Call it gamesmanship, psychological warfare, or competitive advantage. Call it whatever you want, but intimidation is a part of football. It comes with the territory. We’ve seen college teams talk trash in the tunnel. We’ve seen Terrell Owens pose of the midfield star in Dallas versus the Cowboys. Heck, we’ve even seen the Tennessee Titans dance on the Baltimore Ravens midfield logo following a huge win at M&T Bank Stadium.
We have never seen a cheerleading squad stand guard to ensure that any of that won’t happen though. That is until now. You aren’t going to believe this one.
The Bucs cheerleaders meet the Titans at the 50.
You can’t make stuff like this up. If the Tampa Bay Buccaneers cheerleaders have anything to do with it, there will be no disrespecting of Raymond James Stadium, the pirate ship, or the logo of the defending Super Bowl Champions.
Prior to the Titans’ second preseason game, a group of guys decked out in white and two shades of blue made their way to the 50. The Bucs cheerleaders, sensing foul play, would have none of it.
The Bucs cheerleading squad is keeping the #Titans from "disrespecting" the Bucs logo at midfield pic.twitter.com/Cw5m0yXgYp
— Buck Reising (@BuckReising) August 21, 2021
That’s one man’s interpretation of the events. Here’s another’s.
Is it technically gathering at the logo if most of the team is technically outside of it? pic.twitter.com/gXM4yvrTzq
— AtoZ Sports Nashville (@AtoZSports) August 21, 2021
That gives words like ‘loyalty’ a whole new meaning. Seriously, what can you say after that? Now, while some may argue, like A to Z Sports Nashville, that the Titans are technically huddling and nothing more, the Twitterverse seems to feel as though this was important enough to mention twenty or so times, so it’s definitely worth a few laughs.
Now, for those who are interested in some of the other stuff that’s going on, let’s talk about football.
As expected, many of the Titans stars are present, but they won’t play in this one. Ryan Tannehill is out, so this one is more about the battle for the backup quarterback job and seeing if Tennessee can build on a nice performance by the reserves last week.
Matt Barkley and Logan Woodside will be taking snaps in this one, and they’ll attempt to earn the backup job. As far as any thoughts or ideas of intimidation goes. That will have to wait until the regular season. The Bucs’ cheerleaders aren’t having it. Tennessee finishes with a home date versus the Chicago Bears. Perhaps Tennessee can flex their muscles a little versus the Seattle Seahawks in Week 2 of the regular season.