowl in Chattanooga.

11:57

That's your that's that's what he owes the

11:59

white House Blue Devils, and that's

12:01

what those players owe each other. And they

12:03

did that. But at the same time, I I

12:06

just thought they handled it very well. I thought

12:09

they handled the scene. I

12:11

thought they they handled sort

12:13

of the enormity of what else was going

12:15

on well. I was impressive. Like I said,

12:17

just a great experience, just a great

12:20

human being experience that

12:22

you don't get to have all the time. You

12:24

know, would be a great human being experienced for me

12:26

to settle.

12:29

Yep, I agree with that. That would be a good human

12:31

being in We've got to turn the page now.

12:33

Oh yeah, I've been going to practice

12:36

and practice has been intense.

12:40

Yeah, intense is a good word for it.

12:42

It's beyond lively, not crazy,

12:45

not panicked, No

12:48

and not you

12:50

can't do bull in the ring and the Oklahoma

12:52

drill anymore. That's illegal, which

12:55

such a shame. No, no, not if you ever

12:57

did it. No, I haven't. I've just watched it.

12:59

No, but it's all full. But

13:01

you know, you would lose a game the way the Titans lost

13:04

to Arizona, and you

13:06

know, if you're a high school team or college team, or even

13:08

in some cases a pro team, the

13:10

practices would be hellish.

13:13

That's not what it's been. But there

13:15

has been an overriding intensity

13:18

I think is appropriate. Yes,

13:21

yeah, I agree with that. I think it

13:23

has been abundantly clear

13:26

that the issues that

13:29

were exposed last week

13:31

are being dealt with unacceptable.

13:34

Yes, And I think the

13:36

players thought it was unacceptable. Oh yeah.

13:38

I think that the players and coaches are on

13:40

the same page in terms of what needs

13:43

to happen. Agreed. So looking

13:45

at the Titans roster, they have a new

13:48

practice squad linebacker and Joe Jones,

13:50

who's a veteran special teams player. They

13:52

have a new starting safety,

13:55

a Monty Hooker went on ir so he's

13:57

out for at least three weeks. Brand

14:00

I'd leave McDougall figures

14:02

to start alongside Kevin Byard

14:05

Bradley. MacDougall was the starting

14:07

safety in Seattle

14:10

until July the twenty fifth,

14:13

twenty twenty when he was traded

14:15

to the Jets in the Jamal Adams

14:18

deal. So he's been gone from their fourteen

14:20

months and he's going to have a chance to

14:22

go back and not just play,

14:25

he figures to start against his

14:27

former team. I like that mindset

14:30

for my starting safety or one of my starting

14:33

safeties. A little angry,

14:35

all right. So the Titans went ahead

14:37

and moved Michael prue It up to the active

14:39

roster, cut Tommy Hudson

14:41

and then resigned him to the practice squad

14:44

and then signed another tight end by the name of Austin

14:47

Ford, who's a third year man out

14:49

of Wyoming. So they did

14:51

that, and then the other thing is Randy Bullocks

14:53

now the kicker. Randy Bullock who

14:56

played at Texas A and m Ryan Tannehill

14:59

was his holder. Uh come

15:01

full circuit, comes full circuit. Yeah. Ryan Tannehill

15:03

told a great story that he walked in and Randy

15:06

Bullocks sitting in the lunch room. He's like, what

15:09

are you doing? He had seen him

15:11

and forever like whoa, whoa? I

15:13

know you wait a minute, Well, this is when he

15:15

was on the practice squad, and you

15:17

know, Michael Badgeley, I mean, he just didn't work. Michael

15:20

Badgeley, I mean he was in

15:22

a tough spot. He was in a tough

15:24

spot. My man had less than

15:26

forty eight hours to get

15:29

his feet on the ground and kick a

15:31

successful game, and it wouldn't happen.

15:34

Well, I mean, he had less than forty

15:36

eight hours before the game,

15:38

right, he had less than twenty

15:41

hours to get acclimated

15:43

to the team. Because what happened

15:46

to Ficken, Sam Ficken happened

15:48

on Friday in practice, right, and

15:51

our man Jim Wyatt noticed it while we

15:53

were standing there. He goes, I think he's hurt himself,

15:56

Yeah, because he slammed his helmet And you're

15:58

like, okay, what does this mean?

16:00

Yeah, what do you know? Did he miss a kick

16:03

or what the deal was? And

16:05

so then we come back in and all of a sudden,

16:07

the injury report comes out and he's got a groin injury.

16:09

And the next thing you know, they've signed Michael Badgeley

16:13

and you're like, okay, what's

16:15

this all about to the practice squad.

16:17

And then the next day, Michael Badgeley's activated

16:20

and Sam Ficken's you know, put on the ir

16:24

and they've signed Randy Bullock to the practice

16:26

squad, and then you

16:28

know, ficking ficking had

16:30

everything sort of situated.

16:33

You're like, how cursed

16:35

can we be? You felt good

16:37

about it, absolutely, you felt I

16:39

always say about kickers, they're kind of like breathing.

16:42

You don't even notice it until it goes away,

16:44

right, And I hadn't noticed the

16:47

kicking situation in a couple of weeks. I

16:49

hadn't even thought about it. And then

16:52

Jim Wyatt notices that there might be

16:54

a problem, and all of a sudden, you go, right,

16:57

oh no, and you're and you're saying, oh

17:00

my goodness, you know, how can this be happening

17:03

again? And so he's

17:05

never worked with a snapper, he's never worked

17:07

with the holder Badgley, and Badgeley

17:09

has it kicked off in two years either. So

17:11

you're grabbing the first guy you can

17:14

get in here, who you know anything

17:16

about, because you got to get somebody.

17:19

But you wondered if he was going to be the long

17:21

term guy because he and

17:23

Kern doesn't kick off. That's

17:26

not some teams punters kick off,

17:28

but personally you don't want Kern

17:30

kicking off. He's thirty five years old and

17:33

he's a great punter. You just want him to punt.

17:36

You don't want him pull a quad or something

17:38

kicking off. Yeah, I don't need him doing anything

17:41

that he's not used to doing with his leg at thirty

17:43

five, at any age, but at

17:45

thirty five, especially because he's

17:47

he swung his leg a lot in

17:50

his life. He doesn't need to do it in a

17:52

way he's not used to doing it. Yep. So

17:56

Randy bullocks the kicker all right, game

17:58

on Randy bucks an Ad and

18:00

Houston. In his career, he's kicked a lot. Yeah,

18:03

that's good. Just make it.

18:05

I don't want to say I don't care, because of course I

18:07

care, but just play it through the up light,

18:10

like, just do it, get it in there, get

18:12

it where it needs to be. That's what I care about. Well,

18:14

the kicking situation didn't beat the Titans

18:17

in the Arizona game. No, that was not this

18:20

problem. That was not that was not even in the

18:22

top five. Maybe

18:24

ten. I don't know, but you know,

18:27

welcome Randy Bullock and and Vrabel

18:29

said, because in my time here with the fifty

18:32

three kickers who've been through pretty

18:34

fun, it's not wrong. Rabel

18:37

had an interesting week. He publicly got

18:39

on Julio Jones about

18:41

the personal foul penalty, and it

18:43

was a big story nationally. I don't

18:45

think locally it was that biggest story

18:48

because I think the local media

18:51

knows that. That's how they

18:54

know that Vrabel said that

18:56

to him, right. It seemed

18:59

like an I pitching headline because

19:01

of the verbiage and because of who it

19:04

is. Yes, And when you take it out of context,

19:07

I can yes, I can see. But when you put

19:10

it in the context of Mike Vrabel

19:12

and the way that he deals with his

19:14

own players and the media,

19:18

a lot of people didn't even blink, right

19:20

because it felt like, well, yeah, well

19:22

it was a strong yeah about

19:25

a guy who's going to the Hall of Fame. But you

19:27

don't think that he has also made that same

19:29

strong comment to his face. Do

19:31

you also think? Yes? I do,

19:34

yeah. And it also

19:36

makes a point to his football team.

19:39

Nobody's immune. Nobody's immune, And

19:42

I think it's important. And I think from

19:45

my dealing briefly, I don't know him well.

19:48

I think Julio Jones would get that, having

19:51

played for Nick Saban and having

19:53

been in the league for ten years, I think he

19:55

would totally get that. I think that was water

19:58

off a duck's back. With him not. I

20:01

think he knows that was a mistake because

20:04

it's a ten nothing game. You got third and one

20:06

right there. If it's not third and sixteen

20:08

because of the penalty, maybe you pick up the

20:10

first down, maybe you get a little

20:12

momentum, maybe you go down and kick a field

20:14

goal or score touchdown, and then it's a ball

20:16

game. That was like the tenth

20:19

tough thing that could happen, you

20:21

know, over and over again. But at that

20:23

moment, you knew this is bad because

20:25

you need you need to convert that third

20:27

and one to stay on the field and build

20:30

a little momentum. Yeah. And so

20:32

the fact that again, to me,

20:34

the fact that Vrabel would

20:37

call that out and say it

20:39

to the media means that he's also said

20:41

it in thirteen other places,

20:43

including in front of the team and to

20:46

Julio himself. Like if

20:49

he's saying it to us the media

20:51

folks, he's already said to everybody

20:54

else and doesn't even he's moved on.

20:56

Well, Julio Jones is ball

20:58

player, Yes, And because

21:00

he's a ball player, he

21:02

would get that. If he

21:05

were a diva, he wouldn't

21:07

get that. But when I watch him and just

21:09

having just barely dealt

21:11

with him. I don't get Diva at all,

21:14

zero percent, and I have dealt with him less

21:16

than you and I too,

21:18

do not pick up Diva. I don't get it.

21:20

I don't see it in any of it. I think he's

21:22

a worker b type guy. Now he's a star.

21:25

Yeah, he's a future Hall of Famer.

21:27

I think he'll play great this week. I'm

21:29

excited for I do you

21:31

know. I'm optimistic. But the problem

21:35

is the team we're going to play

21:37

that may well be a super Bowl team.

21:40

And they looked great at Indianapolis.

21:42

Steve Rabel is there, played by a play announcer

21:45

in Seattle. He played for Seattle. He

21:47

was an original Seahawk. Wow, yeah,

21:50

the og and the

21:52

og is an announcer. He's a great guy. Here's

21:55

a visit that I had earlier this week with

21:57

my friend Steve Rabel, the voice of the

21:59

seattlec to

22:05

help us preview this Sunday's Titans

22:08

opponent, the Seattle Seahawks. Let's

22:10

talk with their voice, Steve Rabel. Welcome,

22:13

glad to have you with us, Thanks for taking time. Thank

22:15

Mike, my pleasure. Nice When in Week

22:18

one at Indianapolis, twenty eight to

22:20

sixteen over the Colts. A lot

22:22

of the postgame headlines about Shane

22:25

Waldron's new offense in Seattle,

22:28

could you tell a different Steve? Well, you

22:30

could. I mean you had

22:32

to look closely and if you're if you

22:34

don't you know, kind of follow the intricacies

22:37

of football, and quite frankly, you

22:39

know, in the almost forty five years

22:41

since I've been involved in the NFL, it

22:44

doesn't seem like there's anything new. It's just

22:46

shown differently and maybe presented

22:48

a little different way. But you know, a

22:51

handoff as a handoff and a crossing route

22:53

as a crossing route. But I think

22:55

it in large measure has

22:57

to do with the confidence that Russ had

23:00

Insane Waldron and his play

23:02

calling, the fact that they've given Russ

23:04

more responsibility at the

23:06

line of scrimmage in some cases, the

23:09

fact that you know, some plays

23:12

I have one formation and

23:14

one set of moves, you

23:16

know, a tight end in motion or a or a

23:19

fly sweep motion, and you'll have

23:21

about six plays runoff of that same that

23:23

same formation and same motion. So there

23:26

are some things about it that are complicated. There are

23:28

some things that make it look really easy,

23:30

as the touchdown pastor Gerald. Everett Gerald

23:32

was kind of the wide guy as the tight end on the

23:34

far side of the field, and he just waited

23:37

for the guys underneath the clear and

23:39

then he just kind of loped into the middle of the field

23:41

and he was wide open. So part of

23:43

it is the defense just getting lulled to sleep,

23:45

I think, and Rush just hit him for a nine yard

23:47

touchdown. It looked about as easy as

23:50

as a touchdown you can throw. So there,

23:52

there, there. They all

23:54

seem to be on the same page with this offense, and it's

23:57

one that we didn't see all the training camp, at

23:59

least on the feed for game time, and

24:01

now they're starting to sell it. Russell Wilson

24:04

certainly looked confident as you watched

24:06

the tape eighteen of twenty three

24:08

for over two fifty and four touchdowns,

24:11

very in command for week

24:14

one to your point, I guess right,

24:16

yeah, yeah, And he looked that way

24:18

every practice during training camp. This

24:21

guy is a special breed of cat,

24:23

if you will. You know,

24:25

he's got so many things going in his life, and he's

24:27

got this beautiful family and

24:30

they have homes here and then San

24:32

Diego, and he's you know, during the off

24:34

season, he trains down there and he trains up

24:36

here. They've got their foundation. He travels

24:39

extensively, he's got business interests,

24:42

and yet when it comes time to put

24:44

the helmet on and start to work.

24:46

In fact, he made it a point to talk about it

24:48

this week prior to the game, that he

24:50

gets up even in the off season, he's up at four

24:53

thirty every morning to start training. Now,

24:55

you know, there was a time when I played back in the

24:58

late seventies and early eighties, I was just coming in four

25:00

thirty. So it's

25:02

a whole different philosophy these

25:05

days. And that's why I'm doing

25:07

what I'm doing. And he will

25:09

end up in the Hall of Fame without any question.

25:12

He is just such an amazing person

25:15

and athlete and is able

25:17

to compartmentalize so well and prepare

25:20

himself. And so the throws that we saw, we've

25:22

seen in practice and in walkthrooms,

25:24

and his ability to understand

25:28

and to throw guys open, all those things,

25:31

they've been remarkable since he was a rookie.

25:34

But it seems like he's just getting better.

25:36

And that's hard to believe because he's as good as

25:38

any have played the game in their first nine

25:40

years. All of the Russell

25:43

Wilson is not happy with the Seahawks

25:45

organization. However much of that

25:47

was real or just imagine that's

25:49

all out the window now right. Yeah,

25:52

you know my kind of thoughts on that. I

25:54

thought that he had gone back to

25:56

the Super Bowl to accept his Man the

25:58

Year award, well deserved

26:01

by the bye, and you

26:03

know, there he is at the game, and he's watching his

26:05

old nemesis, Tom Brady, who beat

26:08

him in the Super

26:10

Bowl forty nine in Glendale,

26:13

Arizona. He's watching a

26:15

guy who is, you

26:17

know, half a decade older

26:19

than Russ, is more than that, and

26:22

a guy who was still playing at the very top of his

26:24

game, a guy that came into Tampa that

26:26

nobody gave a chance to put together a winning Super

26:29

Bowl team and had some influence

26:32

on bringing players in and lo

26:34

and behold, there they are winning the Super Bowl. I

26:36

think that was as frustrating as anything for Russ.

26:38

And the fact that you know, we were knocked out in

26:40

the playoff in the wildcard

26:43

playoff rounds here at home

26:45

against the Rams, So all those things

26:47

combined, I think that just kind of got the best of Russ.

26:49

And you know, then some of his people I think kind

26:52

of overshot the ski

26:55

hill a little bit by saying, well,

26:57

yeah, but if we wanted, if you wanted to trade

26:59

him, he go to Chicago and Las Vegas and someplace

27:02

else, And there was never any intention to

27:04

that. And you know, Russ is that kind of

27:06

guy. Once he focuses back on what he needs

27:08

to do, you know, it's all

27:11

good, and he's fine with

27:13

the team, and you know he's going to make a jillion

27:15

dollars more while he's still here. And

27:18

let's face it, this is the place where he's

27:20

probably got the best opportunity to continue

27:23

to have an opportunity to get to the Super Bowl

27:25

every year. I mean, you go to a place like Chicago,

27:28

you know, bust their hearts, but they're constantly rebuilding.

27:31

But that's not the case here in Seattle. Another

27:33

happy guy with a contract, Jamal

27:35

Adams playing like a happy guy. It

27:38

made a difference in the ballgame on Sunday,

27:40

especially on one of the fourth down plays. Really

27:43

looks like the defense is

27:45

suited to what his talents are, almost

27:48

like how Pittsburgh used Troy Palamalu

27:51

exactly and quite frankly,

27:53

the way we used him in the last half

27:55

of last year because until

27:57

we got Carlos Dunlop, we couldn't generate any

28:00

real pass rush to speak up, and

28:03

yeah he came a few times, but he

28:05

was back in coverage more than he blitz. But

28:07

the defense now we went out, the Seahawks

28:10

went out in the off season and made sure

28:12

that those guys who brought the pressure

28:15

Dunlop and and Benson Mayo

28:17

and the youngster the fourth year player that

28:19

we drafted a couple of years ago, Rasheim

28:22

Green, Alden Robinson. These

28:24

guys can really rush

28:26

the passer. But they're also good

28:29

size. I mean, aside from Jamal,

28:31

they're all defensive end size guys and

28:34

they can hold their own against the rush. And that's

28:36

what Pete was going for this year. So I

28:38

think where as in the past, Pete has

28:40

built his defenses sort of from the back end

28:42

forward great cornerbacks, guys

28:45

with great skills that can cover,

28:47

and then you build forward to

28:49

your to your defensive line and your

28:52

pass rushers, this group is

28:54

built from the front back. They can get

28:56

after the passer. We got linebackers who've

28:58

got a lot of speed who can rush. Bobby Wigner

29:00

may be the best rush linebacker out

29:02

there today. He from the middle. That is,

29:05

he is so good at diagnosing and finding

29:07

the crease and anticipating and

29:09

so as you don't have to use them all every

29:11

down up at the line of scrimmage blitzing,

29:15

but he can do that. He can drop down

29:17

in the box. And now suddenly you forced

29:19

that quarterback to make some decisions

29:21

on whether you're gonna, you know, stay with a run

29:24

or you're gonna throw the ball. And that's

29:26

what you want to have. You want to you want to have indecision

29:28

on the part of the other offense.

29:30

Steve Rabel, what is the

29:32

place where the Seattle Seahawks

29:35

have had the most significant addition

29:37

in your opinion in twenty twenty one.

29:40

Wow, that's a that's a great question. Um

29:42

well, Gabe Jackson getting him

29:45

from the Raiders to kind

29:47

of solidify our offensive line ed

29:49

guards has been a very

29:52

quiet upgrade on the offensive

29:54

front. Russ was sacked three times. One of

29:56

them was just a complete whiff by the center, so

29:58

you know those are going to happen once in a while, you

30:01

know. But the Forrest Buckner, formerly of the forty

30:03

nine ers at one time, jacksonville a really

30:05

fine defensive lineman. I mean, he just turned our center

30:08

around. But but Gay Jackson solid

30:10

as can be and he's like a five dollars cab

30:13

ride around to get around him. He's a big

30:15

man. So that was that was one

30:18

spot. I think the

30:20

rest of the spots, you know, are are secondary

30:23

is solidified last year with the acquisition

30:25

of both those safety I think we've got the best

30:28

safety tandem in the National Football League with

30:30

the very least one of the best. So

30:32

you know, you look up and down the line, there are really

30:35

there are really no weaknesses. I

30:38

feel pretty certain about our defense when

30:40

it comes to linebackers that Jordan Brooks is

30:42

a young guy who can fly around and make

30:44

play. He and Bobby Wagner i think combined for

30:46

about eight gen tackles, So there are some

30:48

some good young players out there. I'm

30:51

concerned a little bit about d Escorts, the young

30:54

rookie second round draft towards wide receiver.

30:56

He is a flat out the guy um

30:59

and he got what appeared

31:01

to be can cussed. I hope he's going to be okay

31:04

because he's that guy that adds a real significant

31:06

element to our passing game that's already pretty

31:08

darn good. Where can the Seattle Seahawks

31:11

be better in twenty twenty one

31:13

than they were in twenty twenty I

31:15

think a protecting Russ and

31:18

if this makes sense, protecting Russ from himself,

31:21

not forcing Russ to make

31:24

plays that aren't there, which is what oftentimes

31:26

got him into trouble. You know, he never threw a lot of interceptions.

31:29

It hasn't his entire career, but

31:31

he would take sacks because

31:34

he wanted to get out of the pocket, get on the move,

31:37

try to find an open guy, let things develop

31:39

in front of him, or the pass rush you

31:41

know, got to him. Something broke down up front now

31:44

and I think we're a lot

31:46

more security in the way this offense runs.

31:48

It's to get the ball out of his hands quicker, and

31:51

so that's the thing that is most

31:53

significant, I think for this offensive, for

31:55

this team. We've always had every

31:58

bit of confidence in Russell Wilson to make the plays.

32:01

Now he doesn't have to make every

32:03

play. Now, guys come open because

32:05

the system and the design of the

32:08

play allows it to happen, and

32:10

that opens up things for guys

32:12

like Chris Carson. Chris was you

32:14

know one hundred yards or better, in total offense.

32:17

I think he ninety plus rushing and

32:20

we didn't even see him in the preseason. We didn't see

32:22

any of the starters, frankly, but he's

32:24

been kind of flying under the radar all his training

32:26

camp and he looks great. So,

32:29

you know, I think we've got I think we've got all

32:31

the pieces together, and now it's just a matter

32:33

of going out there and making plays, not giving

32:35

up cheap touchdowns. You

32:37

know, don't get beat deep. I think our cornerbacks,

32:40

while they're not a work in progress, they're both veterans

32:42

and they both know what they're doing. You

32:44

know, we brought in a lot of competition during training

32:47

camp, and those two spots

32:49

were ones that kind of weeded themselves out

32:51

and in a way that we didn't think maybe

32:54

was how it was originally intended

32:57

to be. But these two veterans

32:59

came up, made all the plays, and now we just

33:01

got to make sure that they can stay healthy and play

33:03

all season long. Finally, Steve, there

33:05

are some who believe this could

33:07

be John Snyder

33:10

and Pete Carroll's best Seattle

33:12

Seahawks team. Do you think that could

33:14

be true? Well, it's tough to you know, compare

33:18

completely. You know, listen,

33:20

ask me after the season, and if we win the

33:22

Super Bowl, I'll tell you that it's at least as good

33:24

as the team from back in twenty thirteen.

33:27

The big difference, Mike, and you know this, and

33:29

every general manager knows this in the

33:31

league that when you have a quarterback

33:33

in his rookie contract and

33:35

he's making about eight hundred or nine hundred thousand

33:38

dollars a year, you even back in

33:40

thirteen, you still have a lot of money that you

33:42

can spend on other players, and especially

33:45

that year, we spend it on defensive

33:47

guys. So we had guys

33:49

playing like Michael Bennett and Cliff April. They

33:51

weren't even starting. They were coming in

33:54

to spell guys on pass rush

33:56

and they were terrific. So, you

33:58

know, nowadays you really have to be careful

34:01

of how you spend your money, and especially when your quarterback

34:03

is making you know, twenty five twenty eight million dollars

34:05

a year, that's a considerable part of

34:08

your of your salary cap. That

34:10

said, when I look at how these

34:12

pieces have gone together now, the

34:14

mix of young guys, and we had to you

34:17

know, we had to let go of a guy in

34:19

kJ Wright who was a veteran and

34:21

I loved him, still do as a

34:23

person and as a player. But you

34:26

have to get younger, and you have to get more

34:28

athletic, and I think we are that on defense

34:31

and then on offense again, I think

34:33

we're gonna be playing smarter. I think we've got

34:35

some great individuals, great wide

34:37

receivers three and four

34:39

deep now wide receiver three or four

34:42

deep at running back. Offensive

34:45

line a little thin, but this could

34:47

be the best team they put together. But again,

34:50

ask me in February. It's a good answer.

34:52

You went all the way around it. Well done.

34:55

Well, thank you. That's I get

34:57

paid to make up stuff. You're a trained

34:59

professionals. Rabel Voice of the Seahawks.

35:01

We look forward to seeing you this weekend at lumin Field.

35:04

Oh thanks, Mike, I appreciate it. Well,

35:11

that was pretty optimistic. I mean Steve

35:13

Rabel is pretty up on this

35:16

team, and he should be. I mean, they're

35:18

they're loaded. You could go out

35:20

there and play well on Sunday

35:23

and not win, right, But I'll

35:25

take my chances. Yes I will

35:27

too. I like an angry Titans

35:29

team, a Titans team with something to prove,

35:32

a Titans team that's fighting back.

35:35

That's the Titans team that I like. The

35:37

underdogs, I agree, those are

35:39

my Titans. What I like about

35:42

this matchup is what they like to

35:44

do we'd like to do. They

35:46

like a fight in a phone booth. They have no

35:48

problem with that. And if if

35:51

the Titans are at their heart and soul of

35:53

who they are, they like a fight

35:55

in a phone booth too, that's fine.

35:57

Yep, and doesn't again doesn't

36:00

and you're gonna win. But from a

36:02

style point of view, the

36:05

Titans couldn't get Arizona in the phone

36:07

booth. Had they

36:09

been able to, it would have been an interesting

36:11

game because that's not really how Arizona wants

36:13

to play, you know, that's not really

36:15

what They don't want to mix it up. They're

36:18

not going to run the ball down your throat like the

36:20

Titans want to do. They dictated

36:22

the game to a point where they totally

36:25

played their style, which

36:27

was so far outside of who

36:29

the Titans are, which is why the score was

36:31

separated the way that it was. It was their game.

36:33

They made it their game. Their

36:36

best players played great. I

36:38

think if the Titans can get

36:40

in the phone booth and get in this fight with the Seahawks.

36:43

I think they've got a reasonable chance. Bottom

36:45

line with this is you got to come out looking more

36:47

like yourself, right, whatever

36:49

whatever happens, you want to leave

36:52

Seattle, get on that plane and say, Okay,

36:54

that was our work, that's

36:56

what we did, and

37:00

you know, then come back home for Indianapolis

37:02

and ed see what happened. But

37:04

for people to say they have no shot in Seattle,

37:07

I don't believe that. Nope. I don't believe that. I don't

37:09

buy that at all. Nope. But you're right. We've

37:11

got to see Titans football early early.

37:14

Ye need a big play in this game

37:16

early. I'm into it. I'm here for that. I

37:18

am too. We're on not

37:21

so early, We're on at two thirty

37:23

Titans countdown on one, four, five Zone

37:25

and Titans radio stations throughout the region,

37:28

and then we kick off at three twenty

37:30

five. Yes, it's going to be

37:32

a great game. I've never been to Seattle, so

37:35

you've never been to the city, or you've never been to the stadium.

37:37

Both never been to the

37:39

city. So I'm excited to experience

37:42

just a little taste of that. Eat dinner

37:44

someplace nice. Then I'm excited

37:46

to check another stadium off the old

37:49

list. That's exciting.

37:52

Really. Is that loud too? Yeah,

37:54

and I'm excited for that hour it's designed.

37:56

I mean, I haven't been in a loud stadium

37:58

in a long time, Mike, you will be

38:00

Yeah, I'm excited because it is crazy

38:03

loud there. They had engineers designed

38:05

it in a way that the noise stays in

38:08

awesome. Well,

38:10

I mean it's hardened, it's I

38:13

get it, but like really cool

38:15

too, really cool. Yeah,

38:18

I mean, I guess I don't know. You're you're gonna

38:20

see. I think you're gonna be very surprised how much

38:22

you don't like it. Well, I get that. I'm

38:25

sure there's many things I won't like. They always

38:27

are. They'll have the twelfth the

38:30

twelfth fan raised the

38:32

twelve flag. Yes, they will

38:35

do the thing they stole from Texas A and m

38:37

that's okay. I'm totally okay with raising

38:39

a flag or whatever. I don't like places with gongs

38:42

or goanens or loud.

38:45

Do you think mac lemore will be the twelve

38:48

person? No, but that would be cool. He's

38:51

apparently doing a concert for them of some

38:53

sort. Mac Lemore like soon like this

38:55

weekend. Oh well then maybe I

38:58

was gonna say they usually I mean, they usually

39:00

don't bring out the big guys for a non conference

39:03

game. But that's the first home game. They've

39:05

won twelve straight home openers. Did you know

39:07

that? No, Yeah, I have a lot

39:09

of good news, right, You've got a lot of interesting

39:11

facts. It's also supposed to rain, so

39:14

and be chili. Yeah,

39:16

you're going to get Seattle weather. Yeah, so I think

39:19

I'm going to dislike that more than the

39:21

noise. When I was there back in July.

39:23

It was in the nineties, which is crazy

39:26

because no, because

39:28

most of the places there don't have air conditioning

39:31

one third, only one third

39:33

of the businesses and homes they're have air

39:35

conditioning. So chili

39:38

is better than really hot. Yeah,

39:42

drizzle. I don't know

39:44

why this turned into making a list of things I

39:46

hate, because I thought you were off

39:48

this podcast that took a dark turn.

39:51

You can never leave. You can plan

39:53

on Farm Bureau Health plans for better coverage,

39:55

better rates, and better customer service. They've been

39:57

providing Tennessee ins with the home field advantage

39:59

from a seventy five years. What if

40:01

the OT people don't want me to go? What

40:04

if they do? Maybe we should take it to a vote.

40:06

Maybe I don't want it. I was gonna

40:08

say, do you want that? No? Maybe

40:11

not. You're setting yourself

40:13

up there, chief Yeah yeah yeah,

40:15

maybe well played by you. Maybe I'll

40:17

just fade into the night. Well, you're welcome

40:20

to stay on the OTP. We're trying to do two

40:22

a week. We're going to do the four Downs with

40:24

Rhett on mondays that.

40:27

Well, it's good. It's a good idea. It's a good

40:29

idea, and he has

40:31

such an interesting insight because he

40:34

does so much around Coach Mack and around

40:36

the team and with us on Titan's

40:39

Radio. And I love to hear his viewpoint

40:41

because it's, you know, it's slightly different

40:43

from any of ours, but it's always

40:46

very insightful. So we did that this week and got

40:48

a nice response to it. But I mean, if you want

40:51

to be on the one the rest of the

40:53

way, you could, Yeah. I mean I would

40:55

I miss you, Yes, I would miss you. I admit it,

40:58

I admit it. I would. I

41:00

mean, I'm not even sad that he offered me

41:02

the Leftover podcast. It's not the

41:04

Leftover we're doing. We're in season.

41:06

We're doing two a week and

41:09

you have your own. I'll consider it. Okay,

41:11

thank you. See how I turn this

41:13

around? It? Yes? What less than in all? Right?

41:16

Time to go. This has been fun. Mike, I

41:18

got four words beat

41:21

Seattle tighten up. I'm

41:23

here for that beat Seattle

41:25

tighten up. Thanks for listening, everybody.

41:28

In all seriousness, we do teas at times

41:30

on the OTP. Thank you

41:32

to the ot people for going to Tennessee

41:34

Titans dot com slash donate

41:36

to Waverley. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank

41:39

you for supporting the OTP. You have been

41:41

phenomenal and Amy and I hear

41:44

about it wherever we go. People talk

41:46

to us about it all the time, all over the country

41:48

literally come to us and say,

41:50

hey, really enjoy the podcast, enjoy

41:52

the insights and the stories in the background.

41:55

And you know, that's what we try to do. We try to

41:57

pull back the curtain. That is the whole goal.

42:00

Good Yeah, great stuff, Bravey

42:02

wells at Mike Keith and this is

42:04

the old te Welcome to the

42:07

big show where the legends

42:09

go. Everybody knows it's

42:11

our house, fighting for Tennessee,

42:14

making us to read greatness is meant

42:16

to be ours now

42:18

Here. We got tight and butter

42:21

running through a ves