Tennessee Titans announcer and Vice President of broadcasting, Mike Keith, has seen some great moments during his career, but what are the top three in his mind?
Keith answered that question and more during a Q&A with Jim Wyatt of Titans Online ahead of his 2021 Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame induction.
Keith listed the “Music City Miracle” as his No. 1 moment, which any Titans fan probably could have guessed. Coming in second on his list was the team’s 2019 playoff upset of the New England Patriots.
Rounding out the top three might be the biggest surprise on his list, as Keith named Tennessee’s playoff victory over the Indianapolis Colts in 1999, which came in the next round after the “Music City Miracle” game.
Keith explained why, and provided a great story in the process:
“Number three will probably surprise you, but our 1999 playoff win at Indianapolis,” Keith revealed. “We had just beaten the Buffalo Bills in the Music City Miracle game and were supposed to be done. After all, we couldn’t be expected to bounce back after using all that emotion? Plus, it was our first game against Peyton Manning. I covered Manning for all four years at Tennessee and really enjoyed working with him. He was a total pro when he was 17 years old, just like he is today in 2021. That week, I gave an interview to a national writer who realized that I had been at Tennessee with Manning. I said nice things about him (as I was taught to do by my mother!), but when the article came out, the writer claimed that I was probably be rooting for Peyton Manning over the Tennessee Titans! I was mortified, especially because everyone around the Titans office started teasing me incessantly about it, including Jeff Fisher. It was brutal and I was just sick. Coming off the Music City Miracle call, I was cut down to size within hours from all of the ribbing that I took leading up to January 16, 2000. So when we beat the Colts in Indianapolis, I was fired up…and relieved! It was a great game by Eddie George and Blaine Bishop, two of the best individual performances that I have ever witnessed by Titans. I learned the lesson that in the NFL, even if you really value and like someone on another NFL team, don’t talk about him!”
Keith recalls that he was about as “fired-up” after the Colts game as he had ever been as a broadcaster, and there were an estimated thousands awaiting the team’s return to the airport following the contest.
Keith wasn’t the only member of the organization to receive an honor during the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Saturday.
The Titans were named the “2021 Professional Team of the Year” and running back Derrick Henry was awarded the “Tennessean of the Year.”
In case you missed the ceremony, you can watch it in its entirety right here.
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