The Tennessee Titans Caravan made a stop at Smithville Elementary School Tuesday morning.
Students and school staff met Tennessee Titans kicker Rob Bironas, the “Voice of the Titans” Mike Keith of Titans Radio, and Titans Mascot T-Rac.
The Caravan consists of 24 visits to schools and 26 public stops. The school program features a high-energy, educational message from seven time Pro Bowl Titans mascot T-Rac, host Rhett Ryan and at least one Titans player. The Titans use the opportunity to speak to youngsters about the NFL’s Play 60 program, which stresses the importance of getting at least 60 minutes of active play each day, and also the benefits of making good choices in all parts of their lives. T-Rac and the Titans school program are sponsored by Tennessee State Parks.
Titans Caravan began in 1998 as a small effort to spread goodwill through the region. Today, six full-time staffers travel with Titans players and T-Rac through the Mid-South on a specially-decorated motor coach provided by Grand Avenue. Since 1998, Titans Caravan has made over 700 stops, traveled approximately 50,000 miles, visited close to 300 schools and allowed the team to interact directly with an estimated audience well-in excess of 100,000 fans.
A powerful right-footed kicker in his eighth NFL season, Rob Bironas has earned the right to be named among the best players at his position. Statistically one of the top kickers in the NFL history, he made 86.3% of his field goals in the first seven years of his career and became one of the top two scorers in club history. Prior to winning a roster spot with the Titans in 2005, Bironas spent time in training camp with the Green Bay Packers in 2002, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2003, and the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2004. He spent two seasons in the Arena Football League and one season in Af2. Bironas enters the 2012 season as the third-ranked kicker in NFL history in field goal accuracy, connecting on 86.3% of his attempts (189 of 219). Only Al Del Greco (1,060) points has accounted for more points than Bironas in the history of the Titans/Oilers organization.
Franklin-native Mike Keith, an award winning broadcaster, begins his 14th year as the “Voice of the Titans” in 2012.
The NFL’s second-youngest play-by-play announcer was actually the first ever associated with Tennessee’s NFL team. In 1996, while the team was in Houston, Keith hosted a pre-game show for Tennessee stations who carried the Oilers games. The Franklin-native served as the network’s scoreboard host in 1997 before moving into the booth as color analyst in 1998 and then assuming the play-by-play duties in 1999.
In addition to his play-by-play duties, Keith hosts the weekly Mike Munchak Show, Tuesday night at 6pm central on Titans Radio. He also contributes many of the interviews and features for Titans Countdown, the network’s pregame show. Keith also writes a regular column for Titans Radio’s web site, TitansRadio.Com.
From 1987-98, Keith was a Vol Radio Network stalwart, working with Vol football, basketball, baseball and Lady Vol basketball broadcasts and coaches’ shows on radio and television.
Keith also hosts the weekly television show, Titans ALL Access on television stations across the region every weekend.