00:00:05
Speaker 1: This is the OTP. I'm Taylor Zarzer. We're now past the draft. Mike Borgonzi, the general manager of the Tennessee Titans, and the entire personnel department with another fabulous draft class here in twenty twenty six. There are eight of them in total. Let's bring all of them into the building here at the Vanderbilt Health Football Center and speak to every single one of them. Anthony Hill, junior out of the University of Texas is now a Tennessee Titan.
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Speaker 2: Yep, thanks for having me.
00:00:38
Speaker 1: Man, sure to have you. How about the Titans trading up to get you? I mean that's all. That was pretty a big statement right there.
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Speaker 3: Yeah.
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Speaker 2: So I had a good thirty video with them.
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Speaker 4: So like after that, I kind of was hoping to wishing I was coming here because it's off the thirty visit the guys.
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Speaker 2: I'm in the building, and it can in reality.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, So tell us, like what that entire experience is. Like, Anthony, on Thursday, you're sitting around, You're waiting to get drafted. It doesn't happen. And then Friday, all of a sudden, you know, the Titans don't have a second round pick, and then all of a sudden they come up to get you. What was that whole experience like for over twenty four hours?
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Speaker 2: It was stressful, but you know, you try to make the best of it.
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Speaker 4: You know you're going to get drafted, so just trying to make the best of the situation and just hoping the team just cause on you.
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Speaker 1: We all listened to the call where everybody passed around the phone in the war room downstairs, and they were all excited to have you, and you could tell, man, you were jumping through the phone. Yeah, to become a Tennessee Titan.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, So like just off the thirty visit and just getting to see the coach and all that stuff. So when they called me, I was like, man, it's gonna be a perfect feit just from the defense and just the people in the building.
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Speaker 1: What did your family do and response all the people that you had with you, they.
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Speaker 4: Were extremely excited, you know, jumping around going crazy. I got family in Memphis, so they they're kind of closer to here, so they were pretty excited for me being able to be close to them.
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Speaker 1: Is there anybody you model your game after.
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Speaker 4: I'll say Bobby Wagner somebody that I really thought of my game after.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, good pick. Why is that I grew up?
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Speaker 2: I grew up a Seahawks fan.
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Speaker 4: So just kind of watching him and kind of see how he developed this game through the time became something that I kind of tried to model my game after and just.
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Speaker 1: Watch Mike Borganzi, our general manager. He said, you're the prototypical linebacker in this defense. Ye fast, long, violent. Yeah you like hearing that.
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Speaker 5: I do.
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Speaker 4: I mean, I feel like that's the way I try to play the game. So just seeing a coach recognizing that and kind of understanding that, it feels pretty good.
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Speaker 1: What do you know already about the Titans defense?
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Speaker 2: I know that they're gonna play fast and physical.
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Speaker 4: So I kind of got to see what Robert Solas does in general, just from the forty nine ers in some of the days of him being a DC. So I know on defense, we're gonna play fast and we're gonna be able to run and be physical.
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Speaker 1: You talk to a bunch of different people on that phone call, it felt like you really have built a connection with the defensive coordinator. Dus Bradley tell us about that.
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Speaker 4: So I was in his office and I met with him for like two hours, we were just talking about life, we talked about football, So I feel like we built a really good connection there just in a little two hours that we talked. So I'm kind of excited to just be with him every day and work with him. I know he has kind of the best intentions for me.
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Speaker 1: And when you were in his office, it sort of feels like he thought you might become a Titan, didn't he It did, Yeah, he did. Yeah, that's what he said on the phone about you coming to Nashville. Speaking in Nashville, what do you think of Nashville so far?
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Speaker 2: I haven't got the view of the city too much.
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Speaker 4: When I was here on my thirty visit, I tried a really good food place. So the only experience I got is is a really good food I think it's called neor nor something inn io r. Yeah, it was really good. So that's the only experience I got. Just driving by seeing the view in the skyline, it looks nice.
00:03:37
Speaker 1: Very nice, and there's already a Texas longhorn here. Gunner Helm. Did you talk to him pretty quickly.
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Speaker 2: After right after I got drafted.
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Speaker 4: He called me. He was hyped up and excited. So I'm kind of excited to have like a like a veteran or older guy that I already know that's here to kind of just show me, to show me the ropes and show me how to do it.
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Speaker 1: Did you have to follow Gunner around and practice a lot in Austin?
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Speaker 6: I did.
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Speaker 4: We had a lot of battles against each other. You know, he running them ops around, blocking in line. So I had a lot of battles against him. There's gonna be a lot more of that, a lot more on the way.
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Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaking of Texas, I also do some television work for SEC Network, and last year Texas and Mississippi State were in a battle Man.
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Speaker 2: That game was crazy.
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Speaker 4: We were down I think twenty eight in the fourth quarter we ended up coming back. It was probably one of the more crazy game I ever played in my life.
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Speaker 1: I think it was the best game you played as a college player. Had three sacks in the game.
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Speaker 5: Do you agree that? Them?
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Speaker 4: Or Oklahoma and my sophomore year with the bisch two games I ever played in college.
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Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, and it's in a defensive set that's very similar to the ones you're going to be playing for the Tennessee Titans. Hey, before we let you go, your late great grandfather. He would take you fishing. How much have you thought about your granddad in the last week, just during this amazing time.
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Speaker 4: I thought about him a lot because he was a Jaguars fan, So now I got to play him two times a year. So just thinking about that, and every time I played the Jaguars, I know I'm gonna have something to play for.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, and there's a lot of good fishing spots here in Nashville, all that I know your grandfather would have loved, and some guys that love to fish, like Jeff and Cam on this team, so I'm sure that they'll take you. Have you always been so energetic like this?
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Speaker 4: That's just been who I am my whole life. So I try to just stay being myself and that's just who I am.
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Speaker 1: What would you tell Tennessee Titans fans about Anthony Hill.
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Speaker 4: You're gonna get somebody that's gonna work hard and compete, compete every play.
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Speaker 1: I can't wait to have you here, man. Thank you so much, Anthony, thank you appreciate it. And here he is again, Carnell Tait. He's been a Titan for a week. Does it feel like a month or a year or a day or ten minutes every day feel like a new day.
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Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm excited.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, last week you said you were shocked when you were picked with the fourth pick on the draft. Has it sunk in now? I mean, does it feel like real life now?
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Speaker 6: Oh?
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Speaker 7: Yeah, it's sunk in as my time as I traveled back from coming up here doing my pressor for me know everybody for the first time, that's when they.
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Speaker 5: Really sunk in for me.
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Speaker 3: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: What do you think so far?
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Speaker 7: I'm excited, new journey, excited to embrace the journey and go ahead.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, you come from Ohio State, where the last couple of years best program in college football, to this new beginning. Does it feel like a first day of school kind of feeling? What does it feel like?
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Speaker 7: Oh? Yes, it does definitely feel like a friend day of school. I mean, get around the building, still getting familiar with the building, and then also just meeting people like I've met them before, but it is actually like getting a name to a face.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, who are some of your favorites you've met so far? Oh right, now go my girl Ansley puff Chick. Though those are three that I've been primarily in contact with. Ansley's a good one Puff aka Jared Puffer, Communications Guru and Chick Eliassi. Yeah, very good. I love those are great selections. Man, you really have met the people. I like that. We mentioned Ohio State. Let's see, you guys had eleven people drafted four in the first round.
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Speaker 5: Yeah, did you.
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Speaker 1: Text all of them? You're in contact with all of them.
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Speaker 5: Yeah, we got a group that going on.
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Speaker 7: Yeah, yesterday they sent a message out hoping everybody have a great camp and then wishing all, well.
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Speaker 1: What do you think that says about your preparation for this level?
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Speaker 7: It just shows what the program's done for us. They've done the phenomenal job preparing gods for the next level.
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Speaker 1: You've overcome a lot of adversity in your life, Carneal. You talked about that right after you got drafted. You talked about that sweet suit that you were wearing. And you have your mother who unfortunately passed a couple of years ago. You had her right here with you. How much have you thought about her and and all that you've been through.
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Speaker 7: I think about that every day. What I've been through is only helped me get into this position I am now. Yeah, I think about every day I wear across my neck and then like this, who was just one of those things. It just cherish with her, like the two women I love the most, my sister, once my mother and the other.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, what do you think your mom would be saying right now about you being a mom.
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Speaker 5: She still be shocked and then disbelief.
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Speaker 7: She'll be out there ragging with our friends posting that all little social media.
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Speaker 8: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: Do you think that entire experience kind of hardened you? Do you think it mature heard you? What do you think it did to you? I think it definitely matured me. Losing someone like that, especially a parent, mature you quicker. And then I also had to grow quicker than I wanted to or usually a child typically grows up.
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Speaker 5: Man.
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Speaker 1: She would be so proud of you right now, all right, since last week you were on stage at the Luke Comb's concert at the Shoe at the Horseshoe in Columbus, I didn't see you singing though you didn't know any Luke comes songs.
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Speaker 5: I didn't know the five So that's good. Yeah, So that was it. That was my introduction to country music, right.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, that was a pretty good show though it was you enjoyed it.
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Speaker 5: I definitely.
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Speaker 1: Did I want you to show this picture to everybody? Who's that right there?
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Speaker 5: This is my guy Pat Coogan in the bag Big said in the eight Yeah.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, and of course you both played at Merris High School in Chicago and I have known each other for a long time. Did you immediately know when Pat got drafted or do somebody have to tell you what you did you find out about that?
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Speaker 7: No, coach, they will gave me a call. He's like, yeah, we've finished off your high school teammate. I'm like, who, because obviously I went to IMG as well. He like back home. I'm like, oh, He's like Pat, I'm like oh, and I was excited. Yeah, so y'all, I was just trying to wait for it to pop up on TV that way I can get my call.
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Speaker 1: Have you connected with him here in the building, Yeah, definitely.
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Speaker 7: So I just connected with him before our time over here, and then even after he got drafted that same day I connected.
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Speaker 5: He got time to call me.
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Speaker 1: Back Marris High School? How good was Marris High School back in the day?
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Speaker 5: We were pretty good? Yeah? Yeah, I think we lost in the quarter finals. Okay our freshman year there. Yeah, Okay, so.
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Speaker 1: The Cougan Tate team was was pretty good and compete. Yeah. Right, Now, another thing to know about Carnell Tate is you're a big Traders fan. Now tell me about this show, like, are you very passionate about Traders?
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Speaker 5: Yeah?
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Speaker 7: I like traders, either a faithful or trader. So I think it's a great game show.
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Speaker 1: Yeah. And like you said, there are the faithful and there are the traders. Would Carnell Tate be with the faithful or with Cardinal Tate a trader?
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Speaker 5: I'm being a trader. I'm trying. I'm trying to take the money home. I thought she would say, trying to take the money home. Yeah.
00:10:06
Speaker 1: And one thing about it is Alan Cummings in his wardrobe. If anybody's familiar with that show, they know he wears some outraged.
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Speaker 7: He does have some insane he'd be pulling up in some insane fits.
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Speaker 1: Could Carneal Tate wear rageous outfit to the NFL game this?
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Speaker 5: No, No, not out okay, nothing like that.
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Speaker 1: With the sweet white look that you had there.
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Speaker 7: We're gonna switch it up a cup of street where it is. And also nice, nice you got to show off the suit collection.
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Speaker 1: I also love this about you because my daughter is a huge fan of Legos. She loves and she's your age and she loves Yeah, she loves Legos and you still love Legos.
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Speaker 7: Yeah, definitely, I got like at home right now, probably got thirty thirty collections of Lego just in the boxes right now.
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Speaker 1: You do anything after getting drafted.
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Speaker 7: Oh yeah, definitely, even in Pittsburgh. I made a stop to the Lego store out there at Pittsburgh. So out in Pittsburgh, I got the FIFA World Cup Championship trophy. I got like two cars. I got like the Mercedes MG car. I got the Ferrari car.
00:11:09
Speaker 6: Oh nice, and.
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Speaker 7: Also got that I was able to finally get the Spider Man figured like the actually figure out the Spider Man.
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Speaker 1: You've got it all, don't you.
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Speaker 5: Yeah?
00:11:16
Speaker 1: All right, well I'm up to check out this collection. It's great to have you here with his car.
00:11:19
Speaker 3: Now.
00:11:19
Speaker 9: Thanks.
00:11:19
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Tennessee Titans.
00:11:21
Speaker 5: That, sir, thank you, Thank.
00:11:22
Speaker 1: You, Caldric Falk Auburn Tigers, Tennessee Titans. Yes, sir man, it was so much fun to talk to you. Twenty four hours after being drafted, such a whirlwind, things have calmed down a little bit. I would imagine since then.
00:11:35
Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, they definitely did.
00:11:37
Speaker 1: Now that you're in the building, you were in Titans gear and it's time to get to work, right what.
00:11:42
Speaker 6: It's been time to get to work? Shoot, I thought I got jeff it was time.
00:11:45
Speaker 3: To get to work.
00:11:46
Speaker 1: But now that you're in this building has.
00:11:48
Speaker 10: To be a pretty cool feeling, No, it definitely is. Yeah, it's a it's a it's an unreal feeling. So like, so just let me know, I got I gotta get to work even soon.
00:11:58
Speaker 1: You know, we were talking about how the Titans traded up to get you in the first round and how much of an honor you saw that as was there a surprised person that congratulated you, maybe somebody that reached out to you that you.
00:12:12
Speaker 10: Weren't prepared for Jeffrey Simmons, Okay, I want I won't prepare for that one.
00:12:17
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:12:18
Speaker 10: Yeah, So whenever he reached out, it was like, shoe, man, I'm talking to talking to one of the greats. You know, I ain't really know a whole lot about him, but once I found out a lot about him, Man, I was talking to one of the best to ever do it. So you know, that was a that was amazing surprise. It was a good surprise though.
00:12:35
Speaker 8: Yeah.
00:12:36
Speaker 1: And and like you're saying, you know, you've learned a lot about how much of an incredible player Jeffrey Simmons is. But you are a huge college fan growing up, you know, so you've learned a lot about the pro game in recent months.
00:12:50
Speaker 10: Right, Yeah, I done learned a lot. Uh, you know, I don't learned a lot about the pro game like you said recently. But college was just Coller was just my main thing.
00:13:00
Speaker 1: Highland home, Alabama. Uh, not so far away from Mobile, Alabama where I'm from. You originally committed to FSU before he ended up going to Auburn. Tell us about that whole journey, because you told us how you were an Alabama fan as a kid, and he thought you might go to FSU and you end up at Auburn. What was that whole process?
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Speaker 10: Like, man, I committed the FSU my going into my senior year. That's that summer of my senior year. And man, it was just that that that program like back then it looked like it was you know, it was, it was on the rise.
00:13:36
Speaker 6: It was a thriving program. Uh.
00:13:41
Speaker 10: But you know, I towards the end of it. Like, you know, Auburn had the coaching change. My dad was a huge Auburn fan before you passed, and it was like she wan not got represented. Yeah, and you know, I got to know the coaches in like two weeks and uh, you know, two weeks of them being.
00:13:59
Speaker 6: There, so I felt comfortable with it. And in sign, that's awesome.
00:14:03
Speaker 1: And you had an incredible career there for Auburn captain of the team, such a great teammate. We're gonna talk a little more about that and just a moment. But since you mentioned your dad, you lost him at an early age, and I know how your mom and the rest of your family really rallied around each other. Just how tight is the fuck bond with your family?
00:14:24
Speaker 9: Ah?
00:14:24
Speaker 6: Man, it's super tight. Man.
00:14:27
Speaker 10: We you know, we don't make any this is what I'm talking to one another. We make sure we tell each other good morning, good.
00:14:35
Speaker 6: Night every day. Uh.
00:14:37
Speaker 10: You know, if my mama don't call, if I don't call my mama early in the morning, she gonna make sure that she called me, uh five or six times throughout the day to make to just see how I'm doing. And my brother the same way. So uh, I mean, yeah, we we we we tight and uh you know.
00:14:57
Speaker 6: That's just that is how we always being.
00:15:00
Speaker 1: Is your mom going to be spending some more time in Nashville.
00:15:03
Speaker 10: Uh yeah, she definitely is. She told me she want to come up next week.
00:15:06
Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, well and she's got to go check on JJ little brother at all.
00:15:10
Speaker 6: You know what I'm saying.
00:15:10
Speaker 10: So you know, see she's saying she wanted to come up next week and see what it's like.
00:15:15
Speaker 1: It's not. The good news is it's not so far from Highland Home to Auburn auburne to Nashville or Nashville to Highland home, so you can make that drive without any without any problem. You know, since we mentioned JJ, you hosted a Turkey drive with your brother in your hometown. We've also talked a lot about how you donated some of your NIL money to a teammate last year. Where's this open heart come from? You want to help others?
00:15:42
Speaker 10: My mom she's always telling me, you put good into the world, the world to give you good.
00:15:48
Speaker 6: Yeah, So you know that's that's how I am.
00:15:52
Speaker 7: Like.
00:15:52
Speaker 6: You know, of course I don't you know, I I try to do you know what I can.
00:15:58
Speaker 10: You know, when I can, but uh yeah, I do love to give bank, especially to my community.
00:16:03
Speaker 1: It's awesome. I've asked you this question a couple of times now, Keldrick. But now that you've had a week to really think about it, what does it mean to be a Tennessee Titan?
00:16:13
Speaker 10: H Man, It's still the same thing as an honor to be a Tennessee Titan. You know, for them to just take a chance on me was the biggest honor. And shoot, man, I'm looking forward to repaying it, repaying it back, and you know, showing them that they made a really good choice in drafting.
00:16:32
Speaker 1: Well, you've said war Eagle or war damn Eagle quite a bit ward in the last handful of years. Now, you've got to get used to saying something new. Tighten up, tighten up. There he is Keldric Faulk. We're here with Pat Coogan, a brand new Tennessee Titan, of course, was picked in the sixth round out of Indiana. Welcome to Nashville.
00:16:54
Speaker 3: Great to be here. Thanks for having me.
00:16:56
Speaker 1: Tell us about this whole journey from Indiana to the Tennessee type and especially what the draft process was like.
00:17:03
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's overall, it's just a huge blessing. Really really just happy to be where my feet are and be a part of such a great organization. And you know, it's a long three months, right, but I tried my best to take every day as its own and really just put the work in and put my head down, and you know, that's that's really all I'm about and what I stand for and appreciate the time I was home. I got to be with my parents for an extended period of time after Pro Day and everything like that. So it's been a been a long journey, but really just grateful for it all.
00:17:36
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you've earned it, man, there's no question about it. Exceptional career, winning a national championship, Rose Bowl, MVP. It ended in extraordinary fashion. And then, as you just said, you put in all this work to get ready for the NFL Draft. It feels like that is a whirlwind of emotion though over the course of those three days, and you're wondering, am I going to get drafted? Who's going to pick me? How is this going to happen? How do you get through all of that?
00:18:04
Speaker 9: Well?
00:18:04
Speaker 3: Thank you, first of all, it's been an unbelievable journey, and I truly believe I'm just getting started. It's ah. I have a great support system at home, you know, surrounded by my family and friends on on this past Saturday, really got to just enjoy enjoy the day with them. It was a beautiful day on the South side of Chicago, and I got to enjoy with them and got to rely on them for the support. And yeah, you know, it's a long day, it's a stressful day, but again, really I just tried to enjoy it and and believe that, you know what, wherever I go, that that's where exactly I'm I'm meant to be, and that's that's I'm exactly meant to be here.
00:18:46
Speaker 1: So I know how much support you got from family and close friends. Is there someone that surprised you, that reached out to you after the draft that meant a great deal to you.
00:18:55
Speaker 3: I think just all like my former coaches and and and staff from every place that I've been, you know, that means a lot to me to have those connections, you know, people from years in my past, whether it's you know, my high school of Marist or Notre Dame or or and many people in Indiana just every part of the journey. Those people who believed in me and always put their trust in me into be able to to you know, hear their kind words. That was really special.
00:19:21
Speaker 1: You know, since you mentioned Marist, tell us about show everybody, Show everybody that photo right there, So tell us about that photo.
00:19:29
Speaker 3: Yeah, this is playoff game Marris High School versus Loyola Academy. We had two. Carnell was a phenom when he came in. Like I was a junior, he was a freshman. You could kind of see it right away how special the kid was gonna be. But you know, he was green, he was young. As you're see in here. He's slim, slim reaper running around. But man, you could see the talent that he had. You know, he was a young kid. We always called him Tater, and then he started everyone's started calling him co Greatness for some reason. I don't know where that came from, but uh. We played in the playoff game quarterfinal at Loyola Academies. If anyone knows Chicagoland football, it's a powerhouse. And he had an unbelievable day. And I think that's where everyone was like, this kid's different. Like he had some spectacular catches. A couple of touchdowns as a freshman just pulled up to varsity and he was special.
00:20:30
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:20:31
Speaker 1: How excited are you to recreate that photo at Nissan Stadium?
00:20:34
Speaker 3: Yeah, unbelievable. We were just talking downstairs, like it's just so fun to be back together again. Obviously he went down to IMG for a couple of years, and you know, God brought us back together and it's it's really cool to to see this journey continue with him and uh, we've been on it since since early on and it's a it's a great story. And excited to get to work again.
00:20:57
Speaker 1: This guy at this time thought he was gonna be a baseball pitcher. Did you thought you thought this time that you're gonna be a baseball pitcher?
00:21:04
Speaker 9: Uh?
00:21:04
Speaker 3: Football was always the go to, but I could heat up the mound a little bit. Yeah, yeah, I tried my best.
00:21:10
Speaker 1: And wait, I know you're a Chicago guy, Cubs and White Sox.
00:21:14
Speaker 3: I just love the sport, honestly, Like, Uh, I'm a Southside kid, so we always went to Socks games, you know, but my grandpa was a huge Cubs fan, so I'd always watched the Cubs game to him and my my uncle. So I got the best of both worlds. I know there's many Chicago people who are gonna hate to hear that, but I I enjoy the sport.
00:21:36
Speaker 1: You know, we were doing our podcast the other day, Pat and we were talking about how you used to work at Franklin's Public House and that you were a bus boy. That's hard work, man.
00:21:47
Speaker 3: It is, but it's it's gratifying you.
00:21:49
Speaker 1: Still have the Does the family still have the restaurant?
00:21:51
Speaker 3: They do?
00:21:51
Speaker 6: Yeah?
00:21:51
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, okay, yeah.
00:21:52
Speaker 3: We were just there on Saturday to celebrate and it was awesome.
00:21:55
Speaker 1: What's the best thing on the menu?
00:21:57
Speaker 3: Oh? Man, you know, as the son of the owner, everything, please go. But I love a good Ruben sandwich.
00:22:08
Speaker 9: You know.
00:22:08
Speaker 3: The Burger's really good too. But I think their fries are phenomenal, you know, I think it's a really good French ry.
00:22:13
Speaker 1: So that's awesome. I know you're a proud Notre Dame graduate. You have a hard time with the Cubs in the White Sox. What about Notre Dame in Indiana? Like who you're gonna pull for moving forward? Oh?
00:22:23
Speaker 9: Both of them.
00:22:23
Speaker 3: I mean, it was such a special year at Indiana, so they have, you know, just a unique and special place in my heart, and I met some of my best friends in the eleven months twelve months that I spent there, and some of the best people in that organization and facility that I got to spend every day with. So I'm so grateful for my time there is one of the best decisions I've ever made. But again, I spent four years in Notre Dame two and met you know, the same amazing people and got my degree from there. So both parts had had an unbelievable part in, you know, a unique part of my journey, and I'm really just grateful for both of them for sure.
00:23:01
Speaker 1: How do you think playing in back to back national championships helps prepare you to be a pro?
00:23:07
Speaker 3: Yeah, certainly, I know what it takes, and I know I certainly know what it doesn't take, right losing one and winning one, the feeling and you know, the opposite feelings of both of them. Being able to play two sixteen game seasons back to back, obviously the NFL seventeen games. It's a long year, it's a grinding year. But I certainly know what it takes. I know what it takes to take care of your body for so long, and really everything that you have to pour in each and every day to succeed.
00:23:42
Speaker 1: We're fired up to have you in here in Nashville, Tennessee is a Tennessee Titan. You've earned it, my friend, fired.
00:23:47
Speaker 5: Up to be here.
00:23:47
Speaker 3: Thank you very much.
00:23:48
Speaker 1: Tighten Up, Tighten Up Titans Fans.
00:23:51
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00:25:27
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00:25:28
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00:26:24
Speaker 1: Back to the OTP A running back Nick Singleton is up next from Penn State to the Tennessee Titans. Welcome man, So, thank you, thank you. Tell us about this whole process, waiting around to hear your name called and then the Tennessee Titans calling you and selecting you.
00:26:42
Speaker 8: Yeah.
00:26:42
Speaker 12: So it's been a crazy journey, especially during the draft process. You know, I was endo getting hurt knowing my knowing the Senior Bowl fifth MARTERSU. So you know, just go overcoming that then, you know, just waiting for the draft, you know, seeing what team you're gonna pick. You ain't picked on. So you know, I'm with my family, you know, some of my friends and all that. But you know, when I got my name called, you know, I was crazy. I went outside to take the call a little bit and when I come back in, everybody was there celebrating and all us. It was just a good moment, just to celebrate with me and my just family.
00:27:09
Speaker 1: Yeah, I just can't imagine. It's the biggest moment you can have right in the sport that you've dreamed of playing for for so long. But your reference what happened in mobile with the injury. And I wonder if there's a part of you that's frustrated going through this and seeing your name drop because in part of what you went through, and there's probably a part of you that feels like this isn't fair right that you have to go through that. What were all those emotions like the last couple of months.
00:27:36
Speaker 12: Yeah, it was crazy. Obviously ended up getting hurt. It was a bad timing. You know, I was obviously frustrated. You know, I was talking to my agent family, but you know, these told me just to keep my head down or we'd get through this.
00:27:47
Speaker 8: We're going to overcome it.
00:27:48
Speaker 12: You know, I just kept my head down, kept working on it, attacking my rehab every day, the weight room. You know, just talking to the coaches is joining the process still because you know, you only do it one time. So you know, once I overcame that, you know, I thought I was good already. And at the end of the day, you know, he's just control what you gonna control. So you know, once I got my name picked with the Titans, I was just excited and just can't wait to get the work.
00:28:07
Speaker 1: Did you always dream of playing for Penn State as a Pennsylvania kid?
00:28:11
Speaker 5: A little bit?
00:28:12
Speaker 8: Sometimes, like Penn State.
00:28:13
Speaker 12: You know there's big schools I like, you know, there was Alabama, os State, but you know, Penn State. It was just easy choiceespecially it was close to home too.
00:28:20
Speaker 1: You know, we've talked a lot about this about you in recent days. How you're the all time leader in all purpose yards five thousand, five hundred and eighty six fifty five career total touchdowns. You broke Saquon Barkley's record. How much does that mean to you?
00:28:35
Speaker 12: Yeah, it means a lot, especially the name you just say, you know, Saquan you know, he's a big, you know, legend at Penn State. You know, he was a lot of records there too. Just to get that record, you know, it means a lot for me. You know he got. He congratulated me to with it, so you know, I'm just super blissed.
00:28:48
Speaker 1: Is he your role model as a running back?
00:28:49
Speaker 8: Definitely? Yeah, definitely a role model.
00:28:51
Speaker 12: He came up, you know, my junior year to work out with me and k Tron, But you know, just learning what he does, you know, try to what he does in his game, try too to my game. So you know, he's been really good.
00:29:01
Speaker 1: We use a baseball term a lot when someone busts one in football, and that's hitting a home run and you hit a ton of home runs a lot like Sakuon Barkley has done in his career. Do you think you're you have some similar styles to him.
00:29:15
Speaker 12: Yeah, definitely that especially what you just say, you know, the home run hitter. You know, I feel like I'm really fast running back. You know a lot of must beat a lot too. Once I feel like I'm an open field. I know I can catch me, but you know, obviously, you know, lowing my shoulder down, you know, getting them hard yards. No, we always talk about plus two on contact, so getting them yards. So it's been really good.
00:29:32
Speaker 1: What did you know about the Tennessee Titans before they selected you?
00:29:36
Speaker 12: Yeah, I know a little bit, especially the running back tradition, you know, O, you know, Guy Derrick, Henry, Chris Johnson, Christ Johnson, d J two K yeah, CJ. You know, just the running backs. You know, they've been really good, you know, power running backs, possibly with a lot of speed too, so you know it's kind of similar to my game a little bit too.
00:29:51
Speaker 8: So you know, it's just it's been really good.
00:29:54
Speaker 1: Yeah, this is your first time in Nashville. Yeah, first time, and at least you've got a friend here, Kevin Winston junior Penn State guy. Been talking to him.
00:30:02
Speaker 12: Yeah, I just seen him today earlier too. You know, he's been really good, you know, especially at Penn State. He's one of them leaders on the defense. You know, his worth ethic is crazy, you know, always one of the first place people in the building, one of the last people in the building too, So you know, Casey has been really good.
00:30:16
Speaker 1: Is there anything that you've brought with you from home, like some things in Pennsylvania that had to come with you on this trip. Like any items that you had to have, they come with you in Nashville, I.
00:30:27
Speaker 12: Mean obviously closed, but you know, just my recovery stuff. You know, I got their gun, you know, the fireflies. Just make sure I'm just recovering every day.
00:30:33
Speaker 1: Okay, so that's with you. The their Gun's got to come with you, very good. What's your favorite movie?
00:30:39
Speaker 8: Favorite movie?
00:30:42
Speaker 1: I hear you a big Dark Knight fans, that's what you're gonna say.
00:30:45
Speaker 12: Yeah, okay, yeah, the whole trick, Olgi, the Batman begins, the Dark Knight, the Dark Knight rises.
00:30:50
Speaker 8: You know, my pop's can't put me onto it.
00:30:51
Speaker 1: So how is that kind of your go to just when you need to chill? You Have you seen these The Dark Knight and those movies a bunch of times?
00:30:58
Speaker 12: Yeah, definitely a lot of times. TV shows like The Wire, like Eleve Them type of shows.
00:31:02
Speaker 1: Okay, what does it mean to you to be a Tennessee Titan?
00:31:06
Speaker 12: Yeah, it means a lot to me. You know, as my dream though gets to an NFL. You know for the Titans, you know, they took a chance on me, so you know, repay a bet, you know, just put the work in, keep my head down, just always locked in.
00:31:16
Speaker 1: What are the fans getting?
00:31:18
Speaker 12: You have a fan, y'all getting just a player that's gonna come here and just work, you know, put the team on the bad your brotherhood to everybody in the locker room, and just you know, I'll work everybody.
00:31:26
Speaker 1: Nick, Thank you so much, man, We appreciate you.
00:31:28
Speaker 8: Thank you.
00:31:29
Speaker 1: Thanks man. Fernando the fifth round pick out of the Arkansas Razorbacks by way of San Jose State. What an interesting road, how about that, man? San Jose State to favor of Arkansas, now to Nashville, Tennessee.
00:31:42
Speaker 13: Yeah, it was an incredible journey, man, and I'm extremely blessed. I mean, I never knew football was gonna be in my cards and tell junior year of high school, and I mean, six years down the road, I'm getting picked up by the Titans and gonna be living in Nashville.
00:31:56
Speaker 1: Who had ever thought that's awesome? What tell us about the call from Mike for Ganzi, the general manager of the Titans.
00:32:02
Speaker 13: Yeah, Man, there and the moment I blacked out, I couldn't hear a single thing. There was just so many emotions going through my head. And then you know, rehearing it on Instagram when they posted it. It was awesome hearing that call from him and me and him had a really great conversation when it came down for my thirty visit, and uh, man, I just had something in my heart knowing that Titans were going to be the team and to get that call from meant the world. And I almost passed out after it. I walked into the house that I hadn't ate it all day and I almost passed out. I was like, I need to eat something. It was a lot of It was a rollercoaster of emotions.
00:32:32
Speaker 1: I bet so, man, it's a big moment in your life. What's life been like since Saturday?
00:32:37
Speaker 9: Yeah?
00:32:37
Speaker 13: So, I mean I had all my friends down there, so we had a great time Saturday, and then Sunday it was right back to work. It was I mean, part of my goal has been accomplished, but now there's bigger goals that have to be accomplished, and h the only way to do it is work.
00:32:52
Speaker 9: You know.
00:32:52
Speaker 1: I did a bunch of Arkansas games in college, and I'll watched you play some tackle and play some guard. You were at San Jose State. It was big physical task and then you come to Arkansas, You're playing some of that, but then the team needed you to play some guard. Just tell us about maybe your versatility as you become a pro.
00:33:09
Speaker 13: Yeah, I think that's the biggest thing about playing in this league and saying in this league is you know.
00:33:12
Speaker 9: You got to be versatile. You got to be able to play all five.
00:33:15
Speaker 13: And I take pride in that and just being able to be versatile and show teams that I could play all five, And so saying that I take pride in and I want to bring to this team.
00:33:25
Speaker 1: How did you get into football? You just told us it was you're a late bloomer. Tell us about that process.
00:33:29
Speaker 9: Yeah.
00:33:30
Speaker 13: So basically, I thought I was a basketball player for the longest time, but then my jump shot wasn't as good as everyone else.
00:33:35
Speaker 9: I wasn't jumping ass high as everyone else.
00:33:37
Speaker 13: And I just wanted to get an opportunity where I can earn a scholarship and get my college paid for. And so my junior year, I go over to my brother and I'm like, hey, let's go over to Ross. Let's get me some cleats. And he took me in the car. We got some cleats, we went out to football practice, and then from there it was history.
00:33:53
Speaker 1: How much weight did and muscle did you have to gain?
00:33:56
Speaker 9: Yeah?
00:33:56
Speaker 13: Man, I was about two twenty in high school and then I just kind of built my way up and I'm sitting around three fifteen right now. So there's a lot of weight, a lot of muscle, some bad weight, some good weight. But uh yeah, no, it was it was a journey.
00:34:08
Speaker 1: Almost one hundred pounds in five years. That's wild. That's a lot of anything, a lot of working out, a lot of lifting. A six foot five tennis player, are you still playing tennis?
00:34:18
Speaker 9: Here and there? Here and there?
00:34:19
Speaker 13: I kind of transitioned a little bit to pickleball, but uh yeah, tennis I was.
00:34:23
Speaker 9: I was a solid player, played doubles.
00:34:25
Speaker 13: My whole thing was I'd go up to the net and just smack it right in to the net.
00:34:29
Speaker 1: I was just about to ask you you have an eighty and a half inch wingspan? Correct? Yeah, how on earth am I supposed to have any passing forehand past you if you go to the net?
00:34:38
Speaker 6: Oh?
00:34:39
Speaker 9: I was.
00:34:39
Speaker 13: I was unstoppable, But now there are some people that got me. So I still play here and there though.
00:34:44
Speaker 1: So last year our TV crew was really struck by the fact that you had a pig named Pittman, and unfortunately we've lost Pittman. They Pittman, rest in peace, your your pig. I know how much you loved that pig. Yes, yes, he was.
00:34:59
Speaker 9: He was awesome.
00:35:00
Speaker 13: I mean it was kind of something where when we first got him, me and my girlfriend we thought we were kind of a little bit crazy, and then he got to the house and me and her were both scared to grab him.
00:35:09
Speaker 9: And then Larry two days later, We're like, dude, this.
00:35:12
Speaker 13: Is the greatest animal of all time, and so hopefully I could find a way about getting a pig here.
00:35:17
Speaker 9: We've already looked into the laws. We got to figure something out.
00:35:20
Speaker 1: But I was going to start suggesting some names, maybe like Dabes or you know, something like that. Speaking of Pittman, Coach, Pittman, it was your coach at Arkansas. If you stayed in contact with him.
00:35:30
Speaker 13: Yeah, he actually called me right after I got picked up Man, and it was just so graceye in his face again because it's been a while after the whole incident of him getting fired and all that jazz, and just being able to hear his voice and just him saying he was so proud of me. Met the world to me because he was a big part of my journey and you know, just to see him call me and just you know, show some love, it meant the world to me.
00:35:50
Speaker 1: He's an unbelievable offensive line coach throughout his incredible career. What NFL player or any player do you think has had the biggest impact on you, Fernando.
00:35:59
Speaker 13: You know somebody that's actually been helping me out a lot. He's actually my financial advisors, Travis Swanson. He played at Arkansas and then played a little bit at Detroit, and he's just been a good, you know, voice of my ear during this whole process to kind of just keep me going and you know what to expect moving forward. And so he's been a great guy to help and that call when things get tough.
00:36:17
Speaker 1: I also want to note before we let you go that you have an interest in sports broadcasting and when we met, when our crew met with you while you were in college, we immediately said, man, this guy one day could be taking one of our jobs. Is that something that you're interested in long term?
00:36:33
Speaker 13: You think, oh, yeah, that's the dream right there. Just being able to you know, guys being guys. Man talking ball, that's the dream, and so it's something that you know, I always have in the back of my mind. Obviously I want football to last as long as I can, but at a certain point football is gonna cut off, and you know, to be able to talk football would be a dream of mine.
00:36:49
Speaker 1: All right, Well, before you go, just tell all Titans fans what they're getting in Fernando Carmono.
00:36:54
Speaker 13: Yeah, they're getting a fast, physical player who's going to give it as all and he's going to bring the energy every single day into the building. And I'm just gonna give it my all, man, I'm going to give it all to the tea and I'm extremely grateful to be a Titan.
00:37:07
Speaker 1: Titans fans are gonna have to learn how to call the Hogs because of this guy right here. There you go, pig suing, pig sue. There you go and tighten up, tighten up, baby, let's go. Thank you, Fernando. We've got Jackie Marshall here with us joining us. Next. Jackie, how are you today?
00:37:24
Speaker 6: Up?
00:37:24
Speaker 5: Yeah?
00:37:24
Speaker 1: Excited to be here, fired up to be a Titan.
00:37:26
Speaker 3: Huh.
00:37:27
Speaker 1: What was this whole process been like in the last week for you.
00:37:30
Speaker 14: Man, it was crazy, man, waiting around waiting for the call. Man, Yeah, staying patient, you know, but is it hard to do that sometimes?
00:37:39
Speaker 7: Yeah?
00:37:39
Speaker 14: Yeah, you get hard, man.
00:37:41
Speaker 9: You know.
00:37:41
Speaker 14: I got my younger siblings walking around like I did you get drafted?
00:37:45
Speaker 1: Asking you questions you like, leave me alone?
00:37:47
Speaker 3: Wait?
00:37:49
Speaker 6: It was good.
00:37:50
Speaker 1: And then so after you get the call, you have all these emotions that probably pour out of you. Right, there's relief, I'm sure, but then there's also a whole lot of joy and pride too, for sure. Yeah, tell us about that, man.
00:38:02
Speaker 14: It was a big moment for me, man, Like, this is my dream since I was young, you know, to get that call, it meant a lot for me and my family. So yeah, a lot of emotions on that day, everybody crying, stuff like that.
00:38:14
Speaker 1: Tell us a little bit about your background, Jackie. You're born in Baltimore, you moved to Louisiana when you're eleven, played at Baylor. There's a lot of twisting turns in the Jackie Marshall story.
00:38:24
Speaker 14: It is, man, So, originally I was supposed to be a running back high school. My d line coach came to me, it was like, you're getting a little too big man, it's time to put your hand in the dirt. I was like, fought them on it a little bit, but we converted and just took off from there.
00:38:40
Speaker 8: Yeah.
00:38:41
Speaker 1: Well, it's great that the next part of your stories now in Nashville, Tennessee. What do you think it's gonna take to play and coach Sala's defense man?
00:38:49
Speaker 14: Just working hard and staying focused and being consistent. I think it would be important.
00:38:55
Speaker 1: Jeffrey Simmons is, in my mind and in almost everybody that's watching us mind, the best defensive tackle in the world. Sure, what is it going to be like being under his wing for a little bit.
00:39:06
Speaker 14: I'm blessed even you know what I'm saying, be in that room and yeah, being under those guys and uh, just being able to learn it and grow from the vests in the room.
00:39:15
Speaker 1: You mentioned putting your hand in the dirt. You originally thought you might be a running back, then you thought you might be a linebacker.
00:39:23
Speaker 9: Yeah, so like that.
00:39:24
Speaker 6: Yeah, so, uh.
00:39:28
Speaker 14: Started at running back, then I went the inside linebacker and got moved to like kind of like edge and d line and stuff like that.
00:39:35
Speaker 8: Yeah.
00:39:35
Speaker 1: Yeah, your senior year you earned the number zero.
00:39:39
Speaker 6: How did you do.
00:39:40
Speaker 1: What was significant about that?
00:39:42
Speaker 14: So at Baylor, Uh, the tradition over there is like you only get one single digit per person. It's not double double. We don't do the double numbers over there. So started from springball up until like right before fall camp, it's like the time to where you get to work for your number. You get to put in request for your number, and right before fall camp all the coaches meet together and stuff. They pass out a paper to the team and the team votes on who should get what number. So I got They told me to get number zero.
00:40:14
Speaker 1: That mean a great deal to you.
00:40:16
Speaker 14: Oh yeah, for sure.
00:40:16
Speaker 1: Yeah, especially given what you had to overcome, right with the a c L injury. Yeah, how hard was that?
00:40:23
Speaker 6: It was tough.
00:40:23
Speaker 14: Man, That was my first real injury and kind of really didn't know how to navigate it. You know, I had to find myself outside of football, and that was obstacle for me, and but we overcame it.
00:40:36
Speaker 1: Man, just on the other side of it. Yeah, you mentioned your brothers and your sisters. Let's talk about what you do for fun. Favorite TV show.
00:40:47
Speaker 14: It was Stranger Things, you know, But it depends and from what my girl might watch A little love Island and something like that, you know.
00:40:57
Speaker 1: Mark, Yeah, did you think the last season of Stranger Things was as good as the rest of the seasons. I'm with you on man, you know, yeah, it was a great It was a great show that was hidden talent.
00:41:11
Speaker 14: You still play the violin, uh not often, but I still can't play.
00:41:16
Speaker 1: We can in middle school you could crush the violin.
00:41:19
Speaker 6: All right, I was the guy.
00:41:20
Speaker 1: Yeah, you were all right, very good. What are the Tennessee Titans getting with Jackie Marshall?
00:41:25
Speaker 14: A dog man, a gamer, a competitor, somebody that wants to come in and work.
00:41:31
Speaker 1: I love it, fast and violent, fast and Violet tight up.
00:41:35
Speaker 8: Thank you Jackie, Thank you.
00:41:36
Speaker 1: Jaron. You're a Tennessee Titan. From the Sooners to the Titans. Welcome, glad to be here.
00:41:41
Speaker 5: Thank you.
00:41:42
Speaker 1: Yeah. Now, first and foremost, here are some hats for you. Awesome because last week we might have had the old logo on. So if you want to put on and take the sticker off all of it, if you want to, you got to get that new logo on right right. It's a brand it's a brand new day here with the with the Tennessee Titans. It's a big head. I mean, so he is a big man tight in. Yeah, that's right. Here you go. I that looks perfect little better. Yeah, that looks good man. So what was that whole experience, Like you're waiting around on Saturday, did you get worried like is this gonna happen? What was that like?
00:42:15
Speaker 15: Yeah, definitely a little bit of a nerve wracking there at the end. Obviously, you know, had had a bunch of family and friends there, and you know it was gonna be a little disappointed if if I brought him out and didn't get my name called. But as obviously just just blessed to get my name called end up where I am.
00:42:27
Speaker 1: So yeah, And do you think that because of that, you're even more motivated now through that experience, Like we've heard a bunch of people like Tom Brady is the first one comes to mind that was so motivated because he had to wait that long. Does that have any impact on you?
00:42:43
Speaker 15: Yeah, one hundred percent. I mean, obviously, it's just such an incredible blessing. I'm super grateful to have any opportunity to get drafted or undrafted, but obviously waiting that long and having the nerves be that heights I guess you could say it's a little bit more of a chip on the shoulder.
00:42:55
Speaker 1: When did you first start playing football?
00:42:57
Speaker 15: I believe fifth grade was my first year of contact football.
00:43:01
Speaker 1: Okay, And was it a love affair ever since?
00:43:03
Speaker 5: Then?
00:43:03
Speaker 1: Did you play everything? Did you think I'm going to be a football player or did it take you a little while before you were like, this is my dream?
00:43:10
Speaker 9: Yeah?
00:43:10
Speaker 15: I knew from the second I started playing that that I loved the game. And I wasn't always the best, probably not even until I got to high school. You know, I played a lot of B team in middle school and growing up, and so I wasn't even the best, But I just I knew I love the game and I love the camaraderie and being around the guys.
00:43:24
Speaker 1: So cause I know you were a high school high school track star, correct sir, Yeah, I guess you could say that. What were your in what events?
00:43:32
Speaker 15: The hundred was my most notable one, okay, clocked at ten to three seven.
00:43:35
Speaker 1: In that flying That's what kind of put me on the maps. Yeah, And at what point did you say, did you realize I'm not a B level football player anymore. I'm one of the best players. If not the best player on the team, and this is my path, not flying in the one hundred meters.
00:43:50
Speaker 15: Yeah, I think once I got to high school and kind of, you know, grew in my frame a little bit and started realizing, you know, maybe I.
00:43:57
Speaker 9: Could do this.
00:43:58
Speaker 8: Yeah.
00:44:00
Speaker 1: What's an amazing story to me is you went from being a quarterback that committed to Clemson to a linebacker to Owe you being a tight end. Tell us about all of that transition that you had.
00:44:13
Speaker 15: Yeah, it's it's definitely been a Jersey journey. You know, starting off playing all offense in high school quarterback. I was mostly a run quarterback, didn't throw a ton, but quarterback, and then you know, it was kind of just a projection come out of high school. I was gonna be a defensive player just because of my build and my physical atchbooth. And so I ended up committing to coach Brent even Wiles to play at Clemson, and then ultimately he took the job at Oklahoma, so I followed him there. Worked out a little better as closer to home than Clemson was. So my family come out to the games and everything. But you know, played played my first three years at linebacker, had flashes here and there, but kind of, you know, got to a point in my junior year where I realized maybe defense wasn't for me, and so I approached coach v in the offseason and just pretty much asked for an opportunity to give offense a try and see if I could provide more value of the team there and the rest.
00:44:57
Speaker 1: Of his history drafted as a tight end, what's your passion level for being a tight end? Now?
00:45:02
Speaker 9: As passionate as you can be?
00:45:03
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, Who do you study as a tight end?
00:45:08
Speaker 3: Yeah?
00:45:08
Speaker 15: I mean there's there's a ton of guys I looked into in the off season. I tried to focus most of the guys that were similar to me and stature, you know, like Kyle us Check is a name that pops up, and then I would just watch that the tight end position in general. So when I was watching use Check, I would see some of the things that Kittle would do in that forty nine Ers offense, and then I would take it all the way back to twenty seventeen Oklahoma as well. I'd watch it at some Dimitri Flowers, a little bit of a Mark Andrews in there, and you know, just studying how these guys play the game, and you know Folcus and more so on the guys that are a little bit similar to my size.
00:45:39
Speaker 1: Yeah, gunner Helm obviously a tight end here for the Tennessee Titans. But he's a Texas Longhorn. Yeah, he doesn't like ou and we don't like Texas. Just making sure I know you're but both of your big country music fans. Who's your favorite artist?
00:45:54
Speaker 15: Yeah, I mean I think I'm gonna have to say Hank Williams Junior at the.
00:45:57
Speaker 1: Oh wow, okay, going to old school. Yeah, any any music these days that you listened.
00:46:03
Speaker 15: To a lot a lot of Morgan Wall you know, obviously we're here in music City, so I'm gonna be listening to a lot of that.
00:46:08
Speaker 1: Yeah, you've got a lot of people that you need to meet. Who which artist do you want to meet?
00:46:13
Speaker 8: He'd be pretty cool to see the one at the.
00:46:15
Speaker 1: Top of the list. Yeah, all right, Now, tell us about your wiener dog named Burger.
00:46:20
Speaker 15: Yeah, I mean, that's he's like an extension of my character. I guess he's kind of become a local legend there Norman and on the Internet. But yeah, yeah, I knew I wanted to get a dog in college. My buddy Danny Stutsman plays for the Saints. Now, he got a dog his junior year and she was her name's Roxy. She was great to be around. It was such a fun thing. So I knew that I was gonna want to get a dog and have a college dog, and but I wanted it to be something that I could make something out of it, something interesting and like a funny dog, like a Wiener dog. And so you know, I ultimately got a wier dog and named him Burger. And he's kind of a hit now.
00:46:49
Speaker 1: So he's moving to Nashville.
00:46:51
Speaker 6: Correct, he'll be down here.
00:46:52
Speaker 1: Okay, very good. You were a ranch hand for your grandfather. How did that experience sort of shape you?
00:47:00
Speaker 9: Yeah, just what you'd expect.
00:47:02
Speaker 15: It's a lot of hard, hot days in the summer, you know, growing up working on ranch.
00:47:06
Speaker 9: It's it's it's hard work.
00:47:07
Speaker 15: It's not easy, and it's just it taught me how to be a tough Kansas kid, as they say. So, yeah, I really appreciate and enjoy, you know, the things I learned from doing all that hard stuff.
00:47:16
Speaker 1: What's the worst chore or the hardest chore?
00:47:19
Speaker 9: Yeah?
00:47:19
Speaker 15: So I told this when they when they interviewed me on draft day. It's like the grain bends and they store all the all the corn and stuff in Like you got to clean those things out.
00:47:28
Speaker 14: And I did it in the summertime.
00:47:30
Speaker 15: And it's basically a giant metal sauna and you gotta get in there and put a mask on and and sweep it all up and get all the dust and stuff off the walls. And you can only be in there for about five minutes at a time before you have a heat stroke.
00:47:40
Speaker 9: So that's probably the worst one.
00:47:42
Speaker 1: Well, that sounds rough. I know that your handdoye coordination is pretty amazing. Is there anything you'd like to to show everybody that you can pull off for us?
00:47:51
Speaker 9: Yeah?
00:47:51
Speaker 3: I mean you guys like.
00:47:52
Speaker 1: I feel like back in the day, juggling was like, you know, something everyone could do. I don't know that as many people can do this these days.
00:47:58
Speaker 9: Yeah.
00:47:58
Speaker 15: They asked why, any hitting talent, and I couldn't really think of any, so I just lit, I'm kidding.
00:48:03
Speaker 1: There you go, Okay, Well he can do it. Jared Cannick, Welcome to being a Tennessee Titan.
00:48:08
Speaker 9: Hey, I'm glad to be here. I appreciate you man, Thank.
00:48:10
Speaker 1: You How great was that to get to hear from all eight of those guys. And I'm sure at some point during those interviews you thought, gosh, these are all the kind of culture builders that the Tennessee Titans want in this locker room. A ton of talent, but also great leadership as well. It's been a privilege to bring you the OTP. I'm Taylor's ours,
Speaker 1: This is the OTP. I'm Taylor Zarzer. We're now past the draft. Mike Borgonzi, the general manager of the Tennessee Titans, and the entire personnel department with another fabulous draft class here in twenty twenty six. There are eight of them in total. Let's bring all of them into the building here at the Vanderbilt Health Football Center and speak to every single one of them. Anthony Hill, junior out of the University of Texas is now a Tennessee Titan.
00:00:37
Speaker 2: Yep, thanks for having me.
00:00:38
Speaker 1: Man, sure to have you. How about the Titans trading up to get you? I mean that's all. That was pretty a big statement right there.
00:00:46
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:00:47
Speaker 2: So I had a good thirty video with them.
00:00:50
Speaker 4: So like after that, I kind of was hoping to wishing I was coming here because it's off the thirty visit the guys.
00:00:54
Speaker 2: I'm in the building, and it can in reality.
00:00:57
Speaker 1: Yeah, So tell us, like what that entire experience is. Like, Anthony, on Thursday, you're sitting around, You're waiting to get drafted. It doesn't happen. And then Friday, all of a sudden, you know, the Titans don't have a second round pick, and then all of a sudden they come up to get you. What was that whole experience like for over twenty four hours?
00:01:14
Speaker 2: It was stressful, but you know, you try to make the best of it.
00:01:16
Speaker 4: You know you're going to get drafted, so just trying to make the best of the situation and just hoping the team just cause on you.
00:01:22
Speaker 1: We all listened to the call where everybody passed around the phone in the war room downstairs, and they were all excited to have you, and you could tell, man, you were jumping through the phone. Yeah, to become a Tennessee Titan.
00:01:34
Speaker 4: Yeah, So like just off the thirty visit and just getting to see the coach and all that stuff. So when they called me, I was like, man, it's gonna be a perfect feit just from the defense and just the people in the building.
00:01:44
Speaker 1: What did your family do and response all the people that you had with you, they.
00:01:48
Speaker 4: Were extremely excited, you know, jumping around going crazy. I got family in Memphis, so they they're kind of closer to here, so they were pretty excited for me being able to be close to them.
00:01:57
Speaker 1: Is there anybody you model your game after.
00:02:00
Speaker 4: I'll say Bobby Wagner somebody that I really thought of my game after.
00:02:03
Speaker 1: Yeah, good pick. Why is that I grew up?
00:02:06
Speaker 2: I grew up a Seahawks fan.
00:02:07
Speaker 4: So just kind of watching him and kind of see how he developed this game through the time became something that I kind of tried to model my game after and just.
00:02:14
Speaker 1: Watch Mike Borganzi, our general manager. He said, you're the prototypical linebacker in this defense. Ye fast, long, violent. Yeah you like hearing that.
00:02:23
Speaker 5: I do.
00:02:24
Speaker 4: I mean, I feel like that's the way I try to play the game. So just seeing a coach recognizing that and kind of understanding that, it feels pretty good.
00:02:30
Speaker 1: What do you know already about the Titans defense?
00:02:33
Speaker 2: I know that they're gonna play fast and physical.
00:02:35
Speaker 4: So I kind of got to see what Robert Solas does in general, just from the forty nine ers in some of the days of him being a DC. So I know on defense, we're gonna play fast and we're gonna be able to run and be physical.
00:02:45
Speaker 1: You talk to a bunch of different people on that phone call, it felt like you really have built a connection with the defensive coordinator. Dus Bradley tell us about that.
00:02:52
Speaker 4: So I was in his office and I met with him for like two hours, we were just talking about life, we talked about football, So I feel like we built a really good connection there just in a little two hours that we talked. So I'm kind of excited to just be with him every day and work with him. I know he has kind of the best intentions for me.
00:03:08
Speaker 1: And when you were in his office, it sort of feels like he thought you might become a Titan, didn't he It did, Yeah, he did. Yeah, that's what he said on the phone about you coming to Nashville. Speaking in Nashville, what do you think of Nashville so far?
00:03:20
Speaker 2: I haven't got the view of the city too much.
00:03:22
Speaker 4: When I was here on my thirty visit, I tried a really good food place. So the only experience I got is is a really good food I think it's called neor nor something inn io r. Yeah, it was really good. So that's the only experience I got. Just driving by seeing the view in the skyline, it looks nice.
00:03:37
Speaker 1: Very nice, and there's already a Texas longhorn here. Gunner Helm. Did you talk to him pretty quickly.
00:03:43
Speaker 2: After right after I got drafted.
00:03:44
Speaker 4: He called me. He was hyped up and excited. So I'm kind of excited to have like a like a veteran or older guy that I already know that's here to kind of just show me, to show me the ropes and show me how to do it.
00:03:53
Speaker 1: Did you have to follow Gunner around and practice a lot in Austin?
00:03:56
Speaker 6: I did.
00:03:56
Speaker 4: We had a lot of battles against each other. You know, he running them ops around, blocking in line. So I had a lot of battles against him. There's gonna be a lot more of that, a lot more on the way.
00:04:05
Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaking of Texas, I also do some television work for SEC Network, and last year Texas and Mississippi State were in a battle Man.
00:04:14
Speaker 2: That game was crazy.
00:04:16
Speaker 4: We were down I think twenty eight in the fourth quarter we ended up coming back. It was probably one of the more crazy game I ever played in my life.
00:04:22
Speaker 1: I think it was the best game you played as a college player. Had three sacks in the game.
00:04:26
Speaker 5: Do you agree that? Them?
00:04:28
Speaker 4: Or Oklahoma and my sophomore year with the bisch two games I ever played in college.
00:04:31
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, and it's in a defensive set that's very similar to the ones you're going to be playing for the Tennessee Titans. Hey, before we let you go, your late great grandfather. He would take you fishing. How much have you thought about your granddad in the last week, just during this amazing time.
00:04:48
Speaker 4: I thought about him a lot because he was a Jaguars fan, So now I got to play him two times a year. So just thinking about that, and every time I played the Jaguars, I know I'm gonna have something to play for.
00:04:57
Speaker 1: Yeah, and there's a lot of good fishing spots here in Nashville, all that I know your grandfather would have loved, and some guys that love to fish, like Jeff and Cam on this team, so I'm sure that they'll take you. Have you always been so energetic like this?
00:05:09
Speaker 4: That's just been who I am my whole life. So I try to just stay being myself and that's just who I am.
00:05:15
Speaker 1: What would you tell Tennessee Titans fans about Anthony Hill.
00:05:18
Speaker 4: You're gonna get somebody that's gonna work hard and compete, compete every play.
00:05:22
Speaker 1: I can't wait to have you here, man. Thank you so much, Anthony, thank you appreciate it. And here he is again, Carnell Tait. He's been a Titan for a week. Does it feel like a month or a year or a day or ten minutes every day feel like a new day.
00:05:35
Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm excited.
00:05:36
Speaker 1: Yeah, last week you said you were shocked when you were picked with the fourth pick on the draft. Has it sunk in now? I mean, does it feel like real life now?
00:05:45
Speaker 6: Oh?
00:05:45
Speaker 7: Yeah, it's sunk in as my time as I traveled back from coming up here doing my pressor for me know everybody for the first time, that's when they.
00:05:52
Speaker 5: Really sunk in for me.
00:05:53
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:05:53
Speaker 1: What do you think so far?
00:05:54
Speaker 7: I'm excited, new journey, excited to embrace the journey and go ahead.
00:05:59
Speaker 1: Yeah, you come from Ohio State, where the last couple of years best program in college football, to this new beginning. Does it feel like a first day of school kind of feeling? What does it feel like?
00:06:11
Speaker 7: Oh? Yes, it does definitely feel like a friend day of school. I mean, get around the building, still getting familiar with the building, and then also just meeting people like I've met them before, but it is actually like getting a name to a face.
00:06:22
Speaker 1: Yeah, who are some of your favorites you've met so far? Oh right, now go my girl Ansley puff Chick. Though those are three that I've been primarily in contact with. Ansley's a good one Puff aka Jared Puffer, Communications Guru and Chick Eliassi. Yeah, very good. I love those are great selections. Man, you really have met the people. I like that. We mentioned Ohio State. Let's see, you guys had eleven people drafted four in the first round.
00:06:50
Speaker 5: Yeah, did you.
00:06:51
Speaker 1: Text all of them? You're in contact with all of them.
00:06:53
Speaker 5: Yeah, we got a group that going on.
00:06:55
Speaker 7: Yeah, yesterday they sent a message out hoping everybody have a great camp and then wishing all, well.
00:07:01
Speaker 1: What do you think that says about your preparation for this level?
00:07:05
Speaker 7: It just shows what the program's done for us. They've done the phenomenal job preparing gods for the next level.
00:07:10
Speaker 1: You've overcome a lot of adversity in your life, Carneal. You talked about that right after you got drafted. You talked about that sweet suit that you were wearing. And you have your mother who unfortunately passed a couple of years ago. You had her right here with you. How much have you thought about her and and all that you've been through.
00:07:28
Speaker 7: I think about that every day. What I've been through is only helped me get into this position I am now. Yeah, I think about every day I wear across my neck and then like this, who was just one of those things. It just cherish with her, like the two women I love the most, my sister, once my mother and the other.
00:07:45
Speaker 1: Yeah, what do you think your mom would be saying right now about you being a mom.
00:07:49
Speaker 5: She still be shocked and then disbelief.
00:07:51
Speaker 7: She'll be out there ragging with our friends posting that all little social media.
00:07:54
Speaker 8: Yeah.
00:07:55
Speaker 1: Do you think that entire experience kind of hardened you? Do you think it mature heard you? What do you think it did to you? I think it definitely matured me. Losing someone like that, especially a parent, mature you quicker. And then I also had to grow quicker than I wanted to or usually a child typically grows up.
00:08:14
Speaker 5: Man.
00:08:14
Speaker 1: She would be so proud of you right now, all right, since last week you were on stage at the Luke Comb's concert at the Shoe at the Horseshoe in Columbus, I didn't see you singing though you didn't know any Luke comes songs.
00:08:25
Speaker 5: I didn't know the five So that's good. Yeah, So that was it. That was my introduction to country music, right.
00:08:32
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was a pretty good show though it was you enjoyed it.
00:08:34
Speaker 5: I definitely.
00:08:35
Speaker 1: Did I want you to show this picture to everybody? Who's that right there?
00:08:39
Speaker 5: This is my guy Pat Coogan in the bag Big said in the eight Yeah.
00:08:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, and of course you both played at Merris High School in Chicago and I have known each other for a long time. Did you immediately know when Pat got drafted or do somebody have to tell you what you did you find out about that?
00:08:55
Speaker 7: No, coach, they will gave me a call. He's like, yeah, we've finished off your high school teammate. I'm like, who, because obviously I went to IMG as well. He like back home. I'm like, oh, He's like Pat, I'm like oh, and I was excited. Yeah, so y'all, I was just trying to wait for it to pop up on TV that way I can get my call.
00:09:11
Speaker 1: Have you connected with him here in the building, Yeah, definitely.
00:09:13
Speaker 7: So I just connected with him before our time over here, and then even after he got drafted that same day I connected.
00:09:18
Speaker 5: He got time to call me.
00:09:20
Speaker 1: Back Marris High School? How good was Marris High School back in the day?
00:09:24
Speaker 5: We were pretty good? Yeah? Yeah, I think we lost in the quarter finals. Okay our freshman year there. Yeah, Okay, so.
00:09:32
Speaker 1: The Cougan Tate team was was pretty good and compete. Yeah. Right, Now, another thing to know about Carnell Tate is you're a big Traders fan. Now tell me about this show, like, are you very passionate about Traders?
00:09:45
Speaker 5: Yeah?
00:09:45
Speaker 7: I like traders, either a faithful or trader. So I think it's a great game show.
00:09:51
Speaker 1: Yeah. And like you said, there are the faithful and there are the traders. Would Carnell Tate be with the faithful or with Cardinal Tate a trader?
00:10:00
Speaker 5: I'm being a trader. I'm trying. I'm trying to take the money home. I thought she would say, trying to take the money home. Yeah.
00:10:06
Speaker 1: And one thing about it is Alan Cummings in his wardrobe. If anybody's familiar with that show, they know he wears some outraged.
00:10:15
Speaker 7: He does have some insane he'd be pulling up in some insane fits.
00:10:18
Speaker 1: Could Carneal Tate wear rageous outfit to the NFL game this?
00:10:23
Speaker 5: No, No, not out okay, nothing like that.
00:10:30
Speaker 1: With the sweet white look that you had there.
00:10:33
Speaker 7: We're gonna switch it up a cup of street where it is. And also nice, nice you got to show off the suit collection.
00:10:37
Speaker 1: I also love this about you because my daughter is a huge fan of Legos. She loves and she's your age and she loves Yeah, she loves Legos and you still love Legos.
00:10:46
Speaker 7: Yeah, definitely, I got like at home right now, probably got thirty thirty collections of Lego just in the boxes right now.
00:10:52
Speaker 1: You do anything after getting drafted.
00:10:54
Speaker 7: Oh yeah, definitely, even in Pittsburgh. I made a stop to the Lego store out there at Pittsburgh. So out in Pittsburgh, I got the FIFA World Cup Championship trophy. I got like two cars. I got like the Mercedes MG car. I got the Ferrari car.
00:11:09
Speaker 6: Oh nice, and.
00:11:10
Speaker 7: Also got that I was able to finally get the Spider Man figured like the actually figure out the Spider Man.
00:11:14
Speaker 1: You've got it all, don't you.
00:11:15
Speaker 5: Yeah?
00:11:16
Speaker 1: All right, well I'm up to check out this collection. It's great to have you here with his car.
00:11:19
Speaker 3: Now.
00:11:19
Speaker 9: Thanks.
00:11:19
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Tennessee Titans.
00:11:21
Speaker 5: That, sir, thank you, Thank.
00:11:22
Speaker 1: You, Caldric Falk Auburn Tigers, Tennessee Titans. Yes, sir man, it was so much fun to talk to you. Twenty four hours after being drafted, such a whirlwind, things have calmed down a little bit. I would imagine since then.
00:11:35
Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, they definitely did.
00:11:37
Speaker 1: Now that you're in the building, you were in Titans gear and it's time to get to work, right what.
00:11:42
Speaker 6: It's been time to get to work? Shoot, I thought I got jeff it was time.
00:11:45
Speaker 3: To get to work.
00:11:46
Speaker 1: But now that you're in this building has.
00:11:48
Speaker 10: To be a pretty cool feeling, No, it definitely is. Yeah, it's a it's a it's an unreal feeling. So like, so just let me know, I got I gotta get to work even soon.
00:11:58
Speaker 1: You know, we were talking about how the Titans traded up to get you in the first round and how much of an honor you saw that as was there a surprised person that congratulated you, maybe somebody that reached out to you that you.
00:12:12
Speaker 10: Weren't prepared for Jeffrey Simmons, Okay, I want I won't prepare for that one.
00:12:17
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:12:18
Speaker 10: Yeah, So whenever he reached out, it was like, shoe, man, I'm talking to talking to one of the greats. You know, I ain't really know a whole lot about him, but once I found out a lot about him, Man, I was talking to one of the best to ever do it. So you know, that was a that was amazing surprise. It was a good surprise though.
00:12:35
Speaker 8: Yeah.
00:12:36
Speaker 1: And and like you're saying, you know, you've learned a lot about how much of an incredible player Jeffrey Simmons is. But you are a huge college fan growing up, you know, so you've learned a lot about the pro game in recent months.
00:12:50
Speaker 10: Right, Yeah, I done learned a lot. Uh, you know, I don't learned a lot about the pro game like you said recently. But college was just Coller was just my main thing.
00:13:00
Speaker 1: Highland home, Alabama. Uh, not so far away from Mobile, Alabama where I'm from. You originally committed to FSU before he ended up going to Auburn. Tell us about that whole journey, because you told us how you were an Alabama fan as a kid, and he thought you might go to FSU and you end up at Auburn. What was that whole process?
00:13:18
Speaker 10: Like, man, I committed the FSU my going into my senior year. That's that summer of my senior year. And man, it was just that that that program like back then it looked like it was you know, it was, it was on the rise.
00:13:36
Speaker 6: It was a thriving program. Uh.
00:13:41
Speaker 10: But you know, I towards the end of it. Like, you know, Auburn had the coaching change. My dad was a huge Auburn fan before you passed, and it was like she wan not got represented. Yeah, and you know, I got to know the coaches in like two weeks and uh, you know, two weeks of them being.
00:13:59
Speaker 6: There, so I felt comfortable with it. And in sign, that's awesome.
00:14:03
Speaker 1: And you had an incredible career there for Auburn captain of the team, such a great teammate. We're gonna talk a little more about that and just a moment. But since you mentioned your dad, you lost him at an early age, and I know how your mom and the rest of your family really rallied around each other. Just how tight is the fuck bond with your family?
00:14:24
Speaker 9: Ah?
00:14:24
Speaker 6: Man, it's super tight. Man.
00:14:27
Speaker 10: We you know, we don't make any this is what I'm talking to one another. We make sure we tell each other good morning, good.
00:14:35
Speaker 6: Night every day. Uh.
00:14:37
Speaker 10: You know, if my mama don't call, if I don't call my mama early in the morning, she gonna make sure that she called me, uh five or six times throughout the day to make to just see how I'm doing. And my brother the same way. So uh, I mean, yeah, we we we we tight and uh you know.
00:14:57
Speaker 6: That's just that is how we always being.
00:15:00
Speaker 1: Is your mom going to be spending some more time in Nashville.
00:15:03
Speaker 10: Uh yeah, she definitely is. She told me she want to come up next week.
00:15:06
Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, well and she's got to go check on JJ little brother at all.
00:15:10
Speaker 6: You know what I'm saying.
00:15:10
Speaker 10: So you know, see she's saying she wanted to come up next week and see what it's like.
00:15:15
Speaker 1: It's not. The good news is it's not so far from Highland Home to Auburn auburne to Nashville or Nashville to Highland home, so you can make that drive without any without any problem. You know, since we mentioned JJ, you hosted a Turkey drive with your brother in your hometown. We've also talked a lot about how you donated some of your NIL money to a teammate last year. Where's this open heart come from? You want to help others?
00:15:42
Speaker 10: My mom she's always telling me, you put good into the world, the world to give you good.
00:15:48
Speaker 6: Yeah, So you know that's that's how I am.
00:15:52
Speaker 7: Like.
00:15:52
Speaker 6: You know, of course I don't you know, I I try to do you know what I can.
00:15:58
Speaker 10: You know, when I can, but uh yeah, I do love to give bank, especially to my community.
00:16:03
Speaker 1: It's awesome. I've asked you this question a couple of times now, Keldrick. But now that you've had a week to really think about it, what does it mean to be a Tennessee Titan?
00:16:13
Speaker 10: H Man, It's still the same thing as an honor to be a Tennessee Titan. You know, for them to just take a chance on me was the biggest honor. And shoot, man, I'm looking forward to repaying it, repaying it back, and you know, showing them that they made a really good choice in drafting.
00:16:32
Speaker 1: Well, you've said war Eagle or war damn Eagle quite a bit ward in the last handful of years. Now, you've got to get used to saying something new. Tighten up, tighten up. There he is Keldric Faulk. We're here with Pat Coogan, a brand new Tennessee Titan, of course, was picked in the sixth round out of Indiana. Welcome to Nashville.
00:16:54
Speaker 3: Great to be here. Thanks for having me.
00:16:56
Speaker 1: Tell us about this whole journey from Indiana to the Tennessee type and especially what the draft process was like.
00:17:03
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's overall, it's just a huge blessing. Really really just happy to be where my feet are and be a part of such a great organization. And you know, it's a long three months, right, but I tried my best to take every day as its own and really just put the work in and put my head down, and you know, that's that's really all I'm about and what I stand for and appreciate the time I was home. I got to be with my parents for an extended period of time after Pro Day and everything like that. So it's been a been a long journey, but really just grateful for it all.
00:17:36
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you've earned it, man, there's no question about it. Exceptional career, winning a national championship, Rose Bowl, MVP. It ended in extraordinary fashion. And then, as you just said, you put in all this work to get ready for the NFL Draft. It feels like that is a whirlwind of emotion though over the course of those three days, and you're wondering, am I going to get drafted? Who's going to pick me? How is this going to happen? How do you get through all of that?
00:18:04
Speaker 9: Well?
00:18:04
Speaker 3: Thank you, first of all, it's been an unbelievable journey, and I truly believe I'm just getting started. It's ah. I have a great support system at home, you know, surrounded by my family and friends on on this past Saturday, really got to just enjoy enjoy the day with them. It was a beautiful day on the South side of Chicago, and I got to enjoy with them and got to rely on them for the support. And yeah, you know, it's a long day, it's a stressful day, but again, really I just tried to enjoy it and and believe that, you know what, wherever I go, that that's where exactly I'm I'm meant to be, and that's that's I'm exactly meant to be here.
00:18:46
Speaker 1: So I know how much support you got from family and close friends. Is there someone that surprised you, that reached out to you after the draft that meant a great deal to you.
00:18:55
Speaker 3: I think just all like my former coaches and and and staff from every place that I've been, you know, that means a lot to me to have those connections, you know, people from years in my past, whether it's you know, my high school of Marist or Notre Dame or or and many people in Indiana just every part of the journey. Those people who believed in me and always put their trust in me into be able to to you know, hear their kind words. That was really special.
00:19:21
Speaker 1: You know, since you mentioned Marist, tell us about show everybody, Show everybody that photo right there, So tell us about that photo.
00:19:29
Speaker 3: Yeah, this is playoff game Marris High School versus Loyola Academy. We had two. Carnell was a phenom when he came in. Like I was a junior, he was a freshman. You could kind of see it right away how special the kid was gonna be. But you know, he was green, he was young. As you're see in here. He's slim, slim reaper running around. But man, you could see the talent that he had. You know, he was a young kid. We always called him Tater, and then he started everyone's started calling him co Greatness for some reason. I don't know where that came from, but uh. We played in the playoff game quarterfinal at Loyola Academies. If anyone knows Chicagoland football, it's a powerhouse. And he had an unbelievable day. And I think that's where everyone was like, this kid's different. Like he had some spectacular catches. A couple of touchdowns as a freshman just pulled up to varsity and he was special.
00:20:30
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:20:31
Speaker 1: How excited are you to recreate that photo at Nissan Stadium?
00:20:34
Speaker 3: Yeah, unbelievable. We were just talking downstairs, like it's just so fun to be back together again. Obviously he went down to IMG for a couple of years, and you know, God brought us back together and it's it's really cool to to see this journey continue with him and uh, we've been on it since since early on and it's a it's a great story. And excited to get to work again.
00:20:57
Speaker 1: This guy at this time thought he was gonna be a baseball pitcher. Did you thought you thought this time that you're gonna be a baseball pitcher?
00:21:04
Speaker 9: Uh?
00:21:04
Speaker 3: Football was always the go to, but I could heat up the mound a little bit. Yeah, yeah, I tried my best.
00:21:10
Speaker 1: And wait, I know you're a Chicago guy, Cubs and White Sox.
00:21:14
Speaker 3: I just love the sport, honestly, Like, Uh, I'm a Southside kid, so we always went to Socks games, you know, but my grandpa was a huge Cubs fan, so I'd always watched the Cubs game to him and my my uncle. So I got the best of both worlds. I know there's many Chicago people who are gonna hate to hear that, but I I enjoy the sport.
00:21:36
Speaker 1: You know, we were doing our podcast the other day, Pat and we were talking about how you used to work at Franklin's Public House and that you were a bus boy. That's hard work, man.
00:21:47
Speaker 3: It is, but it's it's gratifying you.
00:21:49
Speaker 1: Still have the Does the family still have the restaurant?
00:21:51
Speaker 3: They do?
00:21:51
Speaker 6: Yeah?
00:21:51
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, okay, yeah.
00:21:52
Speaker 3: We were just there on Saturday to celebrate and it was awesome.
00:21:55
Speaker 1: What's the best thing on the menu?
00:21:57
Speaker 3: Oh? Man, you know, as the son of the owner, everything, please go. But I love a good Ruben sandwich.
00:22:08
Speaker 9: You know.
00:22:08
Speaker 3: The Burger's really good too. But I think their fries are phenomenal, you know, I think it's a really good French ry.
00:22:13
Speaker 1: So that's awesome. I know you're a proud Notre Dame graduate. You have a hard time with the Cubs in the White Sox. What about Notre Dame in Indiana? Like who you're gonna pull for moving forward? Oh?
00:22:23
Speaker 9: Both of them.
00:22:23
Speaker 3: I mean, it was such a special year at Indiana, so they have, you know, just a unique and special place in my heart, and I met some of my best friends in the eleven months twelve months that I spent there, and some of the best people in that organization and facility that I got to spend every day with. So I'm so grateful for my time there is one of the best decisions I've ever made. But again, I spent four years in Notre Dame two and met you know, the same amazing people and got my degree from there. So both parts had had an unbelievable part in, you know, a unique part of my journey, and I'm really just grateful for both of them for sure.
00:23:01
Speaker 1: How do you think playing in back to back national championships helps prepare you to be a pro?
00:23:07
Speaker 3: Yeah, certainly, I know what it takes, and I know I certainly know what it doesn't take, right losing one and winning one, the feeling and you know, the opposite feelings of both of them. Being able to play two sixteen game seasons back to back, obviously the NFL seventeen games. It's a long year, it's a grinding year. But I certainly know what it takes. I know what it takes to take care of your body for so long, and really everything that you have to pour in each and every day to succeed.
00:23:42
Speaker 1: We're fired up to have you in here in Nashville, Tennessee is a Tennessee Titan. You've earned it, my friend, fired.
00:23:47
Speaker 5: Up to be here.
00:23:47
Speaker 3: Thank you very much.
00:23:48
Speaker 1: Tighten Up, Tighten Up Titans Fans.
00:23:51
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00:25:27
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00:25:28
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00:26:24
Speaker 1: Back to the OTP A running back Nick Singleton is up next from Penn State to the Tennessee Titans. Welcome man, So, thank you, thank you. Tell us about this whole process, waiting around to hear your name called and then the Tennessee Titans calling you and selecting you.
00:26:42
Speaker 8: Yeah.
00:26:42
Speaker 12: So it's been a crazy journey, especially during the draft process. You know, I was endo getting hurt knowing my knowing the Senior Bowl fifth MARTERSU. So you know, just go overcoming that then, you know, just waiting for the draft, you know, seeing what team you're gonna pick. You ain't picked on. So you know, I'm with my family, you know, some of my friends and all that. But you know, when I got my name called, you know, I was crazy. I went outside to take the call a little bit and when I come back in, everybody was there celebrating and all us. It was just a good moment, just to celebrate with me and my just family.
00:27:09
Speaker 1: Yeah, I just can't imagine. It's the biggest moment you can have right in the sport that you've dreamed of playing for for so long. But your reference what happened in mobile with the injury. And I wonder if there's a part of you that's frustrated going through this and seeing your name drop because in part of what you went through, and there's probably a part of you that feels like this isn't fair right that you have to go through that. What were all those emotions like the last couple of months.
00:27:36
Speaker 12: Yeah, it was crazy. Obviously ended up getting hurt. It was a bad timing. You know, I was obviously frustrated. You know, I was talking to my agent family, but you know, these told me just to keep my head down or we'd get through this.
00:27:47
Speaker 8: We're going to overcome it.
00:27:48
Speaker 12: You know, I just kept my head down, kept working on it, attacking my rehab every day, the weight room. You know, just talking to the coaches is joining the process still because you know, you only do it one time. So you know, once I overcame that, you know, I thought I was good already. And at the end of the day, you know, he's just control what you gonna control. So you know, once I got my name picked with the Titans, I was just excited and just can't wait to get the work.
00:28:07
Speaker 1: Did you always dream of playing for Penn State as a Pennsylvania kid?
00:28:11
Speaker 5: A little bit?
00:28:12
Speaker 8: Sometimes, like Penn State.
00:28:13
Speaker 12: You know there's big schools I like, you know, there was Alabama, os State, but you know, Penn State. It was just easy choiceespecially it was close to home too.
00:28:20
Speaker 1: You know, we've talked a lot about this about you in recent days. How you're the all time leader in all purpose yards five thousand, five hundred and eighty six fifty five career total touchdowns. You broke Saquon Barkley's record. How much does that mean to you?
00:28:35
Speaker 12: Yeah, it means a lot, especially the name you just say, you know, Saquan you know, he's a big, you know, legend at Penn State. You know, he was a lot of records there too. Just to get that record, you know, it means a lot for me. You know he got. He congratulated me to with it, so you know, I'm just super blissed.
00:28:48
Speaker 1: Is he your role model as a running back?
00:28:49
Speaker 8: Definitely? Yeah, definitely a role model.
00:28:51
Speaker 12: He came up, you know, my junior year to work out with me and k Tron, But you know, just learning what he does, you know, try to what he does in his game, try too to my game. So you know, he's been really good.
00:29:01
Speaker 1: We use a baseball term a lot when someone busts one in football, and that's hitting a home run and you hit a ton of home runs a lot like Sakuon Barkley has done in his career. Do you think you're you have some similar styles to him.
00:29:15
Speaker 12: Yeah, definitely that especially what you just say, you know, the home run hitter. You know, I feel like I'm really fast running back. You know a lot of must beat a lot too. Once I feel like I'm an open field. I know I can catch me, but you know, obviously, you know, lowing my shoulder down, you know, getting them hard yards. No, we always talk about plus two on contact, so getting them yards. So it's been really good.
00:29:32
Speaker 1: What did you know about the Tennessee Titans before they selected you?
00:29:36
Speaker 12: Yeah, I know a little bit, especially the running back tradition, you know, O, you know, Guy Derrick, Henry, Chris Johnson, Christ Johnson, d J two K yeah, CJ. You know, just the running backs. You know, they've been really good, you know, power running backs, possibly with a lot of speed too, so you know it's kind of similar to my game a little bit too.
00:29:51
Speaker 8: So you know, it's just it's been really good.
00:29:54
Speaker 1: Yeah, this is your first time in Nashville. Yeah, first time, and at least you've got a friend here, Kevin Winston junior Penn State guy. Been talking to him.
00:30:02
Speaker 12: Yeah, I just seen him today earlier too. You know, he's been really good, you know, especially at Penn State. He's one of them leaders on the defense. You know, his worth ethic is crazy, you know, always one of the first place people in the building, one of the last people in the building too, So you know, Casey has been really good.
00:30:16
Speaker 1: Is there anything that you've brought with you from home, like some things in Pennsylvania that had to come with you on this trip. Like any items that you had to have, they come with you in Nashville, I.
00:30:27
Speaker 12: Mean obviously closed, but you know, just my recovery stuff. You know, I got their gun, you know, the fireflies. Just make sure I'm just recovering every day.
00:30:33
Speaker 1: Okay, so that's with you. The their Gun's got to come with you, very good. What's your favorite movie?
00:30:39
Speaker 8: Favorite movie?
00:30:42
Speaker 1: I hear you a big Dark Knight fans, that's what you're gonna say.
00:30:45
Speaker 12: Yeah, okay, yeah, the whole trick, Olgi, the Batman begins, the Dark Knight, the Dark Knight rises.
00:30:50
Speaker 8: You know, my pop's can't put me onto it.
00:30:51
Speaker 1: So how is that kind of your go to just when you need to chill? You Have you seen these The Dark Knight and those movies a bunch of times?
00:30:58
Speaker 12: Yeah, definitely a lot of times. TV shows like The Wire, like Eleve Them type of shows.
00:31:02
Speaker 1: Okay, what does it mean to you to be a Tennessee Titan?
00:31:06
Speaker 12: Yeah, it means a lot to me. You know, as my dream though gets to an NFL. You know for the Titans, you know, they took a chance on me, so you know, repay a bet, you know, just put the work in, keep my head down, just always locked in.
00:31:16
Speaker 1: What are the fans getting?
00:31:18
Speaker 12: You have a fan, y'all getting just a player that's gonna come here and just work, you know, put the team on the bad your brotherhood to everybody in the locker room, and just you know, I'll work everybody.
00:31:26
Speaker 1: Nick, Thank you so much, man, We appreciate you.
00:31:28
Speaker 8: Thank you.
00:31:29
Speaker 1: Thanks man. Fernando the fifth round pick out of the Arkansas Razorbacks by way of San Jose State. What an interesting road, how about that, man? San Jose State to favor of Arkansas, now to Nashville, Tennessee.
00:31:42
Speaker 13: Yeah, it was an incredible journey, man, and I'm extremely blessed. I mean, I never knew football was gonna be in my cards and tell junior year of high school, and I mean, six years down the road, I'm getting picked up by the Titans and gonna be living in Nashville.
00:31:56
Speaker 1: Who had ever thought that's awesome? What tell us about the call from Mike for Ganzi, the general manager of the Titans.
00:32:02
Speaker 13: Yeah, Man, there and the moment I blacked out, I couldn't hear a single thing. There was just so many emotions going through my head. And then you know, rehearing it on Instagram when they posted it. It was awesome hearing that call from him and me and him had a really great conversation when it came down for my thirty visit, and uh, man, I just had something in my heart knowing that Titans were going to be the team and to get that call from meant the world. And I almost passed out after it. I walked into the house that I hadn't ate it all day and I almost passed out. I was like, I need to eat something. It was a lot of It was a rollercoaster of emotions.
00:32:32
Speaker 1: I bet so, man, it's a big moment in your life. What's life been like since Saturday?
00:32:37
Speaker 9: Yeah?
00:32:37
Speaker 13: So, I mean I had all my friends down there, so we had a great time Saturday, and then Sunday it was right back to work. It was I mean, part of my goal has been accomplished, but now there's bigger goals that have to be accomplished, and h the only way to do it is work.
00:32:52
Speaker 9: You know.
00:32:52
Speaker 1: I did a bunch of Arkansas games in college, and I'll watched you play some tackle and play some guard. You were at San Jose State. It was big physical task and then you come to Arkansas, You're playing some of that, but then the team needed you to play some guard. Just tell us about maybe your versatility as you become a pro.
00:33:09
Speaker 13: Yeah, I think that's the biggest thing about playing in this league and saying in this league is you know.
00:33:12
Speaker 9: You got to be versatile. You got to be able to play all five.
00:33:15
Speaker 13: And I take pride in that and just being able to be versatile and show teams that I could play all five, And so saying that I take pride in and I want to bring to this team.
00:33:25
Speaker 1: How did you get into football? You just told us it was you're a late bloomer. Tell us about that process.
00:33:29
Speaker 9: Yeah.
00:33:30
Speaker 13: So basically, I thought I was a basketball player for the longest time, but then my jump shot wasn't as good as everyone else.
00:33:35
Speaker 9: I wasn't jumping ass high as everyone else.
00:33:37
Speaker 13: And I just wanted to get an opportunity where I can earn a scholarship and get my college paid for. And so my junior year, I go over to my brother and I'm like, hey, let's go over to Ross. Let's get me some cleats. And he took me in the car. We got some cleats, we went out to football practice, and then from there it was history.
00:33:53
Speaker 1: How much weight did and muscle did you have to gain?
00:33:56
Speaker 9: Yeah?
00:33:56
Speaker 13: Man, I was about two twenty in high school and then I just kind of built my way up and I'm sitting around three fifteen right now. So there's a lot of weight, a lot of muscle, some bad weight, some good weight. But uh yeah, no, it was it was a journey.
00:34:08
Speaker 1: Almost one hundred pounds in five years. That's wild. That's a lot of anything, a lot of working out, a lot of lifting. A six foot five tennis player, are you still playing tennis?
00:34:18
Speaker 9: Here and there? Here and there?
00:34:19
Speaker 13: I kind of transitioned a little bit to pickleball, but uh yeah, tennis I was.
00:34:23
Speaker 9: I was a solid player, played doubles.
00:34:25
Speaker 13: My whole thing was I'd go up to the net and just smack it right in to the net.
00:34:29
Speaker 1: I was just about to ask you you have an eighty and a half inch wingspan? Correct? Yeah, how on earth am I supposed to have any passing forehand past you if you go to the net?
00:34:38
Speaker 6: Oh?
00:34:39
Speaker 9: I was.
00:34:39
Speaker 13: I was unstoppable, But now there are some people that got me. So I still play here and there though.
00:34:44
Speaker 1: So last year our TV crew was really struck by the fact that you had a pig named Pittman, and unfortunately we've lost Pittman. They Pittman, rest in peace, your your pig. I know how much you loved that pig. Yes, yes, he was.
00:34:59
Speaker 9: He was awesome.
00:35:00
Speaker 13: I mean it was kind of something where when we first got him, me and my girlfriend we thought we were kind of a little bit crazy, and then he got to the house and me and her were both scared to grab him.
00:35:09
Speaker 9: And then Larry two days later, We're like, dude, this.
00:35:12
Speaker 13: Is the greatest animal of all time, and so hopefully I could find a way about getting a pig here.
00:35:17
Speaker 9: We've already looked into the laws. We got to figure something out.
00:35:20
Speaker 1: But I was going to start suggesting some names, maybe like Dabes or you know, something like that. Speaking of Pittman, Coach, Pittman, it was your coach at Arkansas. If you stayed in contact with him.
00:35:30
Speaker 13: Yeah, he actually called me right after I got picked up Man, and it was just so graceye in his face again because it's been a while after the whole incident of him getting fired and all that jazz, and just being able to hear his voice and just him saying he was so proud of me. Met the world to me because he was a big part of my journey and you know, just to see him call me and just you know, show some love, it meant the world to me.
00:35:50
Speaker 1: He's an unbelievable offensive line coach throughout his incredible career. What NFL player or any player do you think has had the biggest impact on you, Fernando.
00:35:59
Speaker 13: You know somebody that's actually been helping me out a lot. He's actually my financial advisors, Travis Swanson. He played at Arkansas and then played a little bit at Detroit, and he's just been a good, you know, voice of my ear during this whole process to kind of just keep me going and you know what to expect moving forward. And so he's been a great guy to help and that call when things get tough.
00:36:17
Speaker 1: I also want to note before we let you go that you have an interest in sports broadcasting and when we met, when our crew met with you while you were in college, we immediately said, man, this guy one day could be taking one of our jobs. Is that something that you're interested in long term?
00:36:33
Speaker 13: You think, oh, yeah, that's the dream right there. Just being able to you know, guys being guys. Man talking ball, that's the dream, and so it's something that you know, I always have in the back of my mind. Obviously I want football to last as long as I can, but at a certain point football is gonna cut off, and you know, to be able to talk football would be a dream of mine.
00:36:49
Speaker 1: All right, Well, before you go, just tell all Titans fans what they're getting in Fernando Carmono.
00:36:54
Speaker 13: Yeah, they're getting a fast, physical player who's going to give it as all and he's going to bring the energy every single day into the building. And I'm just gonna give it my all, man, I'm going to give it all to the tea and I'm extremely grateful to be a Titan.
00:37:07
Speaker 1: Titans fans are gonna have to learn how to call the Hogs because of this guy right here. There you go, pig suing, pig sue. There you go and tighten up, tighten up, baby, let's go. Thank you, Fernando. We've got Jackie Marshall here with us joining us. Next. Jackie, how are you today?
00:37:24
Speaker 6: Up?
00:37:24
Speaker 5: Yeah?
00:37:24
Speaker 1: Excited to be here, fired up to be a Titan.
00:37:26
Speaker 3: Huh.
00:37:27
Speaker 1: What was this whole process been like in the last week for you.
00:37:30
Speaker 14: Man, it was crazy, man, waiting around waiting for the call. Man, Yeah, staying patient, you know, but is it hard to do that sometimes?
00:37:39
Speaker 7: Yeah?
00:37:39
Speaker 14: Yeah, you get hard, man.
00:37:41
Speaker 9: You know.
00:37:41
Speaker 14: I got my younger siblings walking around like I did you get drafted?
00:37:45
Speaker 1: Asking you questions you like, leave me alone?
00:37:47
Speaker 3: Wait?
00:37:49
Speaker 6: It was good.
00:37:50
Speaker 1: And then so after you get the call, you have all these emotions that probably pour out of you. Right, there's relief, I'm sure, but then there's also a whole lot of joy and pride too, for sure. Yeah, tell us about that, man.
00:38:02
Speaker 14: It was a big moment for me, man, Like, this is my dream since I was young, you know, to get that call, it meant a lot for me and my family. So yeah, a lot of emotions on that day, everybody crying, stuff like that.
00:38:14
Speaker 1: Tell us a little bit about your background, Jackie. You're born in Baltimore, you moved to Louisiana when you're eleven, played at Baylor. There's a lot of twisting turns in the Jackie Marshall story.
00:38:24
Speaker 14: It is, man, So, originally I was supposed to be a running back high school. My d line coach came to me, it was like, you're getting a little too big man, it's time to put your hand in the dirt. I was like, fought them on it a little bit, but we converted and just took off from there.
00:38:40
Speaker 8: Yeah.
00:38:41
Speaker 1: Well, it's great that the next part of your stories now in Nashville, Tennessee. What do you think it's gonna take to play and coach Sala's defense man?
00:38:49
Speaker 14: Just working hard and staying focused and being consistent. I think it would be important.
00:38:55
Speaker 1: Jeffrey Simmons is, in my mind and in almost everybody that's watching us mind, the best defensive tackle in the world. Sure, what is it going to be like being under his wing for a little bit.
00:39:06
Speaker 14: I'm blessed even you know what I'm saying, be in that room and yeah, being under those guys and uh, just being able to learn it and grow from the vests in the room.
00:39:15
Speaker 1: You mentioned putting your hand in the dirt. You originally thought you might be a running back, then you thought you might be a linebacker.
00:39:23
Speaker 9: Yeah, so like that.
00:39:24
Speaker 6: Yeah, so, uh.
00:39:28
Speaker 14: Started at running back, then I went the inside linebacker and got moved to like kind of like edge and d line and stuff like that.
00:39:35
Speaker 8: Yeah.
00:39:35
Speaker 1: Yeah, your senior year you earned the number zero.
00:39:39
Speaker 6: How did you do.
00:39:40
Speaker 1: What was significant about that?
00:39:42
Speaker 14: So at Baylor, Uh, the tradition over there is like you only get one single digit per person. It's not double double. We don't do the double numbers over there. So started from springball up until like right before fall camp, it's like the time to where you get to work for your number. You get to put in request for your number, and right before fall camp all the coaches meet together and stuff. They pass out a paper to the team and the team votes on who should get what number. So I got They told me to get number zero.
00:40:14
Speaker 1: That mean a great deal to you.
00:40:16
Speaker 14: Oh yeah, for sure.
00:40:16
Speaker 1: Yeah, especially given what you had to overcome, right with the a c L injury. Yeah, how hard was that?
00:40:23
Speaker 6: It was tough.
00:40:23
Speaker 14: Man, That was my first real injury and kind of really didn't know how to navigate it. You know, I had to find myself outside of football, and that was obstacle for me, and but we overcame it.
00:40:36
Speaker 1: Man, just on the other side of it. Yeah, you mentioned your brothers and your sisters. Let's talk about what you do for fun. Favorite TV show.
00:40:47
Speaker 14: It was Stranger Things, you know, But it depends and from what my girl might watch A little love Island and something like that, you know.
00:40:57
Speaker 1: Mark, Yeah, did you think the last season of Stranger Things was as good as the rest of the seasons. I'm with you on man, you know, yeah, it was a great It was a great show that was hidden talent.
00:41:11
Speaker 14: You still play the violin, uh not often, but I still can't play.
00:41:16
Speaker 1: We can in middle school you could crush the violin.
00:41:19
Speaker 6: All right, I was the guy.
00:41:20
Speaker 1: Yeah, you were all right, very good. What are the Tennessee Titans getting with Jackie Marshall?
00:41:25
Speaker 14: A dog man, a gamer, a competitor, somebody that wants to come in and work.
00:41:31
Speaker 1: I love it, fast and violent, fast and Violet tight up.
00:41:35
Speaker 8: Thank you Jackie, Thank you.
00:41:36
Speaker 1: Jaron. You're a Tennessee Titan. From the Sooners to the Titans. Welcome, glad to be here.
00:41:41
Speaker 5: Thank you.
00:41:42
Speaker 1: Yeah. Now, first and foremost, here are some hats for you. Awesome because last week we might have had the old logo on. So if you want to put on and take the sticker off all of it, if you want to, you got to get that new logo on right right. It's a brand it's a brand new day here with the with the Tennessee Titans. It's a big head. I mean, so he is a big man tight in. Yeah, that's right. Here you go. I that looks perfect little better. Yeah, that looks good man. So what was that whole experience, Like you're waiting around on Saturday, did you get worried like is this gonna happen? What was that like?
00:42:15
Speaker 15: Yeah, definitely a little bit of a nerve wracking there at the end. Obviously, you know, had had a bunch of family and friends there, and you know it was gonna be a little disappointed if if I brought him out and didn't get my name called. But as obviously just just blessed to get my name called end up where I am.
00:42:27
Speaker 1: So yeah, And do you think that because of that, you're even more motivated now through that experience, Like we've heard a bunch of people like Tom Brady is the first one comes to mind that was so motivated because he had to wait that long. Does that have any impact on you?
00:42:43
Speaker 15: Yeah, one hundred percent. I mean, obviously, it's just such an incredible blessing. I'm super grateful to have any opportunity to get drafted or undrafted, but obviously waiting that long and having the nerves be that heights I guess you could say it's a little bit more of a chip on the shoulder.
00:42:55
Speaker 1: When did you first start playing football?
00:42:57
Speaker 15: I believe fifth grade was my first year of contact football.
00:43:01
Speaker 1: Okay, And was it a love affair ever since?
00:43:03
Speaker 5: Then?
00:43:03
Speaker 1: Did you play everything? Did you think I'm going to be a football player or did it take you a little while before you were like, this is my dream?
00:43:10
Speaker 9: Yeah?
00:43:10
Speaker 15: I knew from the second I started playing that that I loved the game. And I wasn't always the best, probably not even until I got to high school. You know, I played a lot of B team in middle school and growing up, and so I wasn't even the best, But I just I knew I love the game and I love the camaraderie and being around the guys.
00:43:24
Speaker 1: So cause I know you were a high school high school track star, correct sir, Yeah, I guess you could say that. What were your in what events?
00:43:32
Speaker 15: The hundred was my most notable one, okay, clocked at ten to three seven.
00:43:35
Speaker 1: In that flying That's what kind of put me on the maps. Yeah, And at what point did you say, did you realize I'm not a B level football player anymore. I'm one of the best players. If not the best player on the team, and this is my path, not flying in the one hundred meters.
00:43:50
Speaker 15: Yeah, I think once I got to high school and kind of, you know, grew in my frame a little bit and started realizing, you know, maybe I.
00:43:57
Speaker 9: Could do this.
00:43:58
Speaker 8: Yeah.
00:44:00
Speaker 1: What's an amazing story to me is you went from being a quarterback that committed to Clemson to a linebacker to Owe you being a tight end. Tell us about all of that transition that you had.
00:44:13
Speaker 15: Yeah, it's it's definitely been a Jersey journey. You know, starting off playing all offense in high school quarterback. I was mostly a run quarterback, didn't throw a ton, but quarterback, and then you know, it was kind of just a projection come out of high school. I was gonna be a defensive player just because of my build and my physical atchbooth. And so I ended up committing to coach Brent even Wiles to play at Clemson, and then ultimately he took the job at Oklahoma, so I followed him there. Worked out a little better as closer to home than Clemson was. So my family come out to the games and everything. But you know, played played my first three years at linebacker, had flashes here and there, but kind of, you know, got to a point in my junior year where I realized maybe defense wasn't for me, and so I approached coach v in the offseason and just pretty much asked for an opportunity to give offense a try and see if I could provide more value of the team there and the rest.
00:44:57
Speaker 1: Of his history drafted as a tight end, what's your passion level for being a tight end? Now?
00:45:02
Speaker 9: As passionate as you can be?
00:45:03
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, Who do you study as a tight end?
00:45:08
Speaker 3: Yeah?
00:45:08
Speaker 15: I mean there's there's a ton of guys I looked into in the off season. I tried to focus most of the guys that were similar to me and stature, you know, like Kyle us Check is a name that pops up, and then I would just watch that the tight end position in general. So when I was watching use Check, I would see some of the things that Kittle would do in that forty nine Ers offense, and then I would take it all the way back to twenty seventeen Oklahoma as well. I'd watch it at some Dimitri Flowers, a little bit of a Mark Andrews in there, and you know, just studying how these guys play the game, and you know Folcus and more so on the guys that are a little bit similar to my size.
00:45:39
Speaker 1: Yeah, gunner Helm obviously a tight end here for the Tennessee Titans. But he's a Texas Longhorn. Yeah, he doesn't like ou and we don't like Texas. Just making sure I know you're but both of your big country music fans. Who's your favorite artist?
00:45:54
Speaker 15: Yeah, I mean I think I'm gonna have to say Hank Williams Junior at the.
00:45:57
Speaker 1: Oh wow, okay, going to old school. Yeah, any any music these days that you listened.
00:46:03
Speaker 15: To a lot a lot of Morgan Wall you know, obviously we're here in music City, so I'm gonna be listening to a lot of that.
00:46:08
Speaker 1: Yeah, you've got a lot of people that you need to meet. Who which artist do you want to meet?
00:46:13
Speaker 8: He'd be pretty cool to see the one at the.
00:46:15
Speaker 1: Top of the list. Yeah, all right, Now, tell us about your wiener dog named Burger.
00:46:20
Speaker 15: Yeah, I mean, that's he's like an extension of my character. I guess he's kind of become a local legend there Norman and on the Internet. But yeah, yeah, I knew I wanted to get a dog in college. My buddy Danny Stutsman plays for the Saints. Now, he got a dog his junior year and she was her name's Roxy. She was great to be around. It was such a fun thing. So I knew that I was gonna want to get a dog and have a college dog, and but I wanted it to be something that I could make something out of it, something interesting and like a funny dog, like a Wiener dog. And so you know, I ultimately got a wier dog and named him Burger. And he's kind of a hit now.
00:46:49
Speaker 1: So he's moving to Nashville.
00:46:51
Speaker 6: Correct, he'll be down here.
00:46:52
Speaker 1: Okay, very good. You were a ranch hand for your grandfather. How did that experience sort of shape you?
00:47:00
Speaker 9: Yeah, just what you'd expect.
00:47:02
Speaker 15: It's a lot of hard, hot days in the summer, you know, growing up working on ranch.
00:47:06
Speaker 9: It's it's it's hard work.
00:47:07
Speaker 15: It's not easy, and it's just it taught me how to be a tough Kansas kid, as they say. So, yeah, I really appreciate and enjoy, you know, the things I learned from doing all that hard stuff.
00:47:16
Speaker 1: What's the worst chore or the hardest chore?
00:47:19
Speaker 9: Yeah?
00:47:19
Speaker 15: So I told this when they when they interviewed me on draft day. It's like the grain bends and they store all the all the corn and stuff in Like you got to clean those things out.
00:47:28
Speaker 14: And I did it in the summertime.
00:47:30
Speaker 15: And it's basically a giant metal sauna and you gotta get in there and put a mask on and and sweep it all up and get all the dust and stuff off the walls. And you can only be in there for about five minutes at a time before you have a heat stroke.
00:47:40
Speaker 9: So that's probably the worst one.
00:47:42
Speaker 1: Well, that sounds rough. I know that your handdoye coordination is pretty amazing. Is there anything you'd like to to show everybody that you can pull off for us?
00:47:51
Speaker 9: Yeah?
00:47:51
Speaker 3: I mean you guys like.
00:47:52
Speaker 1: I feel like back in the day, juggling was like, you know, something everyone could do. I don't know that as many people can do this these days.
00:47:58
Speaker 9: Yeah.
00:47:58
Speaker 15: They asked why, any hitting talent, and I couldn't really think of any, so I just lit, I'm kidding.
00:48:03
Speaker 1: There you go, Okay, Well he can do it. Jared Cannick, Welcome to being a Tennessee Titan.
00:48:08
Speaker 9: Hey, I'm glad to be here. I appreciate you man, Thank.
00:48:10
Speaker 1: You How great was that to get to hear from all eight of those guys. And I'm sure at some point during those interviews you thought, gosh, these are all the kind of culture builders that the Tennessee Titans want in this locker room. A ton of talent, but also great leadership as well. It's been a privilege to bring you the OTP. I'm Taylor's ours,