By Jim Gehman, Engagement Insider
A tight end with Washington for two seasons, you were released in 1995 and claimed off waivers by the Houston Oilers, who would begin being referred to as the former Houston Oilers in the not too distant future.
“As soon as I got to Houston, that week, they announced that they were going to be moving to Tennessee. Wait! What? What’s going on here? I was very confused.” [Laughs]
Did you become excited for the fans in Tennessee or did you feel sorry for the longtime fans in Houston or both?
“When they announced it, we weren’t going to be moving up there until the stadium was finished. We felt bad for the fans in Houston because they had a great following with the ‘Luv ya Blue’ days.
“But it turned out to be us against the world because in the 1995 and 1996 seasons, there weren’t many people in the Astrodome. It looked empty. We were getting 15, 16 thousand fans at games. We were just wondering about Tennessee and what that would be like, but at the same time, we were kind of stuck in that reality of the lame duck years until we moved up there.
“(Team owner Bud) Adams worked out a deal to at least move to a temporary facility and play in the Liberty Bowl (in Memphis) as the Tennessee Oilers in 1997.
“We were based in Nashville and would have to fly to Memphis every game that we played there. We basically played 16 road games and finished 8-8 that year. So that wasn’t working out too well.”
And in 1998?
“We made a deal to play at Vanderbilt Stadium (in Nashville). That wasn’t a great year either. I think people were just waiting for us to shed the Oilers name and become the Titans, and become their own.”
You played a key role in the “Music City Miracle,” Tennessee’s come-from-behind 1999 AFC Wild Card playoff game victory over Buffalo. When with 16 seconds left and trailing by one, during a kickoff return, you lateraled the ball across the field to Kevin Dyson, who ran with it 75 yards for a touchdown.
“It was very ironic, because the ’93 (Wild Card playoff) game was when Buffalo came back. I think the Oilers were up 35-3 (in the second half) and I guess that was the greatest comeback in playoff history. [The Bills won in overtime, 41-38.]
“So having this ‘Music City Miracle,’ guys like Bruce Matthews and Al Del Greco and Marcus Robertson and Steve Jackson, those guys who were part of that (1993) team, had that ending against the same franchise to kind of get them back. That was the immediate feeling that I had. To get some, I wouldn’t say revenge, but just to get something back from that devastating loss that they went through.”
You played in three Pro Bowls, Super Bowl XXXIV and are a member of the Titans Ring of Honor. What’s one of your fondest memories from those days?
“After we beat Buffalo (in the 1999 playoff game) we had to go on the road for the divisional playoff game in Indianapolis against Peyton Manning. A lot of the Titan fans drove up to Indianapolis and basically took over the Hoosier Dome. That turned into almost a Titans home game.
“When we got off the plane (back in Nashville after the 19-16 win over the Colts) and got through the airport and were walking to our cars from the terminal, the airport was so packed with fans, it was mayhem. Just getting off the escalator, you’d see people… It was almost like we were a boy band. [Laughs]
“It was really surreal, but it just showed the support that the Titan fans had for us. That was just a magical year.”
After nine years with the Titans, you retired following the 2003 season and began a second career as a sports radio co-host at 104-5 The Zone in Nashville. Was becoming a broadcaster something you’d thought about doing while you were still playing?
“I grew up in Philadelphia, and my dad always listened to sports radio, 610 WIP. And I enjoyed it, the banter back and forth, and said, ‘That’d be a pretty cool job one day if I could ever do that.’
“I had the opportunity maybe the last four or five years I was playing, hosting a player’s show. We’d do at a sports bar. I’d bring a teammate out to interview as a guest, with another host.
“And when I was done playing, I took a year off, and then had the opportunity to be offered a spot to start this new morning show called Wake Up Zone in Nashville. I’ve been doing battle with a partner of mine, Mark Howard, for 12 years, going back and forth. It’s been a really fun ride.
“I got into it because I wanted to change the messaging from just painting someone with a broad brush and trying to correct the journalists, if you will, who say ‘this guy stinks’ or ‘he dropped a pass, so he has bad hands.’ Just try to challenge the process of why certain things happen.
“There’s a rhythm and a reason and there’s always some little details that happened in a game that sometimes journalists don’t see. And that’s why I wanted to get into this and just try to put some perspective on some things. I try to bring my football expertise to the microphone.”
Also the color analyst for games on the Titans Radio Network, is it difficult at times to critique guys who are in the same shoes you were once in?
“I always said that I could critique a player, but I’d never cross the line and be disrespectful. Everyone knows they made a mistake even before the players watch the (game) film. You’re always dreading that as a player.
“I try to use my football intelligence to explain as quick as I can, why that play happened and why that was the outcome. Just tell it like it is and call it like you see it. Be honest.
“I enjoy it because I still get to X and O, watch film on other teams, be prepared. Getting into the stadiums and getting down on the field and get those senses going; I still feel an extension of being a player without the headaches and the hits.
“And I feel like as a tight end, I bring a lot to the table because I’ve done everything. I played wide receiver, I played running back, I played tight end, I played on the offensive line where I would have to pass protect against sometimes one of the best rushers on the opposing team. So I have a perspective of coming from a place where I felt like I could really speak on the nuances of the game through my lens and what I went through.”
What’s the best thing about being Frank Wycheck today?
“To have one of 32 jobs in the world, to be able to be a color analyst for an NFL team, it’s a privilege. I still get to be a part of this great game. And also being the dad of two daughters that I adore. I guess that’s the best part of being Frank Wycheck.”