At the inaugural Titans Foundation Dinner on Wednesday (May 18), the Titans raised $255,000 to help support the Middle Tennessee Community.

The Titans Foundation is a nonprofit organization that supports communities within the Tennessee Titans’ region. Through its work, the Titans contribute to schools, non-profit organizations, community centers and other neighborhood assets.

“It’s an awesome event,” shares Adolpho Birch III, Senior Vice President, Business Affairs and Chief Legal Officer for the Titans. “We are very proud to have as many people come out and help us celebrate the Titans, [particularly] the Titans Foundation, as well as to honor and look at the upcoming season, our new draft class, and really talk Titans football. It’s an amazing event… and it really shines a light on what the Foundation can be about.”

Hosted by “Voice of the Titans” Mike Keith, the Foundation Dinner welcomed nearly 450 fans to the sold-out event at Nissan Stadium. The event featured General Manager Jon Robinson, Head Coach Mike Vrabel, President/CEO Burke Nihill, receiver Robert Woods, and country music star Jake Owen, among others.

Former Titans stars Keith Bulluck and Jevon Kearse were also at the dinner for several auction items which raised big money in bidding. The NFL Network’s Charles Davis and members of the team’s rookie class also made appearances.

Proceeds from the Tennessee Titans Foundation Dinner, presented by Pinnacle, go directly to the Foundation continuing its mission to serve the surrounding communities.

In 2021, the Titans Foundation hosted its Annual Kick-Off Luncheon, and raised more than $150,000 for the foundation, $50,000 of which went directly to support victims of the Waverly, Tennessee floods.

The Tennessee Titans are honoring the historic Nashville neighborhood of Jefferson Street as they celebrate the release of its 2022 schedule.

The team revealed its 2022 schedule through a short film highlighting eight iconic businesses on Jefferson Street in North Nashville, the historic corridor of Nashville’s African-American community. The film serves as a precursor for an all-season initiative to spotlight the businesses at each regular-season home game.

“Schedule Release Day is a landmark for creative teams across the NFL, and vying for the best and most creative way to unveil your team’s schedule can get fairly competitive,” says Surf Melendez, Vice President and Executive Creative Director for the Titans. “Ultimately, as we sat down to plan our strategy this year, we had this vision of taking our ‘moment’ and making it Nashville’s moment. Being able to celebrate Jefferson Street in a video seen by such a large part of our fanbase is one of the most impactful schedule release videos I’ve ever been a part of.”

The vision was established by the Titans creative team in collaboration with Seck., a multi-hyphenate filmmaker and visual artist. Seck. has an established reputation for changing perceptions of Nashville’s Black creative community, from hip-hop to filmmaking and beyond.

Tennessee Titans x Jefferson Street @Shift4

More Info: https://t.co/Zp5qkldRAz pic.twitter.com/iBKVg16Z5U

— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) May 13, 2022

In the 1940s and 1960s, Jefferson Street was one of America’s best-known districts of jazz and rhythm and blues, among other musical genres. Legendary musicians flocked to the neighborhood to perform at one of its many entertainment centers.

“We are consistently working to preserve the lineage of Nashville’s ‘original music row’ and the legacy of Jefferson Street,” says Lorenzo Washington, owner of the Jefferson Street Sound Museum. “Legends have walked this street for decades, offering some of the greatest musical traditions and historical landmarks. We are proud to partner with the Titans as we continue to grow our business and create more opportunities to tell the Jefferson Street story.”

Jefferson Street also served as a southern hub for sit ins during the civil rights movement. Three historically black colleges and universities are located nearby: Fisk University, Meharry Medical College and Tennessee State University.

“Jefferson Street is absolutely essential to the fabric of the African-American community and all of Nashville,” says Adolpho Birch III, Senior Vice President of Business Affairs and Chief Legal Officer for the Titans. “For decades, these small business owners and others have worked diligently to maintain the character and integrity of the neighborhood and keep alive the stories of its rich history. Highlighting important touchstones like Jefferson Street and reinforcing the values of cultural diversity are deeply important to the Titans organization. We look forward to more opportunities to highlight streets and neighborhoods across the state of Tennessee.”

The Titans will spotlight the below Jefferson Street businesses and business owners:

• The College Crib Urban Greek & Clothing Co. – Owner(s): Hortense Price Jones (President), Treachery Price (Vice President)
• Jefferson Street Sound – Owner: Lorenzo Washington
• Najeal’s Hair Studio – Owner: Renea Jones
• EG & MC Cocktail & Tapas Bar – Owner(s): Clint Gray, Gemaal Pratts, E.J. Reed, & Derrick ‘Mo’ Moore
• Woodcuts Gallery & Framing – Owner: Nathaniel Harris
• Tennessee Tribune – Owner(s): Rosetta Miller-Perry & Wanda Miller-Benson
• Alkebu-Lan Images – Owner: Jordan Harris
• Silver Sands Café – Owner: Sophia Vaughn

The Tennessee Titans 2022 schedule is here and is set to be an exciting one that features four primetime games including a Thursday Night Football matchup against the Dallas Cowboys at Nissan Stadium.

As previously announced, the Titans will head to Buffalo in Week 2 to play the Bills on Monday Night Football. But Tennessee will kick things off with a home opener against the New York Giants on Sept. 11. The Titans will be tested early as they play three of their first five games on the road before a bye week in Week 6.

Later in the season, the Titans will make a trip to Lambeau Field to take on Aaron Rodgers the the Green Bay Packers on Nov. 17 on Thursday Night Football on Prime Video. Tennessee will also face Matt Ryan and the Colts twice before Week 10 which will be extremely important for the AFC South Division race.

The Bengals will visit Nissan Stadium on Nov. 27 in a rematch of the AFC Divisional Playoff contest from last season and are set to take on the Kansas City Chiefs on Nov. 6 on Sunday Night Football. Another big game fans should look out for is when the Titans play the Eagles and former wide receiver AJ Brown in Philadelphia on Dec. 4.

Full Tennessee Titans schedule:

Week 1

vs. New York Giants on Sunday, September 11

Week 2

at Buffalo Bills on Monday, September 19 (MNF)

Week 3

vs. Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, September 25

Week 4

at Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, October 2

Week 5

at Washington Commanders on Sunday, October 9

Week 6

BYE on Sunday, October 16

Week 7

vs. Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, October 23

Week 8

at Houston Texans on Sunday, October 30

Week 9

at Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, November 6 (SNF)

Week 10

vs. Denver Broncos on Sunday, November 13

Week 11

at Green Bay Packers on Thursday, November 17 (TNF)

Week 12

vs. Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, November 27

Week 13

at Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, December 4

Week 14

vs. Jacksonville Jaguars on  Sunday, December 11

Week 15

at Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, December 18

Week 16

vs. Houston Texans on Saturday, December 24

Week 17

vs. Dallas Cowboys on Thursday, December 29 (TNF)

Week 18

at Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday, January 8 or Sunday, January 9

In its inaugural season, the Williamson County Flag Football League has garnered local and statewide attention for its dedication to growing the sport of football and making it inclusive for everyone.

The Tennessee Titans, who have supported this since before it started, will be hosting a tournament at Nissan Stadium on May 7 where a winner will be crowned.

The league is currently a club sport but the league leaders are pushing for it to become a sanctioned TSSAA sport.

Titans Director of Marketing – Youth & Community Engagement Josh Corey has experience helping develop a girl’s flag football league from a club sport to a state recognized high school program from his time as a coach and administrator at Duval County Public Schools in Jacksonville, Florida.

“It was something that I thought was a great opportunity for us here in Tennessee,” Corey shares with The Sports Credential. “It took a little while to lay the ground work, but we’ve received a tremendous response from school districts that we’ve talked to, the TSSAA and a lot of different partners who would’ve made this come to fruition.”

A little over a year ago, Corey spoke with Williamson County School System Athletic Directory Darrin Joines to try and start this league which the Titans would back. The support from the community and high school football programs was a huge part of making it a reality.

“The coaches I talked to were extremely excited about the potential for doing this,” Corey notes. “It was about a year ago when we planned it out. We knew it would take a little bit of time to do it right… And here we are now.”

The current schools fielding teams in the league are Ravenwood, Summit, Fairview, Independence, Nolensville, Brentwood, Centennial, Page and Franklin. To prove how serious this league is, all teams are being coached by a football head coach, former head coach or assistant coach, meaning these girls are be learning real plays from coaches with decades of experience.

Both the Titans and the NFL are working together to promote safe and fun youth football for both boys and girls. Currently Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Alaska and Nevada are the only states that have sanctioned high school girls flag football programs. However, between the reaction from the Williamson County community, coaches and the support from the Titans, Tennessee could be next in line.

“[It’s amazing to] have the opportunity to be a part of something on the ground level and know tha,t if it goes well and people get interested in it, it could be the next TSSAA sport,” Ravenwood High School football head coach Will Hester explains. “The idea of getting to do something that nobody has done at the high school level in Tennessee, getting a chance to coach the girls, and getting to coach some of those ladies before they leave and go off to their college sports was very intriguing to me.”

During Hester’s first three years in Middile Tennessee, Ravenwood won three region championships, one State Runner-up, and one State Championship, and amassed a record of 38-4 over that period. He later left Ravenwood for Nolensville High School which only had freshmen and sophomores who competed at the 4A level. In their second year with only freshman, sophomores and juniors, they became the first school in Tennessee history to qualify for and win a playoff game without a senior in the school.

Hester returned to Ravenwood in December of 2020 after spending three seasons with Florence High School in Alabama, leading the team to two playoff appearances and one quarter finals appearance.

The flag football league was attractive to so many young female student-athletes that it surpassed Hester’s expectations. So many different athletes and non-athletes were eager to jump at this new opportunity because of their overall love for football.

“There’s been a lot of interest in the community and a lot of media coverage of it,” Hester adds. “It’s hitting the girls that play other sports, but it’s also giving some female athletes that haven’t played anything else the chance to get involved in another sport. There’s also some girls who aren’t involved in athletics at all, but it gives them an option to try something.”

As a football lover himself, Hester enjoys coaching football to anyone and everyone, and loves coaching a fresh set of athletes who’ve never played before.

“It’s been reinvigorating for me,” Hester shares. “Most of the guys I coach already have a preconceived notion of what football should be, what they’ve learned or what they’ve been taught over the years. These girls are kind of starting fresh, so we’re getting to coach football in its simplest and most rudimentary form. That’s been fun for me to try and teach the game to someone who may not know much about the game.

“A lot of these girls have very high athletic IQs. We relate flag football defense to defense in soccer where the girls are used to marking up other girls and playing zones.”

After May 7’s tournament at Nissan Stadium, the next step is to continue to grow by getting more schools, coaches and girls involved–ultimately creating a bigger demand for the sport. The goal being to hopefully get the sport sanctioned by the TSSAA and spread to Davidson County as soon as spring of 2023.

“We have met with Mark North, the District Athletic Director for Metro schools. Logically our next step is to try to get Davidson County on board,” Corey sums. “We’re talking about adding 15 schools with [Metro schools] in 2023, and we’re open to expanding out to Sumner County and Rutherford County, as well as some of our surrounding Nashville footprint.”