Sally Reese, Wife Of Former Titans Gm Floyd Reese: “when You Get Sucker-punched, You Want To Sucker-punch Back.”

Sally Reese, Wife Of Former Titans GM Floyd Reese: “When you get sucker-punched, you want to sucker-punch back.”

The Tennessee Titans are an utter mess. They didn’t play this past weekend, but when they take the field next Sunday against the , they’ll be looking to snap their eight game losing streak and capture their first W of the 2009 season. If you ask former General Manager Floyd Reese’s wife Sally, this shouldn’t be too surprising. And as you’ll hear, Mrs. Reese has little sympathy for the organization. Why? Well she feels her husband Floyd Reese was wronged by the organization when he was fired after the season. With the Titans in a tail spin this season following last year’s promising campaign, there’s been a flurry of finger pointing in the Nashville media about the state of the franchise. During it all, Reese’s name was apparently dragged through the mud unnecessarily and inappropriately – at least so says Sally Reese. Without her husband knowing, Sally Reese called 104.5 The Zone in Nashville to set the record straight about her husband’s relationship with head coach Jeff Fisher and to criticize the organization’s decision to let Reese go several years ago.

On how Floyd Reese wasn’t aware that she was calling in:

“No, he’s on his way to London. I waited until he was on an airplane. Well, yesterday, I’m here in Nashville, I was listening to John McClain speak and I just kind of need to set the record straight because my husband won’t. There was no fighting amongst Jeff and Floyd. I will say this – the press, different people called us four months before and told us they were picking sides. So bottom line is I mean, my husband still just went along, did his job, and everything was just fine. Then one day he went to work and Mr. Underwood came in and said gee, after 21 years we’re going in a different direction. Floyd still didn’t kind of get that. I mean it was like what, what? And now I read and I hear all this stuff – my husband was totally oblivious. All he did was his job. I just needed to say that because John, yesterday, it sounded like Jeff and Floyd were butting heads. And granted, when you work with somebody as many years as you work with them, I’m sure you do butt heads. And what I also hear is that he didn’t get a say-so on the players drafted. Well, I got a real good one. Floyd had Devin Hestor on the phone. He was coming to the Titans. And Jeff wanted Lendale White. So Floyd backed it up and you guys got Lendale and Chicago got Devin Hestor. And that would have been the fourth rookie of the year my husband had. Not too shabby. So, but I just wanted to set the record straight because sometimes when I hear what John has to say, I have to say B.S. to it.  So that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.”

On how there are different dynamics at play when a GM hires a new coach (like Reese did with Fisher) rather than vice versa where the coach helps select a new GM:

“Absolutely, absolutely. But he also on the flip side helped Jeff from getting fired two times. So if he had let him get fired, he’d still be there. Hello? But that’s hindsight because you know what? Payback – can I say bitch?  Payback is a bitch. And on Sunday, I wanted them [New England] to run it to 100. And I love Tennessee, all you Tennessee people. My dad’s from Tennessee. But when you get sucker-punched, you want to sucker-punch back. My husband said it would be very uncool. He said you know, we have to play them again. I said I only hope.”

On what he thinks Floyd’s reaction will be when he finds out about this phone call:

“Well he won’t lose any more hair. But he won’t like it and my son just called a little while ago and had I told him, he would have gotten through to Floyd on the plane. So I didn’t tell him either. But it’s all good because I think people – oh, and the last thing – when the statement was issued that Floyd issued a statement, he did not issue a statement. Underwood made it up. That’s another thing. I don’t know if that’s a lawsuit, but if I was being a vindictive wife, I would have done a lawsuit. But you know, that’s me. He never said anything. He walked out the door and was not allowed to look through his stuff. They boxed it up. 21 years. So that’s it, I’m done.”