DIVERSITY IN SPORTS MEDICINE

TITANS CELEBRATE 2022 SCHEDULE RELEASE BY HONORINGJEFFERSON STREET BUSINESSES

THE COLLEGE CRIB URBAN GREEK & CLOTHING CO.

OWNER(S): HORTENSE PRICE JONES (PRESIDENT), TREACHERY PRICE (VICE PRESIDENT)

As teams across the NFL unveiled their 2022 schedules, the Tennessee Titans took a high-visibility opportunity to celebrate a historic Nashville neighborhood. The team revealed its 2022 schedule through a short film highlighting eight iconic businesses on Jefferson Street in North Nashville, the historic corridor of Nashville’s AfricanAmerican community. The film serves as a precursor for an all-season initiative to spotlight the businesses at each regular-season home game.

The vision was established by the Titans creative team in collaboration with Seck., a multi-hyphenate filmmaker and visual artist. Seck. has an established reputation for changing perceptions of Nashville’s Black creative community, from hiphop to filmmaking and beyond.

“Schedule Release Day is a landmark for Creative teams across the NFL, and vying for the best and most creative way to unveil your team’s schedule can get fairly competitive,” said Surf Melendez, Vice President and Executive Creative Director for the Titans. “Ultimately as we sat down to plan our strategy this year, we had this vision of taking our ‘moment’ and making it Nashville’s moment. Being able to celebrate Jefferson Street in a video seen by such a large part of our fanbase is one of the most impactful schedule release videos I’ve ever been a part of.”

In the 1940s - 60s, Jefferson Street was one of America’s best-known districts of jazz and rhythm and blues, among other musical genres. Legendary musicians flocked to the neighborhood to perform at one of its many entertainment centers.

Jefferson Street also served as a southern hub for sit ins during the civil rights movement. Three historically black colleges and universities are located nearby: Fisk University, Meharry Medical College and Tennessee State University.

“We are consistently working to preserve the lineage of Nashville’s ‘original music row’ and the legacy of Jefferson Street,” said Lorenzo Washington, owner of the Jefferson Street Sound Museum. “Legends have walked this street for decades, offering some of the greatest musical traditions and historical landmarks. We are proud to partner with the Titans as we continue to grow our business and create more opportunities to tell the Jefferson Street story.”

The Titans will spotlight the below Jefferson Street businesses and business owners:

JEFFERSON STREET SOUND

OWNER: LORENZO WASHINGTON NAJEAL’S HAIR STUDIO

OWNER: RENEA JONES EG & MC COCKTAIL & TAPAS BAR

OWNER(S): CLINT GRAY, GEMAAL PRATTS, E.J. REED, & DERRICK ‘MO’ MOORE WOODCUTS GALLERY & FRAMING

OWNER: NATHANIEL HARRIS TENNESSEE TRIBUNE

OWNER(S): ROSETTA MILLER-PERRY & WANDA MILLER-BENSON ALKEBU-LAN IMAGES

OWNER: JORDAN HARRIS SILVER SANDS CAFÉ

OWNER: SOPHIA VAUGHN

“Jefferson Street is absolutely essential to the fabric of the African-American community and all of Nashville,” said Adolpho Birch III, Senior Vice President of Business Affairs and Chief Legal Officer for the Titans. “For decades, these small business owners and others have worked diligently to maintain the character and integrity of the neighborhood and keep alive the stories of its rich history. Highlighting important touchstones like Jefferson Street and reinforcing the values of cultural diversity are deeply important to the Titans organization. We look forward to more opportunities to highlight streets and neighborhoods across the state of Tennessee.”

All eight benefiting businesses were profiled in the schedule release video and will be further highlighted throughout the 2022 football season.

The Tennessee Titans and Shift4, the Official Payment Solutions Partner of the Tennessee Titans, are donating marketing efforts during the 2022 season to these Jefferson Street businesses.

DIVERSITY IN SPORTS MEDICINE

TITANS AMONG EIGHT NFL TEAMS TAKING PART IN NFL DIVERSITY IN SPORTS MEDICINE PIPELINE INITIATIVE DURING 2022 SEASON

In May, the NFL announced the launch of the NFL Diversity in Sports Medicine Pipeline Initiative, which will provide medical students at the four Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) medical schools with the opportunity to complete a clinical rotation with NFL club medical staff.

Students from Nashville’s Meharry Medical College will be among those participating in this inaugural season, with the Titans.

Medical students interested in primary care sports medicine and/or orthopedic surgery from Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Howard University College of Medicine and Morehouse School of Medicine have also been selected to complete onemonth clinical rotations with NFL clubs during the 2022 NFL season.

Two students from each school will participate in the program, joining eight participating clubs such as the Titans, Falcons, Bengals, Chargers, Rams, Giants, 49ers and Commanders.

In 2023, the program will expand to recruit students from additional academic institutions and medical disciplines and place those students with medical staffs at more NFL clubs.

“We are grateful the NFL is taking measurable steps to diversify the league and specifically recognizes the barriers to opportunity many minority students face in sports medicine career paths,” said Dr. James E. K. Hildreth, president and CEO of Meharry Medical College. “Through this partnership, our students will be afforded the opportunity for exposure to a unique field of medicine that will create new meaningful experiences beneficial to their career advancement.”

The NFL, together with the NFL Physicians Society (NFLPS) and the Professional Football Athletic Trainer Society (PFATS), announced the launch of the NFL Diversity in Sports Medicine Pipeline Initiative on Tuesday.

The program aims to increase and diversify the pipeline of students interested in pursuing careers in sports medicine to help make a positive impact in the field and, over time, help to diversify NFL club medical staff.

Per a release from the NFL, a study that examines diversity of the medical student population shows Black medical students comprise only 7.3 percent of the total medical school population in the U.S. – a figure that has risen less than 1 percent over the last 40 years and is far lower than the 13.4 percent Black population in the United States.

“Increasing diversity across every role in our league and at our clubs is essential. Diversity makes us stronger,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “We have an opportunity to help increase the pipeline of diverse sports medicine professionals, which is imperative for us as a league. This initiative is an example of how we can lend our platform for a societal benefit. I’m proud that our league can help inspire the next generation of sports medicine professionals.”

During their rotations, students will observe and participate in the care of sports medicine patients in NFL club settings, according to a release from the NFL. Students will work directly with and under the supervision of the orthopedic team physicians, primary care team physicians and athletic trainers to gain basic medical knowledge and exposure to patient care in sports medicine. Additionally, students will become familiar with return-to-play guidelines and on-field treatment considerations for NFL players. Students may also have the opportunity to attend home games and be present on the sideline for observation. By the end of the rotation, students will understand the basic elements of all facets of care provided to NFL players from an orthopedic, primary care sports medicine and athletic training perspective.

“This unique collaboration between the HBCU Medical Schools, the NFL, NFL Physicians Society and the Professional Football Athletic Trainers Society will provide a potentially oncein-a-lifetime opportunity for students to experience, learn, and develop sports medicine skills in a real environment with world-class sports teams and sports medicine professionals,” noted Dr. Lisa Barkley, the Family Medicine Department Chair at Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles who also heads up the university’s sports medicine program. “Developing medical professionals from traditionally underrepresented communities is an important, valuable, and notably proactive step towards addressing diversity issues across the field of sports medicine.”