Nashville Sports Report

Titans Make Jeffery Simmons Highest-Paid DT Ever | USMNT Wins Group & Preds Trade | Officer Kurt Cook

• Russell Ries • Season 1 • Episode 8

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0:00 | 40:22

The Tennessee Titans made a franchise-defining move this week, signing Jeffery Simmons to a record-breaking extension that makes him the highest-paid defensive tackle in NFL history. Russell Ries breaks down what the deal means for the Titans' future and why locking up "Big Jeff" was the right move.

Also on this episode:

🏈 Titans minicamp wraps up as Cam Ward continues to impress coaches Robert Saleh and Brian Daboll. With new weapons like Carnell Tate and Wan'Dale Robinson, is Tennessee's offense ready to take a major leap in 2026?

⚽ The US Men's National Team defeats Australia 2-0 to advance to the World Cup knockout stage and secure first place in their group. Russell discusses the USMNT's strong start, Alex Freeman's goal, and why expectations should be rising for this team.

🏒 The Nashville Predators stay busy ahead of the NHL Draft, acquiring Ross Colton from Colorado, retaining head coach Andrew Brunette, and adding Jamie Langenbrunner to the front office.

⚾ The Nashville Sounds fall behind in the division race after a tough week against Memphis but still have time to close the gap as the season continues.

Plus, Russell sits down with Metro Nashville Police Officer Kurt Cook to discuss his sports background and what it's like working traffic control at some of Nashville's biggest sporting events.

Links:

Topics Covered:

  • Jeffery Simmons contract extension
  • Tennessee Titans minicamp updates
  • Cam Ward development
  • Robert Saleh and Brian Daboll
  • USMNT vs Australia World Cup recap
  • USMNT knockout stage outlook
  • Nashville Predators trade for Ross Colton
  • NHL Draft preview
  • Nashville Sounds update
  • Interview with Officer Kurt Cook

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SPEAKER_00

A lot of in my in the last couple years, you know, it's been kind of just playing true technique right at the line of scrimmage, holding on to a double team. I remember my first going out there on the field with white cotton, and I'm I'm used to playing doubles. Like, you know, when I get out when I feel a double team, I'm sitting at the line of scrimmage, I'm kind of holding my uh ground. And, you know, he throwed it in the meeting room and said, This is not how we play. You know, this is not how this defense plays. We're attacking up the field. And, you know, that's my game. I like to play on the other side of the line of scrimmage, you know, but at that time, you know, when I know it's run, you know, you kind of change the technique. But with this particular defense, you know, if you're playing at a line of scrimmage, you're not playing it this style of defense.

SPEAKER_01

Good morning, afternoon, or evening to you, wherever you're listening from. It is Saturday, June 20th. My name is Russell Reese, and this is the Nashville Sports Report. All right, welcome into the show. We started today's show with a clip from Titans defensive tackle Jeffrey Simmons, speaking to the media earlier this week about the new defensive mindset under head coach Robert Sala. This press conference was actually recorded before the Titans announced a new record-breaking extension for Simmons that will make him the highest paid defensive tackle of all time. It's a three-year extension worth $105.8 million with a hundred million guaranteed. The extension builds on Big Jeff's current contract, which still has two years left. Overall, it keeps him under contract with the Titans for the next five years. This is a huge, if not unexpected, move by the Titans. Simmons has been the face of the franchise and the centerpiece of the defense for a few years now. Talent and physical gifts like his are rare, and the Titans are smart to lock him up for the foreseeable future. Thirty-five million a year for a defensive tackle of his caliber doesn't seem too outrageous right now and will only look better as the Sally Cap rises over the duration of his contract. This is the kind of smart move that successful franchises make, so it's exciting to see the Titans making it. In other Titans news, the team completed a two-day mandatory Mindy Camp this week. Based on reports out of camp, Cam Ward has continued to make progress in his quest to master the offense and drew praise from head coach Robert Sala and offensive coordinator Brian Dable. With new additions at receiver like Carnell Tate and Wandell Robinson, Cam and the Titans' offense seem poised to make a big jump this year. With minicamp over, the Titans now enter into their summer break until the start of training camp in late July. This is the longest break in the year around NFL schedule, and we probably won't hear a lot of news from the team until training camp ramps back up. While the Titans were announcing the Jeffrey Simmons extension, the U.S. men's national team was taking on Australia in their second World Cup match. Much like in their first match against Paraguay, the U.S. got on the board fairly early thanks to an old goal.

SPEAKER_02

Alleghen has a step on Tricani. Balogun to the byline. Balogun into the middle dead! It's the United States wants to get on the board early. Ricardo Pepe was dead, wasn't perhaps last off the defender. Who cares? It's one nil U.S.

SPEAKER_01

Later in the half, the U.S. got a second goal thanks to Alex Freeman following up a deflected shot from Sergino Dentist. While initially ruled offside, the video assistant referee or VAR would rule that Freeman was onside and the goal stood.

SPEAKER_02

Robinson facing it back. Serginho Dennis blocked. Or maybe not. The flag comes up for offside. Freeman thought he was celebrating a World Cup goal.

SPEAKER_01

2-0 would prove to be the winning margin as the U.S. held on and officially advanced to the knockout stages with the win. Even better for the U.S., a Paraguay victory over Turkey late last night meant that they also won their group and will have a more favorable seating in the knockout stages as a result. They will still face Turkey this Thursday at 9 p.m., but the results of that game will not affect their standings. They will go on to face the third place team from one of groups B, E, F, I, or J on July 1st at 7 p.m. This is only the third time a U.S. men's team has won their group, with the last being 2010. Based on the results and the form they've shown through the first two games, it's not unreasonable to have high hopes as they head into the knockout stages. Perhaps they aren't yet at the level of some of the elite contenders, but I think the U.S. will be a tough out from this tournament, and nobody will be feeling happy to face them. Exciting times to be a US men's team fan. Moving now to the Predators, they had a busy week as they get ready for the NHL draft, which is this coming Friday and Saturday. First, GM Chris McFarlane made a trade with his old team, the Colorado Avalanche, trading two third-round picks, one for this year and one for next year, and the rights to unrestricted free agent goalie Magnus Crona for center Ross Colton and goalie Isaac Posh. Colton is the centerpiece of the trade and projects as a middle sixth center, but can also play on the wing if needed. He could also be a desirable trade asset down the line if the Preds find themselves out of the running come the trade deadline. Later in the week, McFarlane announced that the Predators will retain Andrew Brunett and his coaching staff this season, and that he has hired Jamie Langenbrunner as special assistant to the GM. Langenbrunner will add to the growing brain trust around McFarlane and will primarily focus on professional and collegiate scouting. Now the Preds turn their attention to the NHL draft where they have the tenth overall pick. Finally, the Nashville Sounds went to Memphis this week, one game behind the Redbirds for the division lead. However, they now find themselves four games back after losing three of the first four in the series. They have two more against the Redbirds before they head home again to start a six-game series against the Gwinnett Snappers here in Nashville. My guest this week is Officer Kurt Cook of the Metro Nashville Police Department. Officer Cook serves in the East Precinct and is a pretty big sports fan. I got to chat with him about his sports background and what it's like to work traffic control for sporting events around town. It was a really interesting conversation, and I hope you enjoy. Well, Kurt, thank you so much for joining us today. I really appreciate you coming on. We've known each other for a while now, and I thought it would be interesting to talk to you in your capacity as a police officer about what the experience is like for you and members of the force when working sporting events and dealing with in and around sporting events. But before we get into that, of course, I'm gonna ask you the same questions I ask everyone. That's fair. Starting with number one, what is your favorite sport to play?

SPEAKER_03

Ultimate Frisbee. It was like something I started playing in high school. I was really lame in high school and on the debate team for all four years, and a big part of like summer activities, like maybe debate camps or whatever, but ultimate frisbee is big there and just combines like a lot of things I enjoy. I get to run a lot, it's fast-paced, accuracy is really prized, and it's something I've always kind of enjoyed.

unknown

Right.

SPEAKER_01

And do you still throw a disc at all? Get out on the disc golf course. Is that where Ultimate Frisbee players retire to uh frisbee golf?

SPEAKER_03

I mean that that that is a very like common pathway for them to retire. No, I mean I feel like I don't have enough free time anymore with work to like get into and keep playing with something I'd like to get back into, but I'm still always happy when I get to throw a good, you know, 168 grain regulation way, feels great in hand.

SPEAKER_01

Sure, totally 168, 175. Those are good weights, yeah. I feel you. Okay, well, what is your favorite sport to watch then? I should mention too, last week I was doing the number two, but I don't feel like I really need to.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, that's that's fair.

SPEAKER_01

Hit a little sports talk there, but anyways, back to you, the interview guest. What is your favorite sport to watch?

SPEAKER_03

On TV, it'd definitely be football. I'll I'll like watch every game I can. Yeah, I mean, definitely, you know, with my like schedule at work now, I'm able to watch a good amount of football, which is nice. You know, like a normal afternoon for my wife and I on a Sunday is like to watch every game from start till the end of the nighttime game when we get tired. In person, it's definitely hockey. Like hockey is outstanding, it's hard, it's impossible to beat. I've uh finally bit the bullet and decided to get season tickets to something, and it's the preds for the first time ever. It's a quarter season, but like, yeah, I'll I'll watch as much hockey as I can.

SPEAKER_01

That's awesome. And when you guys are watching at home, are you a full game kind of family? Are you red zone channel or a mix of the two? How's that work?

SPEAKER_03

So it'll uh it'll be the main TV will have a game on it, and then there's a secondary TV that'll have a second game, and then there's a third monitor that will have red zone. If like the sunlight's right, we'll we built a screen porch years ago with the help of my brother and my brother-in-law, and I've got a harn 10-inch projection screen out there, and we'll usually have a game out there and then move like a side monitor and a side TV out. There's or if I leave my wife to her own devices, there'll be like four games going on at once on the main screen, and she's happy to just like flip between them with the audio, but we'll as much as we possibly can.

SPEAKER_01

It puts me in mind of Mr. Gaddy's pizza, and they used to do a big projection screen. A quick story about myself again. First Tom Brady's Super Bowl was my junior year of high school, and I had a teacher who was from Boston, they hadn't won anything at this point, and we had a big test coming up the following day, and he said, if the Patriots win, no test, everybody gets an A. And of course, they were massive underdogs to the Rams that game. And I remember watching at the Mr. Gaddies on Murphy Road as the Patriots beat the Rams and being incredibly grateful because I had decided not to study at all for that test. The one and only time I enjoyed Tom Brady and his shenanigans.

SPEAKER_03

I think we've all got great memories of that. I was like the weird run through the playoffs with the tuck rule and everything. And I mean, I fully expected the Rams to win that Super Bowl.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I think I was still hurting from the previous year. Okay, so what is your earliest sports memories?

SPEAKER_03

I mean, just like earliest total would be playing T ball in I had to be like four, I think probably four or five, living in Vancouver, Washington. It's just across the border from Portland, Oregon. I I vividly, for whatever reason, remember trying to like line up the bat so I could actually hit the T-ball, hit the ball off the T. It's always always stuck with me. And then I I ended up playing a ton of baseball growing up and loving that and going to like baseball camps in the summer and it became like a big part of my life.

SPEAKER_01

So what uh what position were you playing? I was frequently left field. Okay.

SPEAKER_03

So more of a more of a slugger position. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01

We need your bat, and I guess we gotta put you out on the field somewhere. Get on a big bigger. Yeah, I'd like to think myself that way, yeah. Hey, far better than I was. Uh yeah, I could I couldn't swing a bat to save my life. I could catch a ball, but baseball was not to be for me.

SPEAKER_03

So yeah, I think you know, I remember like one camp where it got clocked like in you know, like 69 or 70 miles an hour like pitching, and I was like, okay, I'll take that. Like, I'm never gonna do better than that. Yeah, that's awesome. That's how we're stuck.

SPEAKER_01

All right, we're gonna get into some more more different and interesting questions now. How did you end up in Nashville? You mentioned gr being playing t-ball in Vancouver, Washington. That's a long ways away.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I've man, I lived a lot of places before here, but immediately before Nashville, I was living in Salt Lake City, Utah. I went to college there, and I was working for the Cheesecake Factory of all things. Like my best friend in town had just gotten promoted to being a manager for the cheesecake factory in their kitchen, and they asked to move out to Tennessee, and he just came up to me randomly one day at work and was like, hey man, you want to move to Nashville? Like, give me a couple hours, I'll think about it. And I don't think he was expecting that answer. Because I had nothing time to Salt Lake. My brother had been living with me, but he just moved out uh to Indiana. So it's probably a good point to just like make a dramatic change. And I'd never lived in the south and came out here and did some restaurant openings with them and started like training a lot of their staff. And one thing led to another. I went through bartending for a while, and for the last four years I've been a cop.

SPEAKER_01

Wow. Okay, so you fought you chased the cheesecake factory out here. Kind of. I mean, it was it was like a way to move to a new place. No, it's awesome. I've got a job when I get there, so I'll take that, you know. Which was the first cheesecake factory you worked at when you came to town?

SPEAKER_03

Oh man, so I was initially supposed to work at the one in Cool Springs. They wanted me to help open that one and train staff, but I didn't want to work in Cool Springs, I wanted to be closer to downtown, which was the Green Hills location. So I strategically informed corporate that I was living with a manager, which is my buddy. Nice. And well, yeah, and he was corporate policy. We can't we can't work at the same location. Oh nice and forced them to transfer me to the other one. Brilliant. Yeah, they they weren't, I don't know if they were thrilled about that, but you know, if they're gonna give me a copy of the rule book, I'll use it.

SPEAKER_01

Use your rules against them. It just shows how well you know and understand the cheesecake factory brand. And I think that's to be commended and rewarded with you work the system and the system works for you, I think. So kudos.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I mean, it was as much as it's like a soulless corporate restaurant. I I definitely learned a lot there. You know, hard work was rewarded. Like I felt like I was able to climb the ranks quickly with just caring.

SPEAKER_01

Cheesecake factory may be many things, but you're not gonna leave there wanting more food or disappointed by what you were served, I think personally.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I'd agree. And you know, seeing how the the sausage is made, so to speak, like their scratch recipes, like the I remember people ask me, like, what's in the mashed potatoes? And I mean it's like potatoes, salt, and butter. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Like that's that's it. God bless them. Well, okay, you got any off-menu cheesecake recipe hacks or suggestions for our legion of cheesecake factories?

SPEAKER_03

Nothing crazy I can think of. I mean, that there was stuff I was able to work with, like the cooks offhand that they do. Okay, it's more of a one-off you know, Louisiana Cajun pasta, but I know they have dried whajios in back, so I'd I'd like to talk to them and like build up with some whajios in there. You might get shot down at the table if you try that.

SPEAKER_01

Do you ever go now and try and drop knowledge? Be like, I I know you got whajios back there. Come on. Take that kind of knowledge and wearing police officers' uniform. I think you're gonna get the whajios. I think. I think it'll happen. Just shoot on back there and uh let's see what we can make. Okay, so that was an interesting way to end up in Nashville, and one of the more enjoyable answers. You are an unfortunate Vikings fan in real life, right? Yeah, I mean it's it's my cross to bear. Okay, so Nashville-wise, it sounds like maybe the Predators would be your favorite team. That's the next question. Is what's your favorite national sports team?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, definitely, definitely the predators. I left Minnesota. I I lived in Minnesota for a bit, but I left there like the year they got the wild. Never really got attached to it. Moved to Utah at that point, too. Yeah, I must have been like 10. So didn't really have a hockey team growing up. Have I gone to some minor league teams in Vancouver, Washington, gone to some of those games? But yeah, the Preds are like my first NHL game was the Preds, and it was Preds caps. I remember I was with a buddy of mine that was working with at the greenhouse at the time in Green Hills, and he learned that I'd never gone to a hockey game before. And like we've both been like we we played inside a couple weeks in advance, but we made sure to get like seats on the glass. Nice, like attacking and man, it was it was a lot of money, but at the time, like I loved it. I had like a good friend of mine that was like, no, dude, like, yeah, I'll spend $250 on a ticket, like, so you can go to your first NHL game and I can be there. Like, it was a ton of fun.

SPEAKER_01

That's a great way to go to your first NHL game. You know, it's really interesting too because it's like it's a whole different experience than what probably become more of the normal if you're anything like me, you're in the 300s usually. Down on the ice, you hear things, you smell things, you feel things, but you can't really see because the boards cut you off in certain places. And if you're on like, you know, behind a goal or something, it's hard to track. So that's the trade-off. And then you go up top and you you you can see everything, but of course you can't hear the guys cursing each other out. And but it's a it's an interesting uh two different experiences of the same thing, but what a great way to go. And I don't know if you listened to last week, but I also my first spread game was a caps game. I highly recommend it. I did, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

I mean, you had like the tremendous day of like Titans Vikings into and not just Vikings, but like good Vikings. Yeah, oh, the best, like Vikings that should have gone to the Super Bowl.

SPEAKER_01

Should have won the Super Bowl that year and greened it. Yeah, yeah. Multiple Hall of Famers. I got to see that day. Pretty amazing.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I mean, that was I was I I was smiling as I was driving at work listening to the card. Oh, well thank you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01

Hey, get getting listened to in the cop car. That's cool. Oh, yeah. Tell your friends. Speaking of memories and whatnot, what is your favorite Nashville sports memory or moment?

SPEAKER_03

I mean, so some of like the iconic ones I wasn't here for because I moved here in 2014. But it for me it'd be Titans Jaguars Thursday night game in December of 2018. I just started dating like my then wife. Like we we met and started dating. We met in like New Year's Eve, but we started dating in like April, May. Things have been going well for like five, six months, but just randomly I had like a night off, and I was still barking at the time. And I was like, looked at like Titans tickets just on a whim and was like, oh man, like I can get tickets to the game for like 50 bucks each. Yeah. Just texted her. It's like, hey, like, you want to go to Titans game? And she's like, yeah, absolutely. 100%. And it happened to be Derek Henry just destroying the J bars. You know, it was like the 99-yard run from you know, he he got the ball back in the end zone. I think he he had like 200 something yards on like 14 carries or 17 carries. I remember him having like 14 yards per carry, just like ridiculous performance.

SPEAKER_01

The 99 yard run, iconic, just absolutely iconic.

SPEAKER_03

I mean, just being there for that, and I hadn't gone to a lot of Titans games. I think I'd gone to one prior, like a Titans Vikings game. My brother, and he you know, flew in to come see that. So this was like my first time going to a Titans game as a Titans fan.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, yeah, on the good side, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah, exactly. You know, like she's my wife is born and raised here in Nashville. She's a huge Titans fan. And being there for that and like watching it happen, just hearing the sound in the stadium. I've never seen anything like it. Definitely my favorite Nissan moment ever.

SPEAKER_01

Are you gonna try and go to one uh for the last year in Nissan?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I'd I'd like to. We we usually do the Titans 5K, and that comes with some tickets. We've gone over the last few years. The only issue is the tickets this year are Titans Jags, but at the same time, the Vikings play the Packers. And I don't know. I mean, I I can go there and like watch the game on my phone, I guess.

SPEAKER_01

But also true. We live in the future. Three tickets in a run. I don't know. Yeah, it's not no.

SPEAKER_03

I mean, the the 5k is cool. If anybody likes to run, I'd recommend it. Like you get to finish on the field, like the finish line is the 50-yard line after you run around the like warning track of the field. It's it's definitely a fun experience to run through, like the underbelly of the stadium. Nice. Yeah, and this is the year to do it before it turns into the monstrosity it is.

SPEAKER_01

That's a strong, strong endorsement of the Titans 5K. And I will try and keep my ears out when they start announcing dates and stuff. I'll try and get some links. Generally, it'll be sometime in August, is when you have to run it. You run in August?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, so it sucks.

SPEAKER_01

Well, you're already here in August, so you know.

SPEAKER_03

That's a good point.

SPEAKER_01

Speaking of the iconic Derek Henry run, let's talk about your Nashville sports Mount Rushmore. Who are your top four?

SPEAKER_03

Say Eddie George, Steve McNair, Tagarina, and then Philip Forsberg. And there's like a part of me that just wanted to go heavy preds on this, but I feel like there's a lot that needs to be acknowledged here in terms of Nashville sports. But you know, since I've been here, like I was like getting deep into loving the preds when the Stanley Cup run happened, and so much of that is like so impactful in my life.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_03

Um, you know, I don't know. I I was tempted to just like include Weber and Yossi in there too, but I can't just do all previous for Mount Rushmore, unfortunately.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, it's your Mount Rushmore, you can do whatever you want. If you want to revise and go for Preds, you're welcome too. No pressure.

SPEAKER_03

No, I I think it should be kept the way it is. Okay. Um, I I like the way it is. I fun fact, I've I've been to Eddie George's restaurant in Columbus, Ohio. Nice probably like 15 years ago. But it's it's just called Eddie 23. Okay. And yeah, steakhouse Americana, but like I remember them pushing like the deep fried Oreos being a big thing. This is before I lived in Nashville, and I'm like, like, this is this is wild.

SPEAKER_01

As a Cheesecake Factory veteran and insider, Eddie 23, where did it stack up? Would you put it on par with the Cheesecake Factory?

SPEAKER_03

Or oh man, I don't yeah, probably on par. I mean, you know, I I got to like pick off a menu and eat something that I thought would sound good. A lot of my food that I was eating in cheesecake was like I had time between like double shifts and I just you know take what I could snag. But Cheesecake Factory never blew me away, but it's it's consistent and it's it's ubiquitous, and you can always, you know, you can get your you can get your same Louisiana chicken pasta in every state if you really want it. Even in Louisiana, I'm told. That's true, yeah. But uh generally I I prefer to go to local places, you know. I'm just gonna find like more of the the fun in food.

SPEAKER_01

No, that makes sense. I just you know, Addie is obviously a football player, so I was just wondering what he had managed to achieve culinarily.

SPEAKER_03

I mean, it was it was impressive, like the deep fried Oreo and then the deep fried double cheeseburger, which I didn't get, but I was jealous.

SPEAKER_01

The deep fried double cheeseburger.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I mean it was it was like a large double bacon cheeseburger, not like a smash burger, like these were you know thick patties and it was battered and fried, and I saw it on several tables around us. It had a knife in the middle to hold it together because there's no way it's structurally sound.

SPEAKER_01

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_03

I yeah, this is I I'm I mean that might be one of like my regrets in life decades from now, that like I was there and I didn't just force that to happen. I should have tried it.

SPEAKER_01

Frankly, I it just feels like it is anathema to everything I know about Eddie. George and like literally something that you know. I mean, I've never met Eddie George in my life. Don't know the man for anything, but I I would bet all my money that that is not something he's eaten. You know, like uh just didn't I don't think Eddie was deep frying cheeseburgers on the you know rugby. It's like Tony Saragus's steakhouse or something. That's not that's no Eddie George steakhouse. That's crazy. And the deep fried Oreos. Did he have a deep fried app too, so you could just like heart attack right through? I mean, that there probably was. I can't remember what it was, but yeah. They're all deep fried, aren't they? I've learned something new today, and I'm frankly shocked by it. But uh I'm just gonna move right along because I'm not sure how how to mentally process that one. Do you have any Nashville sports conspiracy theories or hot takes you want to share?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I mean, as far as conspiracies or hot takes, I think that there was some low-level ref collusion to prevent us from winning the Stanley Cup that year. Nothing else makes sense. Some of those calls were outrageous. And that Amy Adams, for whatever reason unbeknownst to me, wants the Titans to be terrible.

SPEAKER_01

Maybe it's one of those head lasso major leagues, the producer type things, you know.

SPEAKER_03

That could be it. I mean, I just I I you know I'm I'm a Titans fan as they are my AFC team, but I don't think any real fan can understand like the decisions that she's made for the team or long-term decisions of the number of people that have left the team and then gone to win Super Bowls.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I don't think it's out of line to wonder, and it it may be true. I actually think that she's kind of wandered through the wilderness a little, and maybe it's just a delusional Titans fan in me, but I'm feeling like with Mike Burganzi, Robert Sala, maybe we've turned a corner, getting, you know, getting the structure in place now. Like as I speak it out, it it feels more and more like I'm just like trying to account for my own delusion. But I do kind of think maybe she's come around on it. I hope.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I mean, it's that's all you can have, you know. I feel like I've gone through decades of it's hard to have hope with my Vikings.

SPEAKER_01

And yeah, yeah, what's going on at quarterback there right now? Good grief.

SPEAKER_03

I I mean it is so interesting. I don't know if you saw this was uh a couple weeks ago, but there was like the same day in training camp where they had an interview with Murray and McCarthy, and they got asked the same question at different times of the day by the same reporters, and you know, it's like, hey, what's it like working with, you know, JJ McCarthy? He's like, oh, like Kyler Murray told him, like, oh, it's like, you know, we're learning a lot from each other, like stuff I know. I'm I'm trying to show him, but like he's teaching me stuff as well. He's such a student, he wants to learn as much as possible. Like the normal canned NFL answer. And when McCarthy got asked, he's like, you know, it's like being in high school, and that guy's on the other side of the classroom, you don't really talk to him. That is not confidence inspiring. I don't know what's going on.

SPEAKER_01

It sounds like McCarthy was honest, but Kyler Murray said what he should have. And maybe they should both learn something there. I will say, too, the whole nine thing that McCarthy's got going on is just about the cringiest thing of all time.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

But should be a lot of fun to watch. I mean, everything else they have on offense seems incredible. They've got I don't want to jump the gun on the Titans receiving cores here, but one of the only receiving cores in the NFL that I can say with 100% certainty should be more productive than the Titans is the Vikings.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I mean there's a lot there with you know Jefferson Addison and Juwan Jennings. Juwan Jennings is a great pickup, totally worth trade. Like I'll I'll take that all day long.

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely. Well, good luck to you on that. We'll uh we'll be praying for you and the Vikings. Some of the better colors in sports too, cooler uniforms. Absolutely. All right, so the last of my regular questions is what is your favorite restaurant in Nashville? And I know that you have a chance to get out to a lot of them, so I'm curious to hear. You don't have to hold yourself to one. You can name a few if you like. Okay.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I mean, I I'm blessed with I work in East Nashville, so there's a lot of delicious food there that I get to try frequently. For breakfast, I would say Mr. Aaron's. Incredible bagels, the best I've had in town. Super friendly ownership. They've got great produce and things. Like, you know, I'll I made a BLT yesterday with like some awesome heirloom tomatoes that they just happened to have in their cooler, and they had some Gifford's bacon there too. Like they're just they're they're a good like neighborhood spot, and they've been going on for forever. For people that aren't familiar with like that part of East Nashville. They took over the old TKO spot, which is a really cool Chinese Southern fusion restaurant that was there for a while. And Aaron started working there like just on the weekends when they weren't open. That's definitely my favorite breakfast spot. Uh, the bagel sandwiches are incredible, they make a good pork roll. After that, Redhead Stranger be a go-to, like just consistently good. Once again, uh like a local place that's making their own things. Their flour tortillas are made by hand, their crunch wrap's incredible. They've got the best burger in East Nashville, in my opinion. It is a smash burger with hatched green chili queso. It's on Martin's Potato Bun. It's got thick cut bacon on it, and I think a house made ranch. And I'm a huge fan of that one. I've loved that one for years. Honorable mention to Cardist, which is a Turkish restaurant at Charlotte and 40th. My wife and I have gone there a couple times now. It's over at like the L, whatever that's the world market area there. It's over near like where Takeria Del Sol used to be, I think. It's like right near the fire station. Cardist is incredible. They're like, I've talked to their chef multiple times. They're using fresh local ingredients. It's a very seasonal menu. He just I remember in winter hit how like excited he was about like spring and summer and all the new dishes you want to make. Yeah, I'd I'd absolutely go to that place. And it's very much a chef's table type thing. Like the countertop just wraps around a small kitchen and you're able to watch them cook and they talk to you the entire time.

SPEAKER_01

That's awesome. Is that K-A-R-D-I-S?

SPEAKER_03

Yes. All right, artist. He was the man that told me my name in Turkish means wolf. Hey, cool. Which I did not know about my name in Turkish. I'll take it.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that's awesome. Anytime your name means wolf, it probably feels good. Any other restaurants?

SPEAKER_03

Those would be the ones that I thought could make the cut for this. You know, if you want something fancy, peninsula is delicious. I love peninsula. That's over on West Eastland and Galaton, like Spanish papas, and one of the only places I know in town that has like actual iberico pig, and they'll serve it to you in like a preso, which is like you know, like a steak version of it. Like peninsula is really cool. Oh, those would round out my favorites.

SPEAKER_01

Awesome. Those are some great ones. And I will have to get down to Cardis. That sounds awesome. So we're gonna move on now to the reason for the season. You, as I mentioned at the beginning of the interview, are a police officer with Metro Nashville Police. And sometimes in that role, you will be part of what do you call it, traffic control, traffic easing? What do you guys think?

SPEAKER_03

I mean, yeah, honestly, whatever the city wants to use us for, it's surprising the amount of time that police officers are mandated to do like private sporting event or private event things.

SPEAKER_01

How does it work? Do they tell you in advance, like, hey, next Thursday you've got a game, or do you just show up on the day and they say like like ideally, I'll know a week in advance would be nice.

SPEAKER_03

That doesn't always happen. I've I've gotten ones where it's like a couple days in advance that it's just like, hey, your day off is canceled, you're gonna go work traffic at this event. You know, it depends on how well organized they are.

SPEAKER_01

So would it it would always be if it was something that aligned with your regular shift, or will they go, Hey, I know you normally work in the morning, but we need you at the Titans game Sunday night?

SPEAKER_03

It it depends on what people want to do. They're frequently sending out emails letting people sign up for overtime or for you know any sporting events. And if people don't sign up for those, if they have a gap, they'll start mandating people. And the way they mandate people is on their days off. I don't really sign up to work sporting events, but it definitely happens frequently enough that I'm there. And I'll get an email, you know, hopefully a week in advance. Sometimes it's a few days in advance, telling me that, hey, uh, you thought you were off Thursday. No, you're you're working on the surprise, yeah. There's traffic. Yeah. It's a surprise. Like, I don't know, they're they're still paying me, but it's it's never fun to, you know, yeah be told you lose your time off.

SPEAKER_01

And then so the day of, I assume there's somewhere you report to. Is there like a command center where you know in like cop shows they all show up and the lead detective's like, ah, we gotta get out there, we gotta do all the things, and I I want to see you guys on do you have that little meeting and they get sent out there, or is it like Yeah, we we we have a roll call meeting, it's it's much more laid back and there's not as much gusto about it.

SPEAKER_03

You know, it'll it'll be somewhere nearby, like a stage near we basically just an area where everybody can park. And the main purpose of it is to do a roll call and make sure that everybody they got told they had to be here showed up. And if you don't show up, you know, you better have a good reason, otherwise there's gonna be some consequences. You can't just call out of mandates. But uh yeah, they'll they'll they'll do a roll call, they'll tell people where there's where they're supposed to be, and they'll make sure everybody knows what radio channel they're gonna be on. You know, if something catastrophic happens, we'll have like a contingency plan for how it's gonna roll. But it's it's generally pretty pretty quick. And a lot of people they do this frequently, they like to work these events because you know, like working traffic for the Titans game, you're not doing much. I mean, you're you're like you're like standing there hanging out waving. During the game, there's nothing going on, and then once everything lets out, like, yeah, you have to direct traffic for a little bit, but it's not it's not that bad. And uh, you know, they they pay us time and a half for it.

SPEAKER_01

So that's a beautiful thing. You say you got people that do it a lot. Do they have like the oh no, I always do this position? Like, I'm always this guy.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, especially with the Titans games. There's some guys that work it so much that you know they've got badges from the NFL because the NFL requires you have like a separate identification to allow you to be inside the stadium during the game. So they have those, and they work internal security. I've had some of the old veterans tell me, like, man, you need to get this gig. Like, you know, you the key is you grab a large soda that has refills at the beginning of the game, and then you know you just get to drink soda while you watch the game on the small TVs the whole time.

SPEAKER_01

And I'm like, hey, so there's definitely some roles that are better than others on those days.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, and and because I don't really go after those, I'm generally mandated for traffic or something. Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01

When they send you out the traffic, like with the Predators games, you know, they always block off Broadway up there, I think, on night. How does that work? Is there like a map with little like, all right, we're gonna block off here, we're gonna block off here. You grab these cones, like yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

There is. We'll we'll have like a full document that gets sent out to us telling us where we're at. It'll have a map overlay of the normal city roads and how they are changing traffic patterns and which ones are blocked off. It's usually color-coded. And like it's it's very easy for us to see like how we are changing the flow within the city. And allegedly, there's some sort of research that goes into this, you know, functionally at the ground level, we have boxes at most, the intersections where we can control traffic and we'll pull traffic specific directions. So, you know, someone might say, like, I need a pull on Demumbrian, and like we'll pull everything out towards the highway there, or they might call for a long pull. It's kind of vague, but generally the traffic systems and the timers they're on are designed to handle normal workload pretty efficiently. But if we have something abnormal, like everybody trying to leave Bridgestone at once, then pulling just all greens from you know Bridgetone on Demumbrian all the way out, or Bridgestone on KVB all the way to the highway. Like if you pull that for 90 seconds, you can move a lot of cars and you know, hopefully alleviate things. Yeah, but that requires people to be there manually at all those lights synced up to do it sequentially.

SPEAKER_01

It sounds like there's a little bit of an art to it too, because you can't really control the randomness of when somebody gets out and where their car is, and you may have like, I guess, surges from different locations. Is there one guy like back at the command center going like you're saying, like, I need to pull on Demumbrian? Or is it more of a like battlefield we report back and then the the general makes the orders?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, uh there's a command center that's running this, but they're taking input from everybody and it's all on one radio channel. Oh, so they don't know what's going on until someone says, like, hey, we're getting backed up here, and you can kind of figure out, like, okay, I should probably start pulling things this way. But they're incorporating drones and things like that more recently, just for traffic control, to like fly them over general space. We we did this with Black Friday last year out near Opera Mills, where I was forced to work there. And normally it'd be like a supervisor driving the whole area to see what the traffic flow was like. Instead, they just, you know, they put up like a you know, quad rotor and flew it over a bunch of the intersections there, and at least command felt comfortable seeing in the traffic flow and deciding, like, okay, we can stop using like police to manually control the traffic flow.

SPEAKER_01

I'm so curious about the drones over Opri Mills because that is like right next to the approach to B and A. I mean, obviously the police can get some sort of special disposition, but it seems like you know, it seems like somebody kick up a stink about that.

SPEAKER_03

So yeah, I mean they're they're they're pretty low level and generally like the FA regulations, at least with us, where you have to have them within line of sight. And then now within the last couple months, they've given us a different license where Metro does no longer need them within line of sight. Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01

That's that's a big big difference for sure. You work Redditors Games, Titans Games, you've worked Opry Mills. I'm guessing some other events would be like CMA Fest or the Music City Marathon, any other interesting events. NFC, NSV is always a nightmare. Yeah, coming out of that that little bottleneck over there, Wedgewood and Nolansville and all that, I imagine it's pretty messy. Any other kind of events that I'm not thinking of that that you guys get called out for this sort of stuff?

SPEAKER_03

I mean, they they have a s work for everything. I don't know, you know, I'll be mandated for the 4th of July, New Year's Eve, all that normal stuff. But in in terms of spring events, yeah, those can be, you know, random things like when we were going through some of the NLS Cup stuff, and like all of a sudden Nashville's playing, you know, enter Miami and we're gonna have Messi here and all the crowds that come with that. Like there'll be a you know last second email, like, hey, we need a bunch of officers for this day, and then you know, with like two days' warning, and then later that day, people get mandated. So sometimes it's almost no warning because the the city can't project how everything's gonna happen.

SPEAKER_01

Sure. I'm guessing now listen to you say it. I'm guessing that the craziest two nights July 4th and New Year's. Is that right? Yeah, that'd be pretty fair. Have you seen any crazy stuff coming in or out of sports games? Or are there any particular teams or fans that you've found more more or less agreeable?

SPEAKER_03

Not so much. You know, I haven't worked a lot of the NFL stuff, and that's where you're gonna have most of the diehard fans, at least from Nashville. Nothing nothing too crazy. I feel like a lot of the Preds fans from opposing teams just filter on down through Broadway and kind of expend all their energy down there. In terms of like difficulties directing traffic or controlling a crowd, it's usually been home fans. They're the biggest issue.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I guess they're more of them actually driving to the games.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, or or they just they feel comfortable enough that like they know how this works and don't want to accept that like a certain road's closed. I've dealt with that multiple times. I remember it was a NFC Miami game I got mandated for, but like roads fully blocked off, and this woman just like drove over a sidewalk to get around my car.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, love that. That's great.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just kept driving down this road, and it's like we're blocking this off for a reason so we can pull traffic specific directions just to keep things as efficient as possible. I'm not saying it's the best method. I definitely didn't get to design it, but some part of me believes it's better than letting people take shortcuts and popping out onto other routes when we're trying to keep a flow going.

SPEAKER_01

So, how did you handle that? Did you hop in your car and chase her?

SPEAKER_03

I I mean I like I stepped into the road and hit her with a pretty powerful flashlight. Oh, okay. Chase like stop.

SPEAKER_01

What on earth are you doing?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I'm like, hey, like, what are you doing? And her response is, I love it to this day. She said, Whatever, I'll just pay the ticket, write it. A wild response. Wow. That is like you you just you just you know drove through like a police barricade. That's that's not a ticket. Did you uh I I I made her turn around, but that was after like a discussion of you know, I told her, like, hey, this isn't just a ticket, like I will forcibly remove you from your car, you will be arrested.

SPEAKER_01

That's crazy. That the amount of entitlement there is just outstanding.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I mean, she had a she had a nice range rover. Thank you. She just looks at things differently.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, well, to wrap things up, do you have any requests to the general public or any advice or anything that you know what would make your job easier or would make life easier when working games or just generally as a police officer or as a human or a sports fan or any other kind of way you want to present yourself?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I mean, from from a base level, the city is really not designed to handle the level of people we have right now. And it's something we're definitely struggling with on like a traffic control side of things. And like I don't I don't even work a lot of traffic, and it's obvious to me. Just way too many cars for the area we have. A little bit of like understanding and sympathy. We're we're never trying to keep people waiting for any longer than we have to. Our goal is to get as many cars out as quickly as possible. There's just not a great solution to it. So, you know, if you're if you're sitting in a light wondering like, why am I waiting here? It's just the infrastructure is overloaded. We're we're trying to find the quickest way to move cars out. We think we've got it down to a pretty good system, but it's never going to be a perfect flow. We also want you gone as quickly as possible because then it lets us go home.

SPEAKER_01

So you're not trying to gum up the works. Do you notice that it's a little bit harder or easier depending on home win or home loss? Or is it about the same?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah, yeah. A little bit. I mean, I definitely had some rowdier crowds, especially the soccer games after a loss, like some key clear. But I mean Oh, after the soccer games, really. I would have thought I'd Yeah, a little bit, but you know, like by and large, I don't know, people in Nashville are really nice to police. Like, I don't have a lot of issues.

SPEAKER_01

Well, that's that's a great thing. All right, well, Kurt, thank you so much for coming on. I really appreciate you taking the time to speak with me. I'm I'm grateful to be on the show. Glad you asked me to be a part of it. All right, well, thank you so much. All right, well, that is our show for this week. My thanks again to Officer Kurt Cook for joining us. It was a lot of fun to pick his brain and hear a little bit more about how police work events here in town. Reminder: if you'd like to come on, you can reach out to us in a link in the description below. We're also available on social media at NSH Sports Report on Twitter and Blue Sky. Even if you don't want to come on the show, we'd love to hear from you. I'd love to hear some feedback. What do you like? What don't you like? How's your day going? Anything like that. As always, I will include links to the videos referenced in the description as well. And with that, I hope you have a wonderful weekend.