Titans fans want to see what wide receiver A.J. Brown can do in his second season after posting over 1,000 yards receiving in his rookie year. Photo by Dale Zanine.
The Train Daddy is back with sports news, life lessons and politically incorrect talk. All aboard! Let me start this article off positive, something that has been hard to do at times throughout 2020. I pray for this country. For over 200 years this country has dealt with countless incidents and we always come through stronger. America is the land of the free and home of the brave! I know I am blessed to have been born in America—and whether you realize it or not, so are you! That is why you will never catch the Train Daddy kneeling for the anthem or supporting such nonsense. Okay, okay, stay positive! It’s easy for me to go off script and rant. I’m working on that!
I also send my prayers and regards out to you, the reader, as we as a nation deal with coronavirus and its effects. Financially speaking many of you have suffered. More importantly, it has been taxing on many Americans’ mental health. Someday in the near future coronavirus will be no more than a college class, “Coronavirus 101.”
Think about that. We’re living right now through an incredibly rare moment in American history that will be well remembered and documented. I imagine history will have found us lacking in many aspects and remarkable in others.
Simply put, I wish you and your family nothing but good tidings throughout this difficult moment in history.
Let us talk sports! I am glad to see numerous leagues getting underway even with this virus still among us. The NBA has recently tipped off and created such a bubble that I do not think anything will be able to get through. It seems very safe. Baseball should have paid more attention to safety measures and less attention to social issues, as the commissioner of the MLB looks to point the blame amid outbreaks in the league.
Commissioner Manfred said this: “The players need to be better, but I am not a quitter in general and there is no reason to quit now. We have had to be fluid, but it is manageable.” That comment upset some players and health experts, but does any comment in today’s woke culture not offend someone?
Major League Baseball has already had a few outbreaks—nearly 20 cases among the Marlins and a growing number among the Cardinals. Only two weeks into the season numerous teams have already had their schedules beaten up due to coronavirus. No doubt the league’s protocols and each player’s responsibility have come into question.
18 members of the Miami Marlins have tested positive for COVID-19
Basketball is one of the easier sports to create a bubble around. With that said, there will be no excuse for the NFL when the season kicks off. The billion-dollar machine known as the NFL better get this right and be taking notes. I am all for player safety and also for the fans of the game, but an absence of football would equal real depression for many Americans.
Lastly, regarding baseball, “go Braves!” It’s been a great start to the season, putting a beatdown on the Mets numerous times. “Chop On” or “For the A,” whatever slogan is more appropriate. I do not care! I just love seeing the Braves win.
I won’t say much about Predators hockey, but it’s great to see them on the ice again! Hopefully they will advance and play some good hockey. It was refreshing to see a league not disrespect the anthem! It upset the progressives; I even saw the hashtag #kneel4hockey trending after opening weekend, as mad fans took pictures of themselves kneeling because the league was not. I won’t say anything else about that, except I’m laughing right now! Faaaang Fingers!
Alright, let us get into what really matters—Titans football. Training camp has started and aside from one of the Titans’ biggest off-season additions, outside linebacker Vic Beasley, not showing up, everything looks good. All reports state the genius Titans GM Jon Robinson has talked to Beasley and told him his absence is unexcused. Robinson also told the media Beasley stated he will report at some point. Hopefully by the time this article hits the stands Beasley will have reported to camp.
Vic Beasley
Not a good way to start your one-year $9 million prove-it deal. The 2016 NFL sack leader gave no call, no excuse and told nobody why he was not at camp. Players have the choice to opt out of the season, but they do not have the option to be non-communicative. If Beasley remains absent it will start costing him a lot of money. Say goodbye to some of that $6 million signing bonus!
The good news is the Titans did what all the experts said was impossible. They signed Tannehill and King Henry to long-term deals. Titan-up! All the experts claimed it was one or the other with a deal and the other would be forced to play on a franchise tag. I am so excited we have these two playmakers in Titan uniforms for the foreseeable future.
All you Titans fans should be overly excited! This 2020 Titans team will be a surprising threat on the defensive side of the ball, making big strides from last year’s unit. The offense won’t miss a step and will continue to be that team employing a ball-control offense that uses King Henry to set up the play-action passing game. Ryan Tannehill was the most productive QB in the league in 2019 regarding play action passes, and he led the league in passer rating with a 117.5—the fourth-highest rating of all time. The emergence of star wide receiver A.J. Brown should have all Titans fans jittery.
Did any of you watch the NFL’s Top 100? I love the show, but it is nothing more than a popularity contest with players voting on which 100 players had the most successful season. The Titans had a fair showing with fpur players from 2019’s team making the list. For the first time in Titans history, the team had a player in the top 10. King Henry landed at No. 10. He was the second-highest-rated running back behind Christian McCaffrey. No doubt McCaffrey is a better all-around running back, but Henry had a better overall season, and deserved to be in that Top 5 ranking. Henry finished the season leading the NFL with 1,540 rushing yards and 16 rushing touchdowns. Henry also rushed for over 400 yards in the playoffs and was the only back in the league to average over 100 yards a game.
That is why the Titans recently awarded Henry a four-year, $50 million contract extension. A win/win for the Titans and Henry, making Henry the fifth-highest paid RB in the league. The Titans also had three other players make the list. Logan Ryan at #60, Ryan Tannehill at #68 and Jurrell Casey at #71.
I will end on this note regarding the show. As I said, it is a popularity contest, so the list is always flawed. The fact that Titans receiver A.J. Brown did not make the list is laughable. Brown was the only rookie from 2019 to have over 1,000 receiving yards. Yet somehow the Seahawks’ D.K. Metcalf made the Top 100. I get it, it’s a bigger-market team that includes superstar Russell Wilson, but let’s not act like A.J Brown didn’t have more receiving yards, more touchdowns, fewer drops and fewer fumbles than D.K. did. Let’s also not act like A.J. was the #1 WR in Tennessee all season covered by the best while D.K was the #2 behind Tyler Lockett, who took much of the pressure away from D.K. All facts homie! Let’s also not act like Redskins (or Football Team or whatever) rookie Terry McLaurin was not also better than D.K. in 2019, because he was. McLaurin, at 85.7, posted the highest rookie grade in the past decade since OBJ’s 91.2 grade.
Alright, that’s it, time to wrap this article up! I can’t wait for football, even if we have zero fans in the stadium, I am just pumped for football. I need it!
I won’t go on a full rant as we end this article, but if you want to see what a double standard looks like in today’s politically charged world of sports, research this. Take a look at Saints quarterback Drew Brees and then take a look at Eagles receiver DeSean Jackson. Drew said he wasn’t a fan of kneeling for the anthem and DeSean shared and loudly supported racist rhetoric against Jews and their “plan for world domination,” all while praising the hate-filled minister Louis Farrakhan, a well-known anti-Semitic and homophobic preacher of hate, the same preacher who referred to Judaism as a “dirty religion” and said Hitler was “a very great man.”
Drew gave an opinion, DeSean spread ignorant hate, and in the end Drew was attacked by the media along with athletes such as LeBron James and a host of celebrities. Shortly after all that, DeSean’s incident took place with much less backlash. The Eagles organization did condemn Jackson’s words, at least. The owner of the team is Jewish! Yet sadly, many who loudly wanted Drew canceled had nothing to say about DeSean, with some former players even showing support for the outspoken receiver.
So, as I wrap this article up, I remind you to take a moment and try and think logically. This incident I just partially shared with you is a very recent example of how cancel culture works. It isn’t fair. It’s nothing more than the mob coming after anyone who doesn’t think like they do, and more people need to stand up to it.
That’s it. The Train is rolling into the station. Choo-choo!
