Kudos to my Alma Mater(s)!

This has been a heck of a year for all the schools I attended and played football for on my journey to the NFL. For starters, back in January I was in Arizona to watch the Auburn Tigers win the BCS National Championship game against the Oregon Ducks. That was a great game and a start to what has become awesome year! The Georgia Southern Eagles are back on top of the polls, ranked #1 in the country for 1AA Collegiate Football in the NCAA. I played my senior season in Statesboro, GA after coaching changes occurred at Auburn while I was playing. I was part of the Division 1AA National Champion team in 2000 and it’s good to see them winning like we used to back in the day.

My high school, Trinity out of Louisville, KY, is also on top of most the polls. They are ranked #1 in the country for High School Football programs and dominating the scoreboard each week! There aren’t many teams in Louisville that will even play them. This year they have played two teams from Nashville. After winning their season opener 45-7 at Brentwood academy, Montgomery Bell Academy went to Louisville week 2 losing 66-21. The Trinity Shamrocks have also traveled and played teams from Indiana and Ohio to fill their schedule with competitive teams this year.

Last Friday, I made a short road trip 2.5 hours north with a couple friends to our hometown of Louisville, KY to watch our High School, Trinity, play their biggest rivals, St. Xavier. This is a huge game every year. When I say huge, I mean bigger than many college games. For this one, the two teams play at the University of Louisville’s Papa John’s Stadium in front of a crowd just short of 40,000 fans. I think it might have topped the 40,000 mark if the teams had been more evenly matched, but with my High School ranking #1 in most of the polls, St. X didn’t pack the stands like they usually do. I wore Titans colors as I entered the stadium, representing both teams of the Louisville Catholic School System that night. When Trinity’s Athletic Director (my former head coach, Dennis Lampley) heard I was coming into town, he asked me to do the honorary coin toss to get things started. I was excited to be part of the game. It was an awesome feeling to be recognized in my hometown like that. Trinity won the coin toss after St. X called heads and the coin landed tails.

In the end, Trinity prevailed with a commanding win of 41-6 to remain undefeated this season. It was a good game, both teams played hard and showed great sportsmanship. I was also able to catch up with my family and some older buddies I don’t get to see too often. We got back on the road after the game ended because Saturday is a work day for me and meetings would be starting at 8am… No excuses, I was expected to be back in Nashville and focused back on our opponents!

I hope the Eagles and the Rocks keep rolling as they play the second half of their seasons. It would be pretty cool to have played for three teams that all ranked #1 in the country and all in the same year!

What would make that even better is if the Titans keep playing like we are, handle our business and do something strong this year. We a currently tied with the Texans as our division leaders, but there is a lot of football left in our 16 game season, plus the playoffs. We need to keep taking it one week at a time, one game, one opponent and worry about the rest when we get there. But it would be something to be playing for the trophy in February! The focus is on the Steelers this week as we go to Pittsburgh and play some hard nosed football!

-RB2