Keith Bulluck reacts to not getting Titans Radio call, Ramon Foster replacing Coach Mac, and Chris Johnson’s ALS battle
The former Titans first-round pick was joined by longtime Nashville media personality Jonathan Hutton for what sounds like it will become a weekly show on the channel
Keith Bulluck addressed the Tennessee Titans Radio color analyst decision, the franchise’s rebranding direction, and former teammate Chris Johnson’s ALS diagnosis in a wide-ranging conversation on his Bullseye View YouTube channel.
The former Titans first-round pick was joined by longtime Nashville media personality Jonathan Hutton for what sounds like it will become a weekly show on the channel (which honestly sounds to me like one of the more unique products in the market).
Hutton kicked it off by pointing out the Spider-Man meme connection between the two of them, given that neither landed a Titans Radio gig.
“You’re like me, you didn’t get the Titans radio gig,” Hutton joked.
Hutton interviewed for the play-by-play role after Mike Keith left Titans Radio for the Tennessee Vols Radio Network a couple years ago, but Taylor Zarzour got the hire.
When Dave McGinnis unfortunately passed away in mid-April, the color analyst seat opened, and Bulluck publicly threw his hat in the ring on his YouTube channel back in early May.
That comment came after a Paul Kuharsky column listed potential candidates to follow McGinnis in the booth without mentioning Bulluck.
“Yo, how am I not a candidate? I didn’t get an honorable mention?” Bulluck said at the time. “I want to throw my hat in the ring for that.”
Bulluck on the Ramon Foster hire and the Titans’ ‘complete rebrand’
Bulluck said he never received a call from the Titans and wasn’t expecting one.
The job went to Ramon Foster, who co-hosts 104.5 The Zone’s morning show and spent 11 years with the Pittsburgh Steelers, even though he grew up in Tennessee and played college football in the state.
“First and foremost, I think Ramon Foster is a great pickup. Doing his thing, he’s been putting in work. So it has absolutely nothing to do with Ramon Foster. He’s great,” Bulluck said. “There are a lot of people within the Titans lineage that work within the radio that could have been, you know, not a former Pittsburgh Steeler.”
“If I were in Vols country, the Vols are not going to hire a Gator. You’re not going to hire Chris Doering to do Vols radio.”
Bulluck ultimately looked at the decision as part of a business calculation.
“You just got to look at it as a complete rebrand. That’s just what it is. Rebrand, you move on. You got the new logo, which is cool. You’re about to get the new stadium. So this is the new Titans Radio, and that’s what’s up. But it just kind of off the old brand, so that’s why you just gotta accept it and move on.”
The former linebacker also confirmed he did not pursue or seriously entertain the sideline reporter rotation role Tennessee created for its radio broadcasts. Marc Mariani, Kevin Dyson, Ben Jones, and Brad Hopkins are the four former players publicly attached to that rotation.
“That’s not something I wanted to do, you know. Even that just would have been just a conversation, because I already have a schedule, you know what I mean.”
Bulluck on Chris Johnson’s ALS diagnosis
Bulluck and Hutton shared their emotion and memories in reaction to former Titans running back Chris Johnson’s recent announcement of his ALS diagnosis. Bulluck and Johnson were teammates during the 2008 and 2009 seasons.
“It’s unfortunate news that just came out. I had known for a while. When I say a while, probably since like January or February when I found out,” Bulluck said. “It’s just kind of something I put in the back of my mind. I have my moment with it because Chris was at a time where he was trying to figure everything out. So you got to give the man his space.”
Bulluck said Johnson’s decision to go public brought him a measure of relief.
“With him coming out over the last week about his diagnosis, I think I was kind of relieved and happy for him because obviously his physical condition has deteriorated and gone south, but his mental is there. And Chris is a strong person. I know he’s going to keep fighting and there’s a lot of things he can still accomplish.”
“I’m one of those people that’s going to be on the front line with him and his family throughout this.”
Hutton mentioned former Titan Tim Shaw, who has been living with ALS for 12 years. Bulluck said Shaw is one of “my guys”, noting that the two earned their MBAs together and have stayed close, even though their Titans careers actually didn’t overlap.
“We got close during that (MBA) process, and I found out about (his ALS diagnosis) during that process. I’ve tried to be close with Tim, talk with Tim a few times a year, visit with him,” Bulluck said.
Check the full episode on the Bullseye View YouTube channel. The Bulluck-Hutton duo looks like it could become a go-to for Titans fans this season.