The state of Tennessee has announced that the 2019 recipient of the Tennessean of the Year Award is Tennessee Titans controlling-owner Amy Adams Strunk. While she has contributed a ton to the city of Nashville and the state of Tennessee, this is a poor representation of the award.
The Tennessee Titans have seen a ton of progress since Amy Adams Strunk took control of ownership in 2015. With the most successful draft in NFL history hosted in Nashville, along with a recent hit of new uniforms, it’s no secret Strunk knows what Titans fans want.
While Strunk may have contributed a ton to the Titans organization, she’s also made some questionable decisions as owner. The most recent one that comes to memory is the hiring and firing of former Tennessee Titans head coach, Mike Mularkey.
Mularkey at first was a questionable hire. However, he turned out to be a coach who got the job done when it mattered most. But when the Titans finished the season in 2017, it was apparent Mularkey needed to make some changes to his coaching staff.
After a press conference where Mularkey stated he was content with his staff and that there would be no changes, Strunk quickly pulled the plug. While Mularkey did have two winning seasons and a Playoff win for the Titans, the legacy of Adams’ hire will go down as an unsuccessful one.
There is another factor that many Titans fans will fail to admit about their owner. That is the fact that Strunk does not reside in the state of Tennessee.
While this may not be a big deal to most fans out there, it is a poor representation for the Titans’ ownership. For the owner of an NFL franchise to not reside in her own team’s city shows a lack of loyalty to her community.
If the state of Tennessee wanted to represent a candidate worthy of this award, Strunk should not have been the recipient. This misguided award not only puts a bad image on the state of Tennessee but also the Titans organization as well.
The Tennessean of the Year Award should go to someone who resides in the state. While the Titans’ owner has contributed to the state of Tennessee and the city of Nashville, she does not fully represent what the award is intended to be.
This accomplishment may be another milestone added to Adams’s legacy as the owner of the Tennessee Titans, but it is one that is for all the wrong reasons.