Welcome in to the Titans Rewind here on the SoBros Patreon! Here, I’ll be reliving some of my favorite or most memorable Tennessee Titans games and moments over the course of my fanhood. Highs, lows, and everything in between – Titan up!
Titans Rewind: The 2019 NFL Draft
Growing up in Nashville, I never in my life thought that our city would grow to the point of hosting a big time sporting event such as the NFL Draft. I’m old enough (34 years old) to remember when downtown Nashville wasn’t a place you really wanted to go. It was sketchy, at best. There wasn’t a whole lot to really get into – and now, all these years later, it’s become a destination city….a mecca of live entertainment. With that comes the exponential growth. Cranes all over town. New additions to the Nashville skyline each year. The whole nine yards.
I remember watching the 2017 Stanley Cup Final between the Nashville Predators and the Pittsburgh Penguins and thinking, “man….we’ve arrived.” Seeing the scene of what we would later learn was over 170,000 people packed downtown for the Preds game and CMA Fest (going on simultaneously) felt like the culmination of over a decade of growth and gentrification. Nashville was hitting its vision of becoming one of the most notoriously fun cities in America. It showed that we were ready for bigger and better things. Sure enough, it wasn’t long after that that we started hearing rumblings of the NFL bringing the draft to Nashville. And, it just so happened that it was that very Sunday in June, seeing all of those people on Broadway listening to the live music in their Preds gear, that helped influence the NFL’s decision.
Right away, I knew we had to get the SoBros team down on the streets for the event in some form or fashion. I applied for press passes, but the NFL turned me down. In hindsight, I’m actually happy about this. Had I been granted the press passes, I would’ve had to spend the evening in the press room trying to get more serious work done. But, after being rejected, I remember telling the team and my fiance, “fuck it – we’re just going to cover this event anyway.”
And, I’m glad it worked out that way. I took a day off of work from my day job, and we went down to check out all the festivities around 11AM that Thursday of the first round. We did some live on-the-street journalism that day (I believe the photo album is still up on the site somewhere), and I think it ended up being a much better collection of work than it would’ve been otherwise. We documented the experience of going to the draft – it was a lot less actual football talk that day, and a lot more of a glimpse into what attending the NFL Draft looked like. I’m still proud of that to this day.
I can’t commend the NFL enough for creating an immersive draft experience. It really is one of those things that you should absolutely attend if you ever get the chance to. We walked around booths by the College Football Hall of Fame. We combed over a display showing all of the Super Bowl championship rings in Super Bowl history. And, we stood in line to get our photo taken with the Lombardi Trophy. There’s no way that any of us saw 2020 coming, but looking back on it, it’s probably one of the last times I was in a large group of people just having a good time.
Around 3PM, we decided to cross the pedestrian bridge from Nissan Stadium over to the downtown area where the draft was being held. We hid out in Buffalo’s Billiards. It’s probably my favorite spot downtown, because it’s hidden in plain sight. You don’t have to worry about the place being flooded with tourists…you just have to know which staircase off 2nd Avenue to walk up (Buffalo’s was closed after the Christmas Day bombing in Nashville. I still don’t know if or when it’ll reopen). When the time for the draft came around, we tried to work our way down from 2nd Avenue to Broadway, but everything was packed. It was like New Year’s Eve…or the CMA Fest…just people as far back as the eye could see. Eventually, we found a spot to stand at which we could at least see the stage.
It started to rain a bit, and that cleared some (weaker) people out. Thankfully, the crew I was with was a bunch of savages, and we didn’t mind getting soaking wet at all. I had a moment standing there at the intersection of 2nd and Broadway…just looking up, and seeing the neon lights hit the rain drops, creating a cascade of color with the city’s skyline in the background. Hearing the roar of people cheering. I still remember it vividly to this day – standing there thinking, “is this real? Is this my city?“
Being there live to see the New York Giants take Daniel Jones was pretty wild, too. I won’t forget that either. They announce the pick, and there’s just a collective gasp from thousands of people. We were looking around and seeing Giants fans furious, people had their hands on their heads in disbelief. Jaws were dropped. No one could believe it. And then, when the Titans selected Big Jeff, we were surprised as well (I wanted Montez Sweat, but am completely okay with how Big Jeff has turned out so far).
We stayed late that night. It truly felt like a ‘once in a lifetime’ sort of experience to a kid who grew up in small-town Nashville. So, I wanted to soak it all in. Even after the Titans picked and people started to file out, I just wanted to feel it, y’know? And, it’s been a real highlight of the last several years here.
I do think the NFL will be back one of these days. The reception was too great. Who doesn’t love Nashville? Even the jaded locals like myself have to concede that it’s at least a little cool to be living in a town on the rise like this one is. And, given the rate at which they’re building hotels in this city, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Super Bowl in the Music City sooner rather than later.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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