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Those low down and dirty Tennessee Vols stole The Voice of the Titans out of Nashville

Drew Franklinby:Drew Franklin•01/09/25•

DrewFranklinKSR

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Titans Radio broadcasters Mike Keith, Rhett Bryan and Dave McGinnis call the Titans game against the Vikings Nissan Stadium for their radio broadcast during the game Thursday, Aug. 30, 2018, in Nashville, Tenn. (George Walker IV / Tennessean.com)

The Tennessee Vols gave several Kentucky fans another reason to hate them by hiring a new play-by-play radio announcer familiar to Kentuckians west of I-65. On Thursday, Tennessee announced Mike Keith will be the new “Voice of the Vols,” replacing Bob Kesling at the end of the 2024-25 college basketball season. The changing of the guard in the Vols’ radio booth is significant to Big Blue Nation because Keith is the longtime voice of the Tennessee Titans, the favorite NFL team of many Kentucky fans.

I am one of those Kentucky fans whose NFL fandom crossed the state line from Western Kentucky into Tennessee when the NFL moved to nearby Nashville in 1997. The Titans are the local team to the 270 area code, like the Bengals to Central Kentucky, and Keith’s radio calls have been broadcast to that side of the state for nearly 30 years.

The first and only “Voice of the Titans,” Keith voiced the Music City Miracle in 1999, when the ball was kicked high and short, fielded by Lorenzo Neal at the 25, pitched back to Wycheck, thrown across the field to Dyson (he’s got something) and THERE WERE NO FLAGS ON THE FIELD. Coincidentally, yesterday was the 25th anniversary of the Music City Miracle and Keith’s famous call, which was a ringtone on my Samsung cell phone for a couple of years when ringtones were in.

There are flags on the field today because one of the last remaining beloved figures in the Titans organization is leaving Nashville for Knoxville. Mike Keith is a UT grad and a Vol himself, so good for him, but now “Touchdown Titans” will be “Touchdown Vols!” and we’ll never love another “Saaaaaaaaaaaack!”

It’s also becoming very hard to like the Titans, but we don’t have enough time for that list of complaints. Not on the day we lost Mike Keith.

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2025-01-12