 from the bet MGM studio this is the OTP with Amy Wells I'm Mike Keith will introduce this guy in just a minute if he needs an introduction but thrilled to be joined through the technology and power of zoom Chris Johnson wait there is CJ so we're gonna talk about the 2008 Tennessee Titans the team that had the great 10 and 0 start 13 and 3 season one of the best in Titans history Chris Johnson was a rookie that year and we remember his spectacular season this guy also had a great season this is Mr. Monday night Keith Bullock and it's important now by law we have to introduce him as Tennessee Sports Hall of Famer Keith Bullock oh yeah that's right I appreciate that that was a great time last year I was very surprised when I got that induction also it was right behind Javon Curse who was another great Titan so it was Javon myself I feel this guy right here CJ 2k should be on his way do I have any juice to get him in there you actually don't know he's trying for I know it's not Keith can't do it no but I actually I know someone who can do it who Brad Willis and executive director of the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame yeah and I mean it's a good time he's here here could you come over here for a second look at you actually have juice I do well the director's has the juice you know anytime you're surrounded by Tennessee Sports Hall of Famers like 2021 inductee Mike Keith 2023 inductee Keith Bullock kind of gets you thinking about who's next and so CJ 2k we'd like to invite you to join the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2024 appreciate it I appreciate it I appreciate it I'm a loss of words that I like says I appreciate it well we appreciate you I mean that's the whole thing is we we're really not going to talk about the 2018 no this was a little bit of a trick I'm a big boy I can't wait to see your birthday car I can't wait y'all treat me good man oh my Brad Willis it is a special class that you have introduced so far it is and we're rolling it out Chris you're part of a 12 member class that we're very excited to have celebrating this summer July 20th in Nashville just you know Tennessee is such a rich sports history and when we look back at some of the great titans that have been inducted we started talking about the 2008 season and your record-setting 2009 season and just you just set the NFL world on fire came in with such an explosive plays we really can't think of a better representative for the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame than than Chris Johnson so welcome to the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame we're excited to extend you the invitation and really glad that you're part of this great great group congratulations bro thank you so much man thank you thank you I love Tennessee I love the city the organization everything I'm so excited for this and he belongs yeah no absolutely you know I remember when he did get here in 08 and in practice you like where's the speed where's the speed and then I never forget that Oakland Raiders preseason game when that hole opened up like the Red Sea and some people got speed some people are fast but Chris Johnson always show he had the juice so that's my guy well the amazing thing about Chris Johnson six years with the Titans one thousand yards rushing in all six seasons and he missed one game in those six years crazy one game and you were held out of that game the season finale in Indianapolis when the Titans had already clinched in 2008 so technically you were never not available to play CJ and I know for nearly 8000 yards rushing in 32 100 yard games and the 2000 yard season all of the things you're very proud of but that durability was something you're really proud of too yeah yeah for sure and that's one thing I always pride myself on it it's like no matter what you do you could be the fastest guy in the world you can be the strongest guy in the world but if you're not available none of that none of that stuff matter and I always proud of myself on being able to be available being durable and being there for my team when they need me I can remember my yeah my last year with the Titans week two I tore my meniscus and I had a chance to either go get surgery and miss the next eight weeks and come back healthy at the end I can sit there and stay there and fight with my teammates and try to make a play out run and you know I decided not to get the surgery and pay my last year my whole last year with a torn meniscus and it's just all about being available and being there with your team and the perfect guy in that way in terms of durability reliability and excellence to follow Eddie George really yeah absolutely you know I think I said it last year like our Mount Rushmore of running backs is uncomparable to any other organization you know they'd have a tough argument when you think about the running backs obviously starting with Earl Campbell then you have Eddie George then you have Chris Johnson and then Derek Henry who just finished it up you know these guys paved the way for what it means to be a Titans running back and it's great to have CJ 2k you know in this situation now this is a brotherhood that he's about to be a part of people who are in the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame men and women but it's it's a real big deal to be a part of this group of people what does he have to look forward to? Oh man he just did the hard part you know Brad is gonna get in touch with him let him know everything that it entails the next hardest thing is maybe you decide who all you're gonna invite you know I think the Tennessee Sports they have a do a great event they have a great weekend they have everything laid out for the inductees so I'm saying all you got to do is show up the hardest thing is probably for him deciding who he's actually gonna invite because it is a great time and don't worry man you get in touch with Brad he's gonna make sure you know you got everything you need so it's gonna be a great win for you. That was sad, that's for sad. The Titans have quite a wing now Brad Willis of the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. They do absolutely just within the last you know several years Jeff Fisher, you, Javon Curse, Keith Bullock, Steve McNair, Frank Wiecek, Blaine Bishop, Eddie George, I mean the list continues to grow and Mr. Adams I mean it's it really is quite the collection of Tennessee Titans and you know I really want to thank Keith for being a part of this Keith you know representative of the Titans organization in 2023 I kind of feel like it's like the best actor in the Oscars showing up to give the best actor award in the next year but I really appreciate him being a part of this and his class was a great class as well. You've been the executive director now for how many years? Four and a half years. I think one of the things that has stood out to me getting a chance to host the dinner for several years and I bet you agree with this is how many of the inductees come back every year for the dinner? It really is and it's turned into a great event just for you know the sports community in the mid state and the entire state actually you know we look forward to people coming back every year getting to celebrate the new class but also giving a tip of the cap to those who have been in before because it really is a great as you said brotherhood a great family and we're really glad that that CJ is a part of this that you and Keith are a part of this and you know we continue to you know have a great relationship with the Tennessee Titans in that respect. I was thinking about a CJ game and I was and I go back to this when Chris November 1st 2009 against Jacksonville where you and Maurice Jones drew sort of had like a two man game for for a while. Maurice Jones drew Rush for a hundred seventy seven yards. Don't remind me. He had two long touchdowns and Chris had 228 yards rushing. My guys. Two long touchdowns set the franchise record that day and that was the day where it became apparent and I said this in the postgame I said now this guy's starting to knock on the door that if he gets hot down the stretch 2,000 yards is not out of the realm of possibility. Do you remember that day against the Jaguars who of course are from your home state? Yes, I definitely remember that day because I even remember that week. That's probably like one of the the fast the fastest meetings that we had. The team meetings where you come in on on Wednesday and Jeff Fisher just put it up on the board and he was like a and in a day which every one of you guys have the most rushing or that's who gonna win this game and the meeting was over. No pressure then I just know it's gonna be a yeah it's gonna be a heavyweight fight right there like it was going back and forth back and forth and I ended up on top and you know winning that game. But I'm glad you took one for the team that day because the defense definitely didn't show up. For you as you watch the combine again this year and you see players going after what technically is John Ross's record because he broke your 4 to 4 to 440 not easy to say. Do you watch that? Do you watch those guys going for the low figures and could you have gone below 4 to 4? Man, I'm not gonna lie. I used to watch it every year. But after my record got broke, I stopped watching. I stopped watching it and then like it's not just because it got broke because I kind of feel like it was some funny business going on with it because like when they did the side by side I beat John Ross but his time still beat mine but at the end of the day would make me so like you know records are meant to get broken and you know I'm proud of these younger guys and stuff like that but with a lot of people don't understand what makes my 40 yard dash so special is I ran my 4 to 4 at 200 pounds. You look at all these guys they're like 160, 165, 170. I'm 30, 40 pounds heavier than these guys so that's why I'm proud of them but it's so good. So yeah, so yeah. Did you ever time below 4 to 4 at any other 40 that you ran at any point? Yeah in college my junior day before my senior year I ran a 418 when the scouts came I ran a 418 on that day or whatever and that's kind of what helped me get on the scene a little bit right there before my senior year but yeah it was pretty fast that day. We ran it inside on a track. And you know what's impressive about him is this was not a track man running. This was a football player, a legitimate football player because I know and they show some of the track guys and how fast they could run the 40. I get it but those guys are step over step over step. It's not it's not cutting. It's not anything like that. It's a it's a whole different sort of training and for him to run that fast. I've never seen anything like it. Yeah like I said I was I heard about him you know we got the fastest guy in the draft and then like I say that one game he just turned it on and then ever since then you know CJ was must see TV one of the most electrifying players and dynamic that's a word that's used a lot when you think of dynamic players CJ 2k is a dynamic the dynamic player that you I really think of when it comes to Titans offence. Well and that's the thing when you think about Titans offense when you think about the Tennessee Titans in general time after time after time Chris Johnson's name comes up. We still see his jerseys all across Nashville. When people talk about their best Titans moments their favorite Titans games nine times out of 10 their Chris Johnson plays their Chris Johnson moments there are so many things that he's given to this organization and to the state of Tennessee in general CJ knowing that that's your legacy has got to be special right. Yes definitely special with me like with like a lot of people they talk about the 2000 yards the 2500 but like like you guys boy like with what gets to me is like when I come back in that Nashville and like me and boy go out to eat or whatever like people still treat us like we're playing for the Titans still today. Know what I'm saying like it's crazy like to be retired for so long and still be able to come back there and still get that same treatment from the fence the city of Nashville the like where are we going to stores the restaurants or wherever we at they still treat us like we play for the Titans and like that's one of the best things and people always ask me like like I played for Tennessee I played for Arizona I played for the Jets and they asked me my favorite place and it's always Tennessee because not just the team but the city the organization all of that like they treat us so well. Chris Johnson is with us Brad Willis from the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame joins Keith Bullock Amy Wells and me on the OTP presented by Farm Bureau Health Plans get a quote today at FBHP.com our friends at Farm Bureau Health Plans have been in business for 77 years. Chris I do want to ask you one thing about 2009 not only did you rush for 2000 yards but you had 50 catches for over 500 yards you average over 10 yards a catch which for a running back is unusual put up the huge total over 2500 total yards the record I think it's the greatest year in the history of running backs statistically I mean you did it so many different ways is the 2500 plus what you're most proud of about that year? Yeah for me it is like it is because you have eight guys that have rushed for 2000 yards you have nobody ever in history to have over 2500 total yards and we're so crazy about it. We're so crazy about it why I do kind of understand why a lot of people kind of don't talk about or kind of realize it because even when I did it I didn't even know I broke the record like I just knew I rushed for 2000 yards that day I didn't know that had the record for the most scrimmage yards until the day after when I was doing the interview about the 2000 yards and I forgot who I was having an interview with and they brank it up and I was like for real well I broke martial fought records so it was kind of crazy I didn't even know I did it when I did it but like for me to do that and for like when people talk about Hall of Fame and all type of stuff is like I don't see how I can be left out when I have the when I can say I had the best season for a running back in NFL history no one has ever done what I've done um like you say 50 catches 500 yards and to have 2000 yards on top of that is it's amazing. That's why you put him in the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame right? Yeah we could have done it just based on that but there there was so much more and I want you to go back to East Carolina for a second wasn't there a moment in your college career where they thought let's move Chris Johnson to wide receiver full-time. Yeah it was a moment so when I came in my first two years I started at running back and then my third year I um like I think it was the second game of the season I ended up hurting my toe I had turf toe so when I can't I missed like four weeks and when I came back um they they wanted to move me to receiver because um the running back that we had in he was having a pretty good year within those games that I was out and when I came back they wanted me to move the receiver in. When I think about it today how today's game is and you can play 15, 16, 17 years making 15 million dollars a year hey I should have gave it more thought. Yeah but at the end of the day like back then when I was coming in like to the draft and stuff the game of football was different it was the running back the running back in 25 30 touches a game the game didn't change so like at that time I knew I was a running back I knew that that's what I've been um practicing hard all my life for and that's what I wanted to do so you know the rest of that year I played some receiver and I played some running back and then came back my senior and they moved me back to running back in that that's where it went. Somebody made the mistake when you were drafted of saying to the late great Mike Heimerdinger that oh you're you're bringing him in to be a gimmick back to be to be you know to be a guy who lines up all over the place he goes I mean he was hot because Heimerdinger was the guy who stood on the table for you there were a lot of people who were for you but Heimerdinger was certainly at the top of the list and he said oh no he said this guy is a that every down weapon in the backfield Mike Heimerdinger believed in Chris Johnson and it took that didn't it? Yeah it definitely did and like man I I still remember to this day like anytime anytime Mike anytime Mike talked to me and told me to come to his office it was like dang well I done did I did something right so there's one particular day he uh he like yeah I have to practice come to my office I need to talk to you I'm like and this was in um this was training camp my rookie year and I'm like dang well I done did now like so he came in there like he told me that same as that story he was like hey you little mother you little mother alpha hey you better make me look good don't make me look bad so so he told me about that whole situation. All right Chris Johnson who is the first person that you are going to call and tell that you are being inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame on July the 20th um my mom great I'm gonna definitely call my yeah I'm gonna tell my mom you know my mom and dad you know they've been behind me since I was in Lulee all the way through high school college making those long drives from Orlando all the way up to Greenville North Carolina so I'm definitely gonna call my mom and my dad and let them know. All right so I'm wondering will Lindale White be the first former teammate you call? Well my first former teammate is right here I'm glad I was able to be a part of it man you deserve it but I'm just wondering if you I mean we got Smashing Dash you know do you call him and yeah yeah it definitely yeah I'm gonna definitely let him know and definitely bench y'all those two guys for sure. All right Amy Adams Stronk the Titans controlling owner and Chris Johnson have a special relationship don't they? Absolutely Chris it seems like you're around all the time and every time we see you in Nashville Amy Adams Stronk is kind of around you guys have really gotten to know each other throughout the years right? Yeah yeah we have a whole lot man I tell people a lot of times I wish like um you know as R.P. the the bud Adams but like at the time when I was there you know he wasn't really around because you know he was going through his health issues and stuff like that but I I could have wished like she was there because um I really feel like I would have probably stayed with Tennessee a lot longer if Miss Amy was there because me and her I feel like we would have established a relationship um when I was there like I couldn't even really tell you many people from upstairs I didn't have a relationship with anybody so even when I was going through the things I was going through as far as like you know contract negotiations um and those type of things about staying with Tennessee or leaving like I really I really had nobody that I could have had a conversation with Jeff Fisher was gone um he the one brought me in there by Jaime Dinger was gone um so I didn't really have anybody that I could have a conversation with or sit down with or that I didn't even have anybody phone numbers to have those type of conversations with so I feel like if she was there I would have been a lot longer and I would have had a better relationship with the upstairs mentioned that Seat Geek is the official ticketing partner of the Tennessee Titans now whatever you're doing in Nashville whether it's Titans tickets or another event Seat Geek is the place that can take care of you Seat Geek so Titans fans can fan all right CJ one more before we let you go on this special OTP give us your thoughts on the pairing of Tajé Spears and Tony Pollard for 2024 in the Titans backfield all right man I think it can be dynamic if um if Tony come in and do the do the things that he was doing in Dallas especially when he was there with Zeke um and if Tajé continued do the things that he was doing when he got those opportunities to come in the game um both of those guys are talented guys both of those guys have some speed and can definitely be dynamic so if we can get a nice one two punch with those guys um especially with us again um Kevin Ridley in there I think we'll be okay what do you think yeah I think so I think it gives um the defense a lot to to worry about I also like the moves that they made at center getting a veteran uh linemen to kind of anchor that CJ just mentioned Calvin Ridley so I think coach is putting together a nice offense that um gonna make defenses be on their toes even um game one of the season okay Chris Johnson we're gonna wrap it up here so sorry to trick you I'm not sorry I'm not sorry I got it yeah I got me good but I pretty say that I pretty said it well we're very proud that the Titans are involved in the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame induction dinner Brad will us tell everybody again when that's gonna go on in some details that's right July 20th at the Omni Nashville downtown 2024 class it'll be a great group 12 inductees including Chris Johnson uh a list of of honorees from across the state amateur athletes and it's a great weekend a great event really looking forward to it you can find out more about it on our website which is TSHF.net and we're super excited to have Chris Johnson a man of many titles NFL pro boulder all pro record holder we would refer to him as dynamic CJ2K and now Tennessee Sports Hall of Famer congratulations thank you so much all right you're excited about Scott Hamilton being at the dinner too well mostly Chris Johnson yeah also Scott Hamilton he's also excited but there are a lot of great names in this class and a couple more to come I think right yeah so more to come keep an eye on what Brad Willis is doing 2023 Tennessee Sports Hall of Famer Mr. Monday night I'll be there for uh CJs too thank you very much for Brad Willis for Keith Bullock for Amy Wells and for 2024 Tennessee Sports Hall of Famer Chris Johnson I'm Mike Keith thanks for joining all of us for the OTP