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Titans' Player Shares Info on What Went Into NFLPA Survey

NFLPAINDIANAPOLIS -- The NFLPA's second annual survey of players reveals the Titans are particularly unhappy with two significant categories.

For the second year in a row, they gave the team an F for travel accommodations and they graded the team's treatment of families as a D+ a year after it was a B-.

NFLPA president JC Tretter was able to offer details on the travel grade, but checked the file and had no specific events that contributed to the decrease in the family treatment category.

"They offer roommates, they don't like the travel schedule itself, they don't have enough personal space on the plane, they scored low in all of it," he said.

As for the treatment of families, the report offers two notes, one negative and one positive: "They are one of 12 teams that do not provide a family room during games" and "They provide daycare on gameday."

I know they've had a family room in the past across from the locker room and I've seen action near it. Apparently, it's not been functional since Covid.

"If there is a reason for the drop, I highlight the reason it got worse," Tretter said. "If it was just we now change the way the grades are done, they are now harsher grades, or there are tighter bands of grades, I did not highlight a reason, the grades are just more spread."

The Titans were tied for 16th with a B- in the category in 2022 and are 17th in 2023 with a D+.

I spoke with one member of the team who gave me significant feedback on multiple categories.

He said he was surprised by the drastic change in the grade and thought a higher percentage of guys voting probably had a bearing. League-wide Tretter said 77 percent voted.

The player said wives and girlfriends don't feel very good about the setup for them at training camp, where they've got a tent and bleachers that can mix them in with VIP fans, or pregame at Nissan Stadium, where there is a parking-lot tent for them. It's not the same quality of experience some of them have had elsewhere.

Other teams go so far as to have a player engagement employee dedicated to wives and girlfriends, bringing in ideas from other teams to accommodate and assimilate them.

As for travel, he said the lack of first-class seating for starting players and coaches who need it is an issue. Players are familiar with superior setups for teams like Miami, Baltimore and San Francisco while the Titans jam big players and other worn-out starters into economy seats. 

The only game the Titans were in first-class seats was the trip to London, and this player thinks that is league-mandated.

"It's a big deal for a lot of guys when they can't extend their legs and not let that lactic acid out, not have room for trainers to have room to get in and out to help ice them up," he said. 

Kuharsky megaphoneA share of younger Titans still have roommates in team hotels, and if a key player has a restless night of sleep on Saturday night because the guy he shares a room with is a big snorer, it can affect his work on Sunday.

Other issues that were reflected in the survey:

The C+ for the training room reflects a lack of certain equipment. Keiser machines use air compressors and allow for the sort of isometric holds that are good for recovery. They are apparently not in the budget.

Tretter emphasized that understaffed training rooms are an issue across the league and the Titans player said trainers regularly do the work of physical therapists. He believes the Titans only have one of those. (Their web page listing their administrative personnel is still being rebuilt.)

Players were very unhappy about the change to artificial turf at Nissan Stadium, he said. Many discussed how much worse their bodies felt after the home opener on turf that the previous season on grass.

***

Here is the main information out of the survey.

 

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