The Train Daddy is back with sports news, life lessons and politically incorrect talk. All aboard! The NFL season is almost a wrap. What a miserable season for my Titans. I was looking forward to the season ending way back in November. It’s time for this team to regroup as the draft nears and figure this out, because right now it’s bleak.
The Titans have the first pick in this year’s draft and, unfortunately, there isn’t a clear answer for who to select. If there was a wow quarterback, I think the Titans would have no problem drafting him. Unfortunately, it’s a weak QB class and, outside of Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders [top] and Miami’s QB Cam Ward, the prospects are lacking regarding first-round talent.
Tennessee has been on a hunt for a franchise QB for a long time, recently taking Levis in the second round of the draft and Malik Willis in the third. The last QB who brought some stability to this team was Ryan Tannehill. It wasn’t always pretty, but it worked for a time. I miss the days of King dominance and play-action football.
The last QB this team took in the first round of a draft was in 2015, with the #2 overall pick in Marcus Mariota. Back in 2011 they selected Jake doodoo Locker with the #8 overall pick and in 2006 the Titans selected Vince Young with the #2 overall pick.
It really has me missing the days of my favorite player ever, the legendary Steve McNair. I have seen some people compare Cam Ward to McNair. Cam is a QB who has legitimate rushing ability followed up with a big arm.
Ward’s true ability comes from being able to make big plays in troubled situations. Now, that could result in boneheaded turnovers and hero football—cough cough, Will Levis—or that could result in exciting football and a new face of the franchise. Don’t forget, McNair was a top-three pick but he wasn’t a full-time starter until his third season. We all want quarterbacks now and forget that it sometimes takes time to develop them into professional signal callers. Maybe Titan nation should have more grace towards Will Levis and his future? I understand his decision-making was awful in year two, but don’t deny the fact he showed real promise as a rookie.
What about Sanders? The son of the legendary Prime Time. When looking at both of these QBs from my viewpoint, Sanders seems the safer bet. I know that’s not a popular thing to say, as Titans social media has made it clear they prefer Cam over Shedeur.
I just can’t ignore the fact Shedeur has been one of the most accurate QBs in the game these past two seasons. He throws a good ball and seems to thrive better under pressure than what we saw from Cam. I have no clue who I would draft. My brain tells me Sanders, my heart tells me Ward. I love Cam’s size and athletic ability, but I fear another version of Will Levis-style decision-making. Everyone is chasing that QB and it’s always the teams lacking a foundation who are most desperate. So, maybe drafting a QB isn’t the smart move.
They could draft one of the two players whom many consider the best in this year’s draft—Heisman winner Travis Hunter, who played both sides of the ball at receiver and cornerback. He is a star player with a high IQ of the game. The kid has rare body control and, with his frame, becomes a nightmare on the field. Travis Hunter is the first player I have called a ballhawk since the days of Kevin Byard in his prime.
Abdul Carter out of Penn State has the potential to be a generational defensive player and certainly the type of player the Titans need. He is the elite athlete coming out of this NFL draft and his pass-rushing ability at the next level will translate into a game changer.
I must admit it seems criminal not taking a QB or trading the pick away when you have the draft’s top pick.
Maybe they will find someone willing to trade the bank away for this pick. This Titans team is lacking a foundation to stand on. After finishing 3-14 and no clear consensus on what direction makes most sense, it’s hard not to make a case for trading the pick away. Any team with this many holes would be smart to seriously consider trading the pick for the opportunity to add more depth.
It’s a difficult position to be in. My gut tells me the Titans will take one of the two QBs. It’s a QB-driven league, and everyone is chasing that next star. It’s not very often you get the one pick so I wouldn’t blame them for drafting a QB even if trading the pick away seems smart.
That’s enough Titans talk for now, let’s talk about the big game, another Super Bowl involving the Chiefs as they look to become the first team in the history of the NFL to win three straight Lombardi trophies.
We have a rematch of Super Bowl LVII two years ago, the Chiefs vs. the Eagles. Last time the Chiefs beat the Eagles in an entertaining 38-35 victory. This year the big game will take place at the SuperDome in New Orleans.
I am conflicted about who I want to win this game! I hate both teams, so I have convinced myself I am a winner regardless of the outcome. Regarding the Chiefs, I hate their success! I guess you could say I am jealous of their success, fair enough.
But regarding the Eagles, it’s captured on social media every season: bad behavior after a win and bad behavior after defeat, makes no difference. I saw plenty of bad behavior online after they defeated Washington in the NFC Championship game. I personally know some great fans of Philly sports, but that doesn’t outweigh how horrible the entire fan base can be.
The fandom has for whatever reason embraced treating other people like shit. It’s not like this everywhere. Go hit up a tailgate at Arrowhead and you will get that same passion of fandom and love of team minus the treating-of-everyone-like-shit part. The same can be said of how Titans fans treat opposing fan bases.
I would never roll into Philly for an Eagles game without a crew on deck! I have no desire these days to look for a fight, but me and about 20 of my homies would be ready if some bad-natured Eagles fans wanted some. Philly fans call it passion, but the simple truth is it’s passion that has turned toxic over the years.
I could continue to ramble about things like Pat Mahomes chasing Tom Brady’s records or the annoying cuts to Taylor Swift every time her boo Kelce touches the ball.
I could cry about missing A.J. Brown. In one of the dumbest moves in Titans history, we traded a superstar on draft night for a bum player in Treylon Burks. Fun fact: since the trade, A.J. Brown has more Super Bowl appearances than Treylon Burks has receiving touchdowns!
No, I won’t ramble about all that. Let’s keep it chill and talk about food. Actually, I have one more ramble and it includes food.
To the chefs of Tennessee—yeah, the entire state!—how hard is it to put meat, onions, peppers and cheese on fresh bread and serve me a proper cheesesteak?
As much as I just hated on Philadelphia, they sure know how to make a beautiful cheesesteak. I have done intense research on cheesesteaks anywhere within an hour of Nashville and the results overall were awful. I found one winner though—It’z a Philly Thing, out in Bellevue, serving legit cheesesteaks. I got a steak and a chicken cheesesteak to go along with some of the best cheesesteak egg rolls ever! It would be nice to see more cheesesteaks in Tennessee.
What food will you have at your Super Bowl watch party? According to my research, 1.25 billion chicken wings are eaten during the game, equaling 162 million pounds of chicken. That’s 7% of chicken wing sales every year in America.
Potato chips, yep! Nearly 20 million pounds of chips are purchased. Forget a veggie, give me a chip. I guess if you want to be healthy, avocados are a fan favorite; 140 million pounds of avocados are purchased for that delicious guac.
We wash all that food down with over 300 million gallons of beer, equating to 50 million cases of beer, enough to fill up an Olympic-size pool 2,000 times over. For non-alcoholic drinkers, over $2 million is spent on Super Bowl soda alone.
During the Super Bowl about 10% of Americans grill food, second only to the 4th of July. Count me in the 10%. It’s estimated that 14 million burgers are grilled.
This year at my place we will have burgers and brats, numerous dips and plenty to wash them down with.
What’s also insane is that they say (who is this “they,” anyway?) we flush 13 million pounds of poo down the night of the big game, equivalent to 13 million footballs, assuming they haven’t been deflated. I guess that’s why antacid sales see a 20% rise the following morning. The Monday after the Super Bowl needs to be a national holiday, a day of healing, rest and self-reflection. Super Sunday to Mild Monday . . . it has a nice ring to it.
Alright, the Train is rolling into the station! Hope you all have a great February and enjoy the big game. Spring is around the corner, followed by summer, and before you know it a new football season will be kicking off. Choo-choo!
[Shedeur Sanders photo courtesy cubuffs.com / Cam Ward photo courtesy miamihurricanes.com]
