 This is the OTP, presented by Farm Bureau Health Plans, celebrating 76 years of providing Tennesseans with high quality health coverage at affordable prices. Visit FBHP.com today to learn about our history in Tennessee and also to get a quote. That's FBHP.com. This is a special edition of the OTP, honoring Oilers Week. These guys right here were all involved with the Tennessee Oilers as part of, was it the Oilers Radio Network? The Tennessee Oilers Radio Network. The Tennessee Oilers Radio Network. Larry Stone, who was the executive producer of the Oilers Radio Network and then Titans Radio. Cody Allison, who was part of our broadcast team in 1998, became the sideline reporter for Titans Radio and went through 2014 in that role. And then a guy who's been in a variety of roles since 1997, Rhett Bryan, who is now the executive producer of Titans Radio and Game Day host. But we were all involved in one way or the other. You were first, Larry Stone. How did you end up running the Oilers Radio Network? I got a call in, I was working with the Tar Hill Sports Network. We had just finished up in the NCAA tournament and I was wrapping up the season and I get a call one day in Chapel Hill saying, understand you're moving to Tennessee and we'd like to talk to you about the Tennessee Oilers. And my response was, what in the hell are the Tennessee Oilers? Unfortunately, that was the response of a lot of people initially. I mean, I've been kind of focused on College Basketball and Coach Smith breaking eight-off rubs record. So I wasn't really in tune with that. Nice reference. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. Kind of one thing led to another and three days later I was interviewing an outlet mall food court, which was a sign of things to come of how money would not be spent in this organization. And then two days later, I was in Nashville and got the job. And so I'll never forget meeting Rhett the first day that I worked in the building. And of course, those who have lived in Nashville for a long time, remember WKDF, WGFX Studios located on Second Avenue on the hill there, walked into the radio station. There were two rock stations at the time. And it was the same day, you remember this, the same day that Frank Wiecek, Al Del Greco, Eddie George, Coach Fisher, Coach Fisher and Bruce Matthews came to town. And I said, okay, we need a tape recorder. And I got this looked like a what? That's how far away they were from news and sports coverage at that time. There was no tape recorder in the building. And so that's that's the ground floor from which we had to start was to go find because Cody will remember this because we were with Dick Broadcasting in Knoxville. And the two Nashville stations. So Dick Broadcasting was two stations in Nashville, two stations in Birmingham, two stations in Greensboro, North Carolina, and then two stations in Knoxville. That's right. Well, the two stations in Knoxville were the serious people. This was WIVK and WNOX and we're very serious. We do everything. And then the two stations in Birmingham were newer. The two stations in Greensboro were fun because Alan Dick, the son of James A. Dick owned them and that was his thing. And then the two stations in Nashville were your fun uncles. If you wanted to see a show in Nashville, you called the KDF guys. If you wanted to do anything fun in Nashville, if you wanted, you know, passes to hermitage landing, you called the KDF guys. They were fun guys. So when we heard they were getting the rights, we're like, seriously? I know. We talked about it. I mean, I'll never forget, we had this conversation. We're like, these people don't have any idea because they played the rock and roll and they were really good at it. But there was was there anybody serious in the building? No, I was I was the sports. I mean, I was the most big sports enthusiast in the building. We didn't have a new job. And you were a job. Yeah. What did you what shift did you work? Seven in the midnight. OK. John Justice. John Justice was your radio. That was when 104.5 was a rock station. Arrow. There's a lot of people probably in Nashville that don't realize that. Yeah. That was his heritage. Yeah. Yeah. Because it was Kicks 104 when we were kids. And then broadcasting ended up with it. And then it became 104.5 the Fox WGFX. And then it went to Arrow, all rock and roll oldies. And then it went through some other imitations before it became what is known as 104.5 the Zone. Yeah. All sports talk. Yeah. And you put that on the air 20 years ago now. Something like that. OK. So how did red end? How did seven to midnight jock end up on the Oilers radio? No, because he was the only serious one in the building. I don't I don't mean to deflate his balloon. That didn't really sound like that was an endorsement. It was very leery. Yeah, that was that's why people love working for you. Steve Dickert, who was the general manager at the time, said, you know, this guy loves sports. And, you know, I was going to school in Knoxville. And so we needed somebody to go to practice every day. And again, just that I mean, that just tells you how small potatoes. This was right versus the NFL of today. I mean, this was just here's the part time jot going to do part time work and go practice three days a week. Did you even get paid for that? Sure. OK, not a lot. But I didn't know if they even compensated you to go to practice. So you would drive all the way out to Bellevue to the practices. I would, yeah. And I obviously go to TSU to train and camp. And but yeah, that first day is describing we got a Marantz cassette player with a wired mic. And I went to the Lowe's Vanderbilt Plaza Hotel. And so all of that unfolded with Mr. Adams and all the players he mentioned. And next thing you know, here we go. And I had no earthly idea how to cover an NFL team. But we kind of all kind of figured it out. And we had to. I mean, there was nothing, Mike. I mean, there was there was there was no equipment. There were no people there. I mean, there was nothing. And the words I'm damn lucky to be said. Well, no, but I'm not saying you. I'm saying how old are you at that point? Twenty five. OK, how old are you at that point? Twenty seven. OK. So there's but I'm not saying anything about rep. There was nothing. I mean, there was nothing. There was no equipment ordered. Well, there was no plan. And they didn't know until June 1st that the team was even going to move. Right. That was the that day was partly a PR tour, but it was partly a where are we going to tell our rest of our teammates to live? And then then you find that. Did you find out that day it was going to be Memphis? Yes. OK. It was in the next two weeks that they find there was one more hurdle in Houston that they were going to try to get something done with the mayor of Houston, and they couldn't get that done. But the plan was that if they did not do that, that we were actually going to fly and do a Tennessee broadcast of the ninety seventeen, which, of course, you did the pregame in ninety six of the Tennessee Oilers or the what did the Oilers Radio this is the Houston Oilers Radio Network and the NFL in Tennessee. And there were what nine stations, I think most of those, I think, are still on the network. Still on the network. The original. I own one of them. Yeah, that's right. So you liked it so much you bought. I bought it. I bought the company. You bought the company. Yes. The ninety seven season in Memphis from the broadcast perspective. Joe McConnell's play by play. Jeff Van Notte's color. The great Jeff Van Note. The great Jeff Van Note. And you start off the first game and you have prepared a pregame for Joe McConnell. Long time NFL announcer, ABA, NBA, Major League Baseball, college sports. Joe McConnell has all these skins on the wall, but you find out the first pregame show. There's something Joe McConnell can't do. He can't read a script. I mean, I love it. Love Joe, but he could not surprise you. He could not read a script. No, you're right. He could not read a script. Great guy. But great guy, but could not read a script. But that's more typical for some broadcasters than what you would know. There are people who are serious readers. And then there are people who are absolutely not. And Joe, Joe is a great play by play announcer. Amazing. Yeah. I mean, when you heard his voice, you were like, this is big time. We realized you'd heard his voice before. Sure. Walter Payton. Walter Payton. When he when he broke the rushing record with a hundred and three fever in the flu and at Soldier Field as the Bears guy. Yeah. And he was I mean, he's a great guy. We joke that he was the oldest living human ever, you know, just because he carried himself as about a hundred and twelve with his demeanor. In all actuality, it wasn't much north of where we are right now in age. But he seemed like he was a server at the last supper. But he was just such a I think that in some ways it it livened him up a little bit to deal with all these young guys and even the year that you did color for him. I think I spotted for him that year. That's right. Yeah. Well, that's the best story. How Cody came to be the spotter in 1998. Do you want to start with where you were at that point? 1998. Finishing law school. Got another year of law school. Right. And somebody's dog died. Well, it was kind of. Do you? I don't remember this part. So Larry had had set up someone to be a spot. Oh, that's right. OK. Yeah. And he was a really nice guy and he had a breakup with a girl. That's right. Yeah. We were young. We were very young. He had a breakup with a girlfriend. And this breakup. Problematically for him meant that he had he couldn't leave Knoxville and the dogs that he had, because at least one of the dogs was blind. So he called Larry. And I mean, it's not how do you remember all that? Well, because because I would. But how do you remember? I mean, you can't forget that Larry comes to me and he goes, listen, this is like something off Saturday Night Live. He comes to me and says, listen, it's poor guy. He's broken up with his girlfriend and his dogs blind so he can't spot anymore. And I'm like, what? I mean, can that be real? I mean, he's not blind. The dog is right. Yeah, that's right. I mean, the whole thing is been a great spotter. So so Larry's panicked because getting a spotter for Joe is no easy task. Joe is not an Joe's an old fashioned broadcaster that everybody around him works for him. And you've got to be on your game. You've got to be on your game. And Larry asked me, he goes, do you know anybody? And you told me that spring because you and I worked together in Knoxville and you left to go to law school in Mississippi. Right. And we saw each other that spring. So I came back on your old show. OK, yes. Before I left. Right. Before I left in Knoxville. And he said, you know, I kind of miss doing sports. If there's anything I could ever do, let me know. So when Larry says the poor guy is split up with his girlfriend and his dog's blind. So he can't be the spotter anymore. Right. Do you know anybody? I go, I know a guy. Yeah. And Cody drove five hours each way, whether it was a home game or a road game to be the spotter. And Joe absolutely loved Cody. It was like he was his long lost cousin. Yes. I think grandson grandson. Do you think he knew you prank called him? Yes. But we did use to prank Colin. You did prank Colin. I did. Yes. Do you feel any remorse over that whatsoever? None. Yes. Totally. And the statute of limitations. Totally run out. But you would do it like on virtually every trip or. Yeah. Yeah. Call his room. The most classic that we won't tell the whole story about because it is inappropriate came in Seattle when your son was born. I wasn't there. And so they deployed me as the color analyst, which also shows you how of a small time operation we were. But we called Joe on that trip from a sports radio station in Seattle. Yeah. And we spent the entire interview talking about the uniforms and we'll just leave it at that. And Joe, Joe had no interest in the uniform. No interest. He was very serious. But I remember that. So Matthew was born on Friday. Of course, the game was in Seattle is how old, Matthew. Yes, almost 25. OK. Just put it in perspective. Yeah, Matthew's almost 25. And so he was born on the day after Thanksgiving. The team had left that day for Seattle because Jeff at that time, Jeff did two days to the West Coast. So the game is happening. And Danard Walker gets in a collision at the I think it was at the goal line. Wow. Nice. Playing in the Kingdome. Yes. And Danard Walker gets knocked out on the play. Well, Larry had been kind enough to have me on the pregame to share the news about my son with everybody and obviously proud dad and was proud to share that. So I'm listening to the broadcast at home in the den. And you guys don't know what's going on with Danard Walker. And I can ascertain that you can't see it. Well, I can see it on TV. So I call it was our spotter with the problem. Right, that's certainly that street got up and left going to get a Coke or something. And so gone back down to the fish market. So I have the number to the booth because I'd been on the pregame show. So I call Larry and Larry's sitting there. He goes, what is it you want? I said, OK, Danard Walker, they're bringing the board out right now. And all of a sudden I hear Joe, they're bringing a board out right now. And everything I'm saying is going right on the air. And I'm like, this is fantastic. I mean, I could have said anything and Joe would have said it at that point. But so I've reported from my house, from my dad and my wife's like, what are you doing? I'm like, I'm telling them what's going on. They can't see because that was the old kingdom. It was crazy bad. We played there back to back years. Remember coming back from that trip? We hit we hit the worst turbulence we ever had on a trip. Yes, terrible turbulence. And I mean, to the point that I mean, the plane's doing this coming over the Rockies. And another member of our crew got upset because there wasn't any lettuce for his hamburger. And I'm like, we're just worried about living right now. We'll be all right. We'll get you some lettuce here in a few minutes. Nice memory. I mean, if you're going to go down, you want to have less. I understand. I didn't care about lettuce. He did, obviously. So I didn't miss anything. No, you didn't. You missed the prank call. OK, but we've got to talk about speaking of jokes. And we've got to tell a story. But first, I don't even know where this is going. But you do know. I don't. OK, well, you're going to love what you're doing. I think I know where it's always game on with Duncan. So grab a coffee and kick off the action, whether that's drinking a cup of coffee on your way to the game or grabbing one to go before you watch the game at home. 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. All right, so we get through 98. We finished the last game at Vanderbilt, where they don't scrape the ice off the stands for the Minnesota game. 35 degrees of kickoff. Yes, which was also the week that the Titans logo was unveiled. We all went out for that. You and I went to Knoxville. We did. We went to Tri-Cities. You were in Tri-Cities. Did you go out with the logo anywhere? Because we unveiled it on that Tuesday. No. Okay. We go Christmas. We did the logo in eight or nine different places. And it was very successful, because Larry and I, and I think you, went to the meeting at the Lowe's on Monday night. Yes, that was fun. It was fun because what was awesome is a guy came in and it felt like he had a briefcase chain to his wrist. And he really did. Top secret. But it was top secret. Top secret. No, they locked the door, and they were guards. Remember, they were guards for the door. And they said they cannot get out. And they gave us hats and shirts that we were to put in our trunk. And we went to pilot. The Haslams hosted us there. Correct. We were in Huntsville, Jackson, Memphis, Bowling Green. Bowling Green, I remember. Yeah, yeah. That was fun. And it got great coverage and was a fantastic. And then the next day, we had one of the all of all the years I've lived here, it's one of the worst ice storms that we've ever had. Remember, I mean, it just sleeted for like a day and a half. Yeah, we couldn't go anywhere. And so they never scraped Vanderbilt Stadium for the game against the Vikings. Well, because they didn't have any students in school at that point. They didn't have a game to play. And that was one of the issues with their situation because they're private school. They do things there, you know, for themselves, which is what, you know, they do. And yeah, people were falling down the steps and. Randy Moss didn't fall. He didn't fall down. I was just going to say, you said they didn't scrape the seats. Randy Moss. He scraped Daryl Lewis for two touchdowns that day. So we lose 26 to 60. Yep. Seasons over, eight and eight again. Come back and everything is new and fresh and exciting. And we had the caravan and took Steve McNair out and it was unbelievable. And we took all kinds of players out and everybody was excited about the season. We go through the 99 season and it's 13 and 3. And we're all so young. I don't think we have any idea how good this is. No. I mean, we knew we were having a great time. Right. But you just couldn't appreciate it like you can now. No. And you didn't. The thing that I look back on is that we didn't know what we were doing. I mean, I'm serious. You did, Larry. No, I'm serious. No, we didn't. Because, you know, we played in the wild card game. So we played the next week. And that just felt like a regular game. And then everything that happened in that. And then you then we're going to play Peyton Manning. And I still contend, you know, people say that it was the miracle or the Super Bowl. It's what led people to really gravitate to the Titans. I still contend that it was about midway through that week when people in this state said, okay, I love Peyton Manning, but it's Peyton Manning or win and go to the championship. Right. Let's win and go to the championship game. And that was kind of the change. But it just started happening so fast that we literally, we did not know what we were doing. Do you remember arriving at the hotel in Indianapolis? Like a thousand people in the lobby. It was crazy. Yeah. It was crazy. We went out to Shula's Steakhouse that night. Nice. Yeah. And there were people just everywhere. How about when we got back home? Okay. Okay. So go through that story. What happened? You tell the story. What happened when we got back home? Well, this is obviously pre-911. And, you know, we would go to gate B4, Northwest Airlines. And we come back. And there must have been 10,000 people. Can get down the escalator. Yeah. People tripping, right? Coming down the escalator. Actually a lady that fell, I think. That fell. There was a medical episode there. But there was 10,000 people in what was the old terminal. Not 10,000 people now. They came on the PA on the airplane and they told us. Right. They said there are 10,000. And he said, as a matter of fact, the winds are out of the Northwest. Hope you had a nice flight. So it's better. Hello. Hope your steak was good. Congratulations on the 19 to 16 victory over Indianapolis. And there are 10,000 people inside the Nashville airport waiting on you. And they had to take us out in groups. I thought it was a joke. I mean, I did too. I remember I was right behind Yancey Figpin. And I grabbed his full length fur coat. Hang on to him to get down the escalator. It was that really quiet you just wanted to know. No, it was a necessity. They were closed. There were people with people stacked on top of them. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it was dangerous. And I remember. Some lady kissed Cody, I remember. But I remember they were engaged for a short time. I didn't have a cell phone, and I had someone picking me up from the airport. So Spencer George, who was running back from Rice, who was on the practice squad, I borrowed his phone to call. My ride to say, here's where I am. Here's where I'm going to meet you. And it still, it took two hours to get out of the terminal parking lot. It was one of the greatest feelings ever. Unbelievable. To walk, when they said, OK, this group can go. And you walked out and people were clapping for you. Like you were. It was so real at that point. Like, wow. Well, and to think, I mean, everybody but me is in their 20s. And I'm just, I'm barely out of my 20s. You're barely. Yeah. And I mean, it's like, this is really And then you get sick. We still got to get back to the joke here in a minute. But let's continue. But then you get back to the joke. Then you get sick. Yeah, I got really sick. I mean, I'll never forget where we went to. Did we, correct me if I'm wrong. Did we go to Jacksonville a day early? We did. We had to. Yeah. And we stayed at the PGA. Yes. And I'll never forget going to Mike's room. And I mean, he looked like. And this was day four. He's like the end of the world. I'm like, I don't know if he's going to make it or not. Well, so they gave me something when we landed on Friday. I was so sick and I went to sleep for like 15 hours. I remember. And Cody says, well, let's go get something to eat. So I'm like, you know what? I think I could eat like a plain hamburger. So I think I'm going to take another one of these pills that they've given me the night before because it makes me feel better. Bad idea. It was a really bad idea because at lunch I'm going. And of course, like all of ownership's coming by, upper management's coming by. And they're thinking, the announcer guy's got to be drunk. We're pulling you out like weekend at Bernie's. We're like, it was so bad. I had not eaten. We called that game. I had not eaten in four days. We get back and the thing happens at the stadium with 40,000 people, which was just crazy. Yeah. And then we go back to the office because we've got to get all the ticket stuff straight. And remember, there was not two weeks. No. There was one week. I left the office at 4 a.m. Having made plans with my family, with hotel, because we had to tell everybody everything. And then had to be back up at eight o'clock. Yeah. Get ready to go. Get ready to go. We left that afternoon and then we get to Atlanta. Then guess who gets sick? Yep. Larry Stowe. Way to go, Larry. As sick as I've ever been as an adult. Really? And that's how I was the week before. And so you're thinking, I wonder when we'll get back to the Super Bowl, so I can really experience this. But part of what also made me sick, I don't know if you even know this part of the story, was at that time, Doug Matthews and I, the former UT defensive coordinator, we did the post game show in Nashville. Yeah. And so we were on after the game. We stayed after. So here we are in Jacksonville and they come in my ear and say Steve Dickard has said to stay on the air until they get back to the stadium. Okay. All right. So I wonder what we're going to do. Well, we didn't have any problem. We took calls and I mean, there were, there were some interesting calls, you know, as, as the alcohol penetrated all of the blood cells. Not me calling Joe McConnell. No, no, these are, these are folks who are really excited. And so it's, it's, it's Doug and I sitting in the press box in Jacksonville and it becomes an absolute monsoon. And we've all been there in Florida when that happened. But I mean, raining like there's no tomorrow. And so we parked all the way across the stadium. So you think of where the press box is. It was behind the other side, another mile. So I had to walk through the rain at night to get to the, to the rental car. So that also could do. I think you started it. And then that contributed. Yes. But yeah, I spent the entire week of the Super Bowl. I didn't get to meet Tina Turner. I mean, that was awesome by the way. They did not come with us on the initial part of the trip, which is leading to the joke. You guys had to drive down. So we did. And I was statistician to late Jim Curry. I had rented a four by four vehicle because there's this ice storm coming to Atlanta. And we're like, okay, probably need to head down Thursday afternoon to make sure we get there. And you know, here we go. I had procured a replica Super Bowl 34 official coin like they were going to use in the coin toss. And we stopped them at a McDonald's in Ringgold, Georgia. And I proceeded to, is this thing came in? It came in a little velvet bag with a drawstring. And it was a big deal. And the young lady that waited on us at the McDonald's, hey, what are y'all doing? Y'all, well, we're on our way to the Super Bowl. Wow, that's really exciting. We're a little giddy at this point. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so if we're in for the fun and for Valady, it did. Yeah, we're doing this. I'm like, yeah, I got a special assignment. We're here to deliver the official coin to the coin toss for Super Bowl 34. She was so excited. She lit up like a Christmas tree. She stopped the whole restaurant. She goes, y'all stop back there. Come here, come here. I get it out of the bag. Her eyes get even bigger. And there is a picture that we can provide where Cody and I are. Cody's contributing to all of this. A lot, yeah. He's pumping the tires on the whole thing, man. It's full tail buggy. And so there is a photo of us and some very exciting McDonald's work. Like 20 people are totally like, I was going to flip it like. Yeah, we went all the way. Yeah, we embellished. We absolutely embellished. But that was fun. And we had photographic evidence to prove it. But no McDonald's employees were hot or harmed in this. No, but they all took a picture of this. In the making of this photo. But did they, did you end up with free food out of it? No. No. We had to pay for it. Larry paid for it. I paid for it, yeah, yeah. Good job, Larry. Thank you. But it was fun because they just, they freaked out. They really, literally freaked out. Did you guys know, I don't even know if I ever told you, did you know that we were close to not doing the game? No. Doesn't surprise me. Tell me that. We were, let's hear it. We were close to, I didn't even know that. No, the rights holder, big broadcasting at the time, and you know, I think enough time has passed that we can tell the story, right? Sure. They were so concerned because the NFL charges beyond what the rights holder pays the team. And they can only care, the flagship can carry the game, the network, the network could carry the pre-game and the post-game. All six hours of it. All six hours of it, but the flagship station is the only station that can originate a broadcast. So it's only going to be on in one place. So it's on in Nashville, and so the cost is significant, which you would expect. And so they were like, I don't know if we're going to do this. And so it was up, it was in question of whether we were going to do the Jacksonville game up until Thursday that we were leaving, of whether we were even going to do it or not. And finally, Sainter minds prevailed, and we did it. I'm sure you had some influence. Well, I mean, did you have to throw a fit? A little bit. Yeah, I mean, why would we, I mean, truly enough, I mean, how many times have we been back? Well, twice. You know, we went to Oakland. Yeah, yeah. So, you know, it doesn't happen. And you know, it's not about the expense, it's about the doing it. You know, and we were making the point, can you imagine what the PR is going to be if we don't go do this ball game? And the NFL is so new in Nashville and Tennessee. Well, and let's face it too, the 97 year in Memphis didn't go great. No. The 98 year at Vanderbilt didn't go great. I mean, to see this thing this weekend and to know how excited people are about wearing Euler's stuff. And how excited that they are about seeing the team where the Euler's uniforms that they wore in 1997 and 98 is so chilling to me because people hated it so much in 1997 and 98. Oh, they hated it. There's no oil in Tennessee. We need our own name. We need our own fame. And so it's awesome now that there's this 25 years and that people have become true NFL fans and they've bonded with this owner in this way that they feel so strongly about them. It's exciting. But man, it wasn't a sure thing. So the 99 season, I mean, you talk about timing. Wow. Well, and it was just, you know, I think that I think that the things that went on in 97 and 98, you know, the every game was a road game in 97. You know, the training at the pediatric clinic in Bellevue, you know, they didn't have an indoor facility. That game, I didn't know this. Jeff Fisher was telling me recently that they didn't practice the week before that Minnesota game because remember, they didn't have an indoor facility. So there was nowhere to practice. So they had to do walkthroughs in the ice. And I mean, you got to be thinking, you know, we can't have anybody fall or anything like that. So just all the things that happened, I think gave that 99 team a toughness. You know, they just had a mental toughness that, okay, we're down. We'll chip on there shortly. You know, we'll get past it. You know, we get behind. No big deal. We'll just, you know, that then there obviously was a lot of talent and the 99 draft with Curse and, you know, McNair coming into his own. And so, but it was, I mean, it was such an unbelievable story that they even made it there. And for us, it was so just, I mean, we were lucky. I told Mike this recently, and I don't think he knew this, that, you know, it didn't hit me until we were coming back from the break. You know, halftime is 25 minutes in the Super Bowl. I had not prepared a thing. I was like, what are we going to do? Because that's one of the greatest things. One of the greatest things about doing the NFL overdoing college is the NFL halftime. It's now 13 minutes, but that's also, it's not an exact, it's really 12 minutes. The college halftime, you get both bands, and you get the, I mean, oh gosh. I mean, that's fill, fill, fill, fill. And the pro halftime is nothing. And now all of a sudden you've got double that. I blame it on the sickness. Is that what you was like? I was like a preparation, but who? You were always prepared. Well, but I wasn't prepared that day. I mean, and I mean, there was, again, just back to what I said at the start of this, none of us were prepared. I mean, it just happened so quick. You know, if you'd had an extra week, maybe you kind of would have known a little bit better. But I mean, it just, it was just boom, boom, boom, boom. And here you go. I think in a way though, everybody else was so new to it that it, I'm not talking about the football side. I'm talking about the people on our side that it probably would have ended up messed up, that they had us, you know, doing so much other stuff to promote or to whatever, because they were trying so hard to squeeze every ounce out of it. I mean, I went to Kroger every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, giving away tickets somewhere during the playoff run. And I mean, I understand doing that. But at the same time, it was like, by the time we got to the AFC Championship Game Week and I was sick, it's like, man, I need to be just prepared. And it was, but you know, that was part of being new. What's your favorite play from those four playoff games? All right. I mean, Other than the Miracle. The Miracle, yeah, just put that out. I've got mine. I think it's probably the Derrick Mason punt return. Oh my gosh. The free kick return. It's actually a kickoff return, technically. That's it. Because at the moment that happened, you know, they had outplayed us at the first half dramatically and they were only ahead 14 to 10. And the story is they had a scuffle in their locker room because the defensive players weren't happy with the offensive players. And our guys just went back out and we had their number. That team had their number. And they were good. And they were really good. I mean, to think about this, we shouldn't know. I mean, you think about it. I mean, that's a football team that went 15-0, except for the Titans. Right. That's crazy. Right. I don't think that's happened since. But I mean, it's just, it's nuts. And when he ran back that punt and we took the lead, it's like, we're going to win this game. And I had been so sick, I hadn't considered winning. I thought, you know, it's Jacksonville, man, we'll beat them again. You know, even though everybody's picking against us and they're laughing at us and all this. But then it's like, we're actually going to go to the Super Bowl. And on the road. And on the road. And it's their coronation and we've just ruined it. And, you know, we've had it come back the other way. So we know how it feels. But at that moment, it felt pretty good. So that's yours too? For me, I mean, the any 68 yard run in the division all around in Indianapolis. That's where he's looking up at the Jumbo Tron. Trying to see who's coming by. Tyrone Poole's chasing him. Because that was when you're like, okay, this, this is, and people chanting in the RCA dome, Eddie. I'm like, yeah, great. I'd forgotten about that. Yeah. They had to call time out early in the ball game in their own state. I'm like, this, this is big time. This is big time. And the other play in that game too is Terrence Wilkins runs back the punt. And Aldell Greco sees that he steps out of bounds at the start of the punt return. Jeff Fisher throws the flag and the challenge is all new. Of course, a challenge had gone for the Titans the week before against Buffalo. And sure enough, he had stepped out of bounds and it cost them a 60 plus yard return. And it was on the Titan sideline. Because he's like right here pointing. He and Steve Watterson were pointing that yeah, he had stepped out. Yeah. Yeah. It was a huge play. What's yours? I love the Eddie run, but I also love Steve's play in the Super Bowl. You know, the play that set up the final play. Yeah. That was killing Carter. That was Carter, right? Yeah. There was another guy with him. They had him basically, he was just far from the turf. They had him and he just did vintage Steve. I mean, that's just vintage Steve. How many times did we see him do that? Unbelievable. And that's a great memory. It put the franchise so close to winning that game or at least putting it in overtime. Man, it was a long ride back to the hotel after that loss. For multiple reasons. Remember? I do remember. We got stuck in traffic coming through Buckhead. Right. And we didn't know why. And then we found out later why. Right. With Mr. Lewis. The Ray Lewis incident. I just remember being on the field and the confetti coming down. Do you remember what the song they played for the Rams? I don't. Simply the best, Tina Turner. Okay. Nice. She was, was she the halftime or was she the pre-game? She was pre-game. Because that's when I freaked out. So who was halftime? Halftime was this guy. I know who halftime was at the AFC Championship game. L.L. Kool-Jip. No, no, that was the one in 2003 and over. Okay. It was Casey and the Sunshine Band. That's right. Wow. So we're down at that point and here's Casey and the Sunshine. And I'm finally able to eat just something. I've eaten like a, I've eaten like a bagel, a plain bagel or something. So I'm like, oh, I'm energized and that's the way, uh-huh. And you're like, okay, and then we go on to win. And so every time I hear one of their songs, I'm, I'm very happy. L.L. Kool-J was in Oakland. Right. He was in Oakland. I actually got to- That was when Pat Ryan goes, man, he's buff. And he was, I actually got to stand right next to him. And he actually, you know, kind of fist-bumped. He was a cool dude. You got to be around a lot of people. I did, you know, just being down there on the field. And, but yeah, L.L. he was, I like him. Yeah. The ladies love cool James. Right. And of course, I mean, you can't talk about that season without talking about, you know, the opener and, you know, the way, I mean, the pre-season opener and Jeff Fisher, I mean, they, you know, you talk about pre-season football and nobody game plans. Man, they had a game plan. They were going to come out there and win that game. And they, you know, Faith Hill, right? She did the national anthem. I mean, that was just such an electric atmosphere. And it was, this is our stadium, you know, this is, we have a stadium. Can you imagine what it's going to be like in the fall of 2027 when we open the new stadium and the comparison to what happened when we opened the place in 1999 and September 12th or actually in August? Well, I'll say this. Just coming back from Tottenham, Hotspur, I've got a better idea about it structurally. Yeah. That's the stadium. That stadium plan, I won't say it's identical, but it's very similar. And I mean, and the footprint is sitting right in the middle of a neighborhood. I mean, it's, it's crazy. Wow. All the parking is underneath the stadium. Hmm. You go by Bob's, your uncle, fishing chips there. There it is. And right there it is. It's, it's a little, it comes on you a little bit like Lambeau Field does in Green Bay. With the Kmart. With the Kmart. You're driving along. Only more snug. It's not wide open like that. You're driving along and you're in a city that is the size of Clarksville at the time. Clarksville is now bigger, by the way, in Green Bay. But you're driving along and you see the Kmart and then there's Lambeau Field. Because you're thinking it's like, you know, like in Clark Griswald when he sees the Christmas tree, you know, the light. Here's Lambeau Field. Right. And there's a Kmart. Lambeau is great, by the way. You remember you guys sent me down to do a pregame there and they have tailgates everywhere. Cooking brats and they hooked me up with six brats, brought them back up. My favorite Green Bay memory, which is totally off the 97, 98, 99 subject is that we're there to set up for a preseason game. Remember that the Tigers and the Packers played in the preseason every year, which was great. That was such a such a fabulous preseason series because it's Green Bay and because it was cool. It was 75 degrees up there. But we're up in the booth and we're setting up and we've been up there. And we've been up there and it's like, where is Mike and Cody? And they're down sitting in Brett Favre's locker. Remember that was the when they opened the remodeled. They opened the remodeled and there was an old guy and he looked like something out of a movie. Classic. And he's like, we're in a hat and he's probably 80 years old and he walks with a little bit of a limp and he's smoking a filterless cigarette. And he's like, would you guys like to see the place? And so he walks us through where Paul Horning came out and where Brett Favre's locker is and all these things. And you know, it's just we didn't have camera phones at that time. But he was in a cart. Didn't he take us around a car? Maybe I just remember, I just remember seeing all of it and understanding where Lombardi's office was. And I mean that that history and we had tapped into that years earlier. We made our first trip there in 98, which turned out to be Reggie White's final game. And that produced one of the greatest pregame features in Oilers Radio Network history. Keep going. Because we'll, well, I tell you what, I need to, I need to mention this about Seat Geek. Seat Geek is now the official ticketing partner of the Tennessee Titans. If you haven't heard the name yet, get used to it because you'll be hearing it a lot more this season. Whether you're buying or selling tickets to Titans games or to any live event in Nashville, Seat Geek is the place to do it. Seat Geek, the new official ticketing partner of the Tennessee Titans. Rhett. We're Titans fans can fan. Beautiful. Well done. All right. So 98 December 22nd. December 22nd. Snowing. It was snowing. Yeah, it was snowing. It was snowing pretty hard. And we went down on the field in pregame and acted like a couple of goofs. Right. Who wasn't? Well, because we're these guys, I mean, we never thought we'd be in Green Bay for In the snow. In the snow. And you're at Lambeau Field. It's, it truly is the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field. I mean, I literally had tears welling up in my eyes. I couldn't believe that I was lucky enough to be there. You see this on TV for all these years and we're actually there. And Larry has planned the most magical pregame feature. He's a planner. Oh, he's a planner. And he's written something just absolutely beautiful. Would you take it from here, Larry? So the line was something along the lines of, you know, you know, that we should be above this and think of ourselves as journalists, but that it brings out the kid in you to look out and see the snow at Lambeau Field. It was great. And Joe McConnell says, I've been there, done that. That was literally the comment. Popping the balloon. And we all looked at him like, come on now. I guess you hadn't let him in on what the field was sort of going to be. And he might not have. He might not have gone along with it anyway. I was like, he might not have cared at all. But then Mike saved it because Mike said, well, I'm excited. I'm excited. And you know, and so then I said, and so he said, well, and I ordered up for my guys. I ordered up this snowy weather, you know, and so, and so I said something. And again, he's called the Chicago Bears. So he's they played Green Bay all these years. And he's called these other teams. And did he call the Vikings? He did. Yeah. So, I mean, he's been to Lambeau Field a lot of time. So kind of the next thing was, you know, Joe, you have to have a lot of memories here, you know, and thinking we're going to get Walter Payton or we're going to get the purple people eaters or something like that. And we get, you know, well, it was a, it was a snowy November day. And Green Bay was three and nine and Chicago was two and 10. And we kicked a five yard field goal with no time left to win six to three. There's Neil Armstrong's second edition of the Bears. We're able to win here over Lindy and Fonte and the Green Bay Packers. And you're going really, I mean, Bears Packers, if you don't realize it, they so hate each other. Oh, they so ugly as any college football. It is so nasty. UT Alabama. It's Raven Steelers, but with a much longer history. It's beautiful. The hate, the venom is just priceless generation. Yeah, generational. And yet Joe gives us six, three, 12 to seven with a blocked punt and two safeties or so. I mean, just, wow. But that was Joe. I mean, that was Joe. But that's what God bless him. He was just the, he just, he had, he just had that kind of surly, you know, which prepared us all for working with Pat Ryan the next year, you know, because God, how many past stories do we have? He was positively delightful compared to speaking. And Jeff, I have to say something about Jeff Van Knoe, because you guys didn't get the chance to meet Jeff. Jeff was a classic San Francisco 60s flower child. I mean, just Mr. laid back. And yet you watch the NFL films of him just wailing people with block. I mean, he was a nasty football player. He was one of the greatest Falcons ever, you know, but man, he was bitter about being replaced by me as the color analyst in 1998. Well, that was, I was very afraid I would run into him at some point because I'm a, I'm a diminutive man. I think he could take him. Mike, I don't think I could take him in the car or somewhere to get a sandwich. I mean, there's no way. What a great guy. Jeff. Well, to some of you, the bears in this conversation, I want to ask you a question because I was looking through a lot of the old game books yesterday in the 98 season. Do you remember what happened at the end of the Chicago game at Vanderbilt 25 years ago this week? Matter of fact, 100% remember it because I have a reason to specifically remember it. First of all, Joe got a bit confused about what was going on because it was very confusing. So into the ball game, they can't get Al Del Greco on the field to try a field goal that would have tied the game. And they can't find him. And so the situation ended up being Craig Hendrick and Dave Craig ran out, tried the field goal, it was blocked, Titans or I should say Oilers lose 24 to 21. 23-20. 23-20. Yeah. Well, so Joe's confused because he's like, what am I seeing? What's what's happening here? And I've sort of got it because I've got I say to him something to the effect of they don't know where Del Greco is. What had happened is Del Greco had been told on the sidelines that a play that had occurred two plays earlier was a first down. When in reality, it came up short and it was third down. Right. When they didn't make he had gone back to the net to stay warm, which is what a kicker does. Sure. It was not on Al Del Greco at all. It should have never been blamed on Al Del Greco. But after the game ends, Floyd Reese is so angry. And of course we're playing at Vanderbilt Stadium. There were screen doors like on your back porch in the Vanderbilt locker room that we were in. And I don't know why it was there, but Floyd Reese comes in and he takes that screen door and he slams it so hard it literally comes off the hinges. I mean, it was absolutely crazy. Well, my wife's family is from just outside of Chicago. My father-in-law and his wife are in town. We take them out to dinner afterwards and they are thrilled that the Bears have won. And I'm not. Oh no, I mean, because I've just been traumatized by having to do, I did the post game interviews and I'm traumatized by what's happened and seeing Del Greco. I mean, it's just horrendous to see Al, one of the great guys of all time, and not his fault. I don't know if it's ever been fully pointed out that a coach had told him, first down, we've got time. Right. And so he did what he was supposed to do. And so, you know, the whole thing, I mean, it's just awful. And then my in-laws are like, oh, this is so fantastic. And I told my wife, I made it very clear. You're like, we need to tone this down. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I said, if they ever want to see another game, wow, if they ever want to have another meal, then we need to make sure we understand we're for this team, right? This is paying for the meal, baby. This is paying for the meal, baby. This is paying the mortgage here. Oh, it's awful. Unless you want to take Michelle back. And it was so funny because I was getting all the calls from our mutual friends in Knoxville right because they're busy winning the national championship. Everything's just fantastic. They're having the best time. And they're like, how's that going over at Vanderbilt? Y'all having fun? You know, and it was really kind of like, what are we seeing? You know, because there was some crazy stuff. There was some crazy moments at Vanderbilt through that. He's been talking about the ice on the... Oh, the ice at the end of the season. Well, the first game. The Ryan Leafs. September 6th. The greatest quarterback of all time, Ryan League. Yeah, September... That was his best game. I think it was his only win as a starter. Yeah, it was his best game. And he didn't even... I mean, he was terrible. And Natron Means carried like 25 times for 78 yards. Right. They beat us 13 to 7. It was awful. It was just an awful game. And it was the first ever game in Nashville. And we had done all those stickers everywhere. I'm there. September the 8th. September, whatever the date was, I am there. And, oh, it was just... It was an utter disaster. How about the pre-season game where the lights went out? That's right. The lights went out in Vanderbilt. Yeah, but that was... Was that 97? I thought that was in 97 that happened. I can't remember. We played one pre-season game in Vanderbilt in 97. Yeah. It might have been that one then. Yeah, and that was... We played at Dallas. Played Heath's game. Played Heath Shuler at Memphis, which was handy to help draw a crowd, because he was with the Saints at that point. And we played the Broncos in 98. On the hottest day ever. But they had to convince Mike Shanahan to play John Elway. He played like two snaps. Oh, yeah. I mean, he was out of their lickety split, but he was not going to play. Because everybody in Nashville is going, we're going to go see John Elway. And listen, every ad we ran is, John Elway and the Broncos. And I'm not... Don't see a legend. Because you play. But I'm not sure that we knew that he wouldn't play. We were so inexperienced. Well, again, this is 98 when players play. Yeah, but we were so... Maybe a quarter. Right. But we were so inexperienced in promotion from our standpoint, with the radio side and everything we did on the... A lot of the people who came from Houston were not inexperienced. They were professionals. Some of us, on the other hand. And so when we cut the spots, John Elway and the Broncos, we never crossed our mind. John Elway wouldn't go to play. Wasn't meant to be false advertising. Well, then Shanahan comes in and goes, yeah, those nuttos over in Nashville, we're not playing John Elway. And so Fisher had to call Shanahan. Because they're friends. They're buds. They're friends. And he had to call Shanahan and say, listen, we need this. We need this bad. I mean, that's how... I don't want to say we were desperate, but... Well, that's... We're trying to get going. That's the thing about Jeff Fisher that I will contend till the final day I'm on this earth, that if it were not for Jeff Fisher, the chances of this team being successful here are low. You can make the case that he's the most important piece in all of it. Because he's so got what we needed, so few coaches would have done all the things he did. Who would have called Mike Shanahan? I mean, can you imagine Mike Ditka or, I mean, the people that were in the league at that time, Tom Coughlin, Ditka, Bill Parcells was still in... Can you imagine them calling Mike Shanahan and saying, we need John Elway to play? We need it because the crowd's expecting it. And it had been misstep after misstep. And some of the things were mistakes. Some of them were just unfortunate things that happened. And the other part of it too was just not knowing the area. Sure. Not understanding the whole Nashville-Memphis thing. Not understanding that Bowling Green was 60 miles away and that that was a great opportunity and that Clarksville was closed and that Huntsville was closed. There was a lot of draw. Yeah, there was a lot of draw. But there were so many things that had to be pulled together to make it work. And Fisher was remarkable. And he was remarkable with us too. Because, I mean, he must have thought meeting me, you know, hey, Harry High School, great to see you. Because seriously, because all my experience was in college. I had covered a quote unquote big time program. I'm not going to say I thought I knew what I was doing so much because I really didn't. But I mean, he could have been absolutely awful to me. Well, and he could have been awful to the fans. Oh, sure. I mean, because there were players who were dismissive of, you know, the fan base early on because they were pro guys. And, you know, just getting the question. He did. Because Cody, he got the questions were when you're going to change the name, you know, he doesn't even do that. We need to draft more balls. You know, why don't you drag? Won't you be the pro balls? I mean, if I had a quarter for every time I heard that, you know, I can't I can't cheer for the Oilers or Titans because I'm a balls fan. Yeah, not the same thing. They don't play. So but he had to put up with all of that. And yet he's trying, you know, and he's a he's worked. I mean, imagine you worked and worked and worked to become an NFL head coach. And this is what you're saddled with. Well, and it started in 1995 at a preseason game that Cody and I was at in Knoxville. Washington was playing Houston and that's where the Tennessee and dropped the report that Nashville and Metro was going to start negotiating, you know, exclusively to potentially move the team. He had to walk in the Marriott in downtown in downtown Knoxville and tell his team this report was going to come out. So for Jeff, all of this had been going on four years by the time he got to 1999. And he was gracious and he was magnanimous. If you saw him at Kroger, if you saw him at the gas station, he was kind. He was good to the media. He was very good to all of us that worked with him. People have often wondered why we are all still so loyal to Jeff Fisher. And that's because when the world wasn't looking, he was good to us. Right. Well, it goes back to what Larry said earlier when we started this OTP. He is what he is the catalyst of what you outlined with the roster building that had taken place. They played all these road games in 97. And, you know, they played in four different stadiums in four seasons. Crazy. They had no one else but each other. And so the cohesiveness grew from there. And then you make a pick like Javon Curse at pick 16 in the 99 draft. You already had a young Steve and an Eddie and those guys are coming in. He's clearly the catalyst that put all that together and lightning was caught in a bottle. And here come the titans. And he kept Mr. Adams involved enough and up to date enough. I mean, he did the right things with and other people did too in the organization. But Jeff especially made Mr. Adams feel a part of it. He made Mr. Adams decision to move here, certainly stand up. And just a just a class act. I will always contend that the three eight and eights, I think that's some of the most amazing coaching that's ever been done in the NFL. Yeah. For the circumstances that they were going that we're going around. I mean, the stories that we can't tell about what I mean, we've just skimmed the surface anything here. Well, you can. Yeah, go ahead. It'll be edited heavily. Well, the thing is, is that And Mr. Adams, you know, I'm sure that till the day that he passed away, that so many people in Houston thought poorly of him. But here's what you can say about him is he did not want to move. No, no, he was a Houston product. He loved the history, which is back to your point of how good it is to see the Titans fan base now feel about our Oilers history the way he did. That was why he fought so long to keep the name. That's why he wanted the baby blue still in the Titans uniform. That's why he didn't want Earl Campbell's records and all the other great Oilers. He did not want that history to go to Houston. It wasn't being petty. It was that that was his that was his. He started the AFL with Lamar Hunt and Paul Tagliaboo and Jerry Richardson, then the owner of the Panthers flew to Houston to sit down with him and said, you have to change the name. But here's what we will let you do. We will let you keep the history. And so for those who don't understand this today, particularly the folks in Houston, not not belittling, but that was an important part of the deal. The Oilers name was never going to be in Houston. That was never going to be in play. And that's why the Oilers come to Nashville as part of the homecoming weekend now because Amy has taken what her dad wanted. And because of the momentum of history and time has been able to build on it in a special way. Well, and let's be clear too to those in Houston. You got what Mr. Adams said he wanted. Right, right. It took four years more and you got it cost a billion dollars. So he was he was right whether you think he was right. Here's the other thing and you guys live in Nashville and I don't any longer. But when I was driving in today, Mike and I had the great fortune. One of the great moments of our work together was we took a trip to Houston before the 99 season and we got to sit down with Mr. Adams. I never knew that. We got to tour his museum and part of that trip. We were given the document that the NFL owners got about why this move would make sense. And I never forget. You guys remember Paul Tagliabue was at the game, the San Diego game, the Ryan Leaf. Yeah. Browning. I remember that. You interviewed him. I interviewed him and he said on the air. Now, can you imagine the current NFL commissioner saying this on the air? He said this on the radio. Well, you know, we're not really sure this is going to work. But we got our fingers crossed. He said that on the radio. But the forward thinking people that were in the organization, everything that they predicted about Nashville and the Mid-South overall has come true. That's happened. Did you know when they started to uncover things looking at the stadium site, there was an original design for a second stadium to be built in the spot where the new stadium is going to be. Somebody in the mid 1990s had had the thought. At some point, they're going to need another stadium. And that is the spot where the stadium will go. Mr. Adams, we got to wrap up. Mr. Adams was the only one who wanted Nashville. Everybody else wanted to go to Baltimore because it was a better financial offer. He wanted Nashville because he was on the board of Cousin Plastics, which was a toy maker in Franklin. They used to sponsor our rival team in nine and 10-year-old baseball. And so that was how I came to know the name. But he sat on the board and he liked it here. He believed this was a place that could handle it. And he was proven right. And to see what his daughter's done now, that makes it all the more special. Yeah, it's an amazing story. And golly, it's just such a privilege to have been a part of it. When it was much different than it is now. Cody Allison, attorney at law, don't go prank call anybody. Rhett Bryan from Titans Radio, the ever reliable one in year 26. Thank you. And Larry Stone, the innovator of all of it. Thank you. Thank you, brother. Thanks for having us. Proud of you and look forward to hearing you on the radio on Sunday again with us. It'll be fun. It'll be a great time. Thanks for joining all of us for the OT.