Wycheck was special part of special Titans era
The Tennessee Titans, by NFL standards, aren’t old enough to have nostalgia for the good ol’ days.
There are no grainy, John Facendanarrated, “NFL Films” highlights of yesteryear. Sure, the franchise has tried admirably to co-opt the Houston Oilers’ tradition as its own, but it’s just not the same. Those Oilers were Houston’s team: Bum Phillips, Earl Campbell, Warren Moon and the Astrodome.
We didn’t live that. Can’t claim it. Not really.
In Nashville, we claim Eddie George, the late Steve McNair, Jeff Fisher . . . And Frank Wycheck.
You have to understand that to grasp how much of a gut punch it was for so many to hear Sunday that Wycheck, the immensely popular former Titans tight end, had died at only 52 years old. According to his family, he apparently fell at home and hit his head and was found unresponsive.
It was a bitterly sad ending. Wycheck wasn’t just a good football player. He meant more than that in Nashville, where he was a celebrity and a radio voice for years.
He played two seasons early in his career for the Houston Oilers, but make no mistake, Frank Wycheck was Nashville’s from the moment he got here.
“Frank’s name was synonymous with Titans football,” Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk said in a statement. “He was such a huge part of our team’s success both on and off the field. He embraced this community and fan base immediately, and everyone loved him right back.”
Those were, in fact, the good ol’ days for the Titans. Sunday’s sadness was a reminder that even after 24 seasons carrying the Titans name, this franchise’s best days in Nashville continue to be its introductory days in Nashville.
Considering the tumultuousness that accompanied their initial move to Tennessee, the Titans had no business being as good as they were in 1999 and 2000, winning 13 games each season, producing the unforgettable “Music City Miracle” and reaching a Super Bowl for its first and still only time — Oilers or Titans.
Those were special days and special Titans teams. Because they won, sure. But also because of the people involved, the players that engrained themselves into Nashville’s community.
“It turned out to be one of the greatest people that you could ever deal with,” longtime Nashville radio host George Plaster said. “Frank was a real leader in that. He just was. I don’t know that it was necessarily his cue, but they were just out and about everywhere . . . . It was really cool to see, because the city just absolutely gravitated to those guys.”
Wycheck was approachable in a way that few professional athletes are or have been. For instance, Plaster was part of a weekly radio show that Wycheck did as a player that became a local event.
“It drew huge crowds,” Plaster said. “He would stay and shake every hand and kiss every baby. From a PR standpoint, when he was healthy, he was as good as there has ever been.”
Wycheck’s 482 receptions for the Oilers and Titans still rank third all-time in franchise history, behind only Ernest Givins (542) and Haywood Jeffires (515). He’s seventh in receiving yards (4,958) despite the fact he never had a catch go for longer than 42 yards.
Wycheck played in 16 regular-season games for seven consecutive seasons (1995-2001). That’s a lot of hits and punishment. His family said Sunday that it “plans to work with experts for ongoing brain injury and CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) research.”
Wycheck, who retired from the NFL at age 32, had faded from public view in recent years as he battled health problems. In a 2017 interview with FOX 17 in Nashville, Wycheck said he was sure he had CTE as a result of his football career. He said he had been dealing with migraines and depression and that he would “go into a room and forget why I went there.”
ESPN reported in 2017 that Wycheck planned to donate his brain for study after his death.
However, Wycheck also told ESPN that, “I wouldn’t change anything in the world. I’ve had a blessed life, great opportunities to meet great people, raise my family and be able to take care of my family the way I could. I couldn’t do that without football.”
Wycheck didn’t want to be a pity party.
So this shouldn’t be one today. There’s too much to celebrate about the man’s life and impact. Too many memories that mean so much.
Too much great Titans nostalgia that still doesn’t feel like it was all that long ago.
Frank Wycheck will always be a reminder of that special time in our city’s history.
Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @Gentry_Estes.