Music City Miracle Scored More Than Just Points

As my game of Blitz was reaching the end of a quarter at the local skate center, I reached into my Detroit Lions Velcro wallet to get another quarter in order to finish the game. One of my friends asked why I had a Detroit Lions wallet.

That was certainly not an unusual question, in fact, it was more than warranted. As I turned to answer him, anyone in the skate center could have noticed my bright-yellow shirt. I looked like a mini cheese-head wearing my Brett Favre shirt.

At eight-years-old, I was a fan of the game of football, with no particular allegiance to any team. I had a loyal following to the players who gave their all which was evident by my Brett Favre t-shirt and my wallet which I devoted to Barry Sanders, my favorite running back of all time.

Although I truly loved the game, I found my favoritism changing from playoff season to playoff season. One year I was a Packers fan, another year a Vikings fan and even a Broncos fan. As a resident of Nashville, I did not have a team in which to show my loyalty and devotion. I was like a truck driver. Ready to deliver a truck full of goods, but with no destination.

A few weeks after the questions from my friend had passed, I found myself sitting in my third-grade classroom working on my cursive handwriting and my report on music sensation Ray Charles. As I was crossing my t's and dotting my I's, my teacher's husband walked into the classroom donning a very noticeable yellow sticker on his rain jacket.

As I looked closer, the sticker read, "NFL YES." Nashville, at the time, was voting on whether or not to become the new home for the Houston Oilers. This caught my attention, and I thought that if the Oilers moved to Tennessee, then I would finally have a team of my own to cheer on.

As we all know, the vote eventually passed and the the Oilers became the Tennessee Titans. I was a fan of the Titans because they moved to my home city, but the day that they earned a spot in my heart forever was the day of the Music City Miracle.

In their first year in Nashville, they earned a playoff spot and a home game at that. This was the first playoff game I watched as a true fan. I did not mix Packer yellow, Viking purple and Bronco orange any longer. I bled Titan blue. As Kevin Dyson secured the victory over the Bills, running closer to the endzone, I could see my loyalty to other teams running away, making room for the Titans in my heart.

The Titans eventually won that game and made it to the Super Bowl. They have had many other good seasons, making it to the playoffs many times after that. They also have had their fair share of poor seasons, but through it all, I have stuck with them, all because of the Music City Miracle and the citizens of Nashville voting 'YES' to an NFL team.