Questioning the toughness of an NFL team is typically a fools errand. These are some of the biggest and baddest dudes in the world, and it’s pretty difficult to go pro in the sport of football without being tough.
One reporter, however, did not get that memo during a press conference with Tennessee Titans head coach Brian Callahan on Wednesday. That led to this riled up answer from Callahan where he defended his players.
#Titans HC Brian Callahan went on a full-blown rant after being asked about the idea of his team being soft.
“I think it’s complete and total bull***t. … That means you just don’t watch the sh**. … You can shove that right up your a**.” pic.twitter.com/DwEnjLUruz
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) December 18, 2024
“I mean, you really want to get me going today?” Callahan questioned before entering his rant. “Yeah, I think, to be honest with you, I think it’s complete and total bullshit, if you want my honest opinion. These guys are tough fuckers man. They go after it everyday. They play hard as hell. And at no point have we ever put on tape at any point this season that this is a soft football team. Like, I can’t even wrap my mind around how that would even be a conversation. Like, just because we don’t win games doesn’t mean we’re soft. These guys play their ass off. They play hard, they play physical. You can ask any team that plays against us that when they come off the field they know they played us.”
“Yeah, that makes me relatively angry if that would be some presumption,” Callahan continued. “That means you just don’t watch this shit. Y’know, you don’t do anything about it, that you don’t know what you’re talking about and don’t know what you’re looking at. So I won’t stand for, I’m not going to stand for anybody calling this football team soft. I think that’s bullshit. So if there’s opinions out there that feel that way then, you know, then they don’t know anything about NFL football. So, I’d like you to walk in there and call one of these guys soft and see what happens.”
Even after all of that, Callahan wasn’t done.
“These guys come out here and they do everything possible to win games. And if there’s any assumption that’s anywhere outside of this building, again we don’t focus on those things, but there’s no possible explanation to say that this team is soft in any way shape or form, mentally or physically. The way that they go about their work, it’s insulting to me, to them, to everyone that works here. …No chance ever in hell would I ever admit that to be the case and neither would anybody in this locker room, so you can kind of shove that one right up your ass to be honest.”
It seems like it’s been awhile since we’ve gotten a proper profanity-filled press conference answer from an NFL head coach, so props to Callahan there. And he’s right, the premise of the question is ridiculous. Unless there’s a specific incident the reporter can point to that would suggest a level of softness in an individual player or the team, then it’s probably best to leave these types of questions in the notebook.
But if the reporter was looking to incite a reaction, Callahan certainly delivered.
[X/@MySportsUpdate]
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.