A Denver Broncos fan (@ryanandjimmy) living in Nashville is wondering why Tennessee Titans fans are leaving early.
“If you’ve ever been in Nashville, there’s a bridge that goes across from downtown,” he starts in a recent viral video. “It goes over [Cumberland River] and leads you to Nissan Stadium. And when you’re on the bridge, you can see a little bit into the stadium. It’s kind of a cool thing. I went on a run, and I timed it to be there in the fourth quarter.”
But he saw people leaving the game, and thought he had mistimed his job. “I was like, “Oh man, I must have really timed it wrong. Something must have happened. Whatever. That’s kind of a bummer.”
Why Were Tennessee Titans Fans Done For the Day?
Something must have happened, as in perhaps the Titans were getting blown out in their home opener versus the Los Angeles Rams this month. The Titans have been a terrible football team for the last few years. The club has gone 16-35 in the previous three seasons, coming into this year. Last season’s 3-14 record secured they’d receive the first overall pick in the 2025 draft, where they selected record-setting Miami quarterback Cameron Ward. They had already lost their season opener—incidentally to the Broncos, in a close game.
He continued on his way, “and I finally get to where I can see into the stadium, and I can see the score. I couldn’t believe what I saw. The Titans at the time were only down by 4 points with 12 minutes to go in the fourth quarter.”
From here, imagine it from the Titans’ standpoint, from inside the stadium. Rams QB Matthew Stafford has just thrown a touchdown to take a 20-16 lead at the end of the third quarter. As a Titans fan, against a Super Bowl contender, it might be time to get ahead of traffic. Thus, the mass exodus this TikToker witnessed on his run.
But he makes several strong points.
“You can’t even stay for a one-score game in the 4th quarter?” he asks. “Now, I know it ended up not being close, but still, you gotta stay for your team. Cheer for your team and root them on. That was disappointing. Titans fans, y’all gotta do better.”
He’s right; it wasn’t close. The Rams scored two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter and won going away, 33-19. As of this writing, the Titans are 0-3 on the season.
Why Are Titans Fans Bad?
Compared to teams with 100-year histories, the Titans only began in Nashville in the late ’90s. So the tradition isn’t particularly rich. Also, the team plays professional ball in the heart of college football country, so that may impact the city center’s collective enthusiasm because they’re still hungover from Saturday’s game.
And just look at the man who called out the fans in the first place: He’s a Denver Broncos fan but he lives in Nashville. He’s not alone.
According to CNBC, the city of Nashville added 100 residents a day in 2022. Many of them arrived with per-existing loyalties to other NFL teams. According to Google Trends, the Tennessee Titans have drawn comparable search volume as the Dallas Cowboys over the past 30 days… within the state of Tennessee.
Lastly, Nashville is a city known for its bachelorette parties and music; even the massively popular NFL has to compete for attention there too.
We’ve reached out to @ryanandjimmy for comment.
@ryanandjimmy Titans fans, yall should do better than that… #tennesseetitans #titans #nfl #nashville #nissanstadium ♬ original sound – Ryan & Jimmy
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