The Chiefs beat the 49ers 25-22 here at Super Bowl LVIII.
And while the Titans weren’t in this year’s game, that doesn’t mean there weren’t Titans-related storylines here at Allegiant Stadium.
We’re bringing them all to you …
Titans fans Andrew and Alexis Prue
The last time the Prues went to a game together was back on January 7, 2023 – they were decked out in Titans gear, watching the Titans and Jaguars at EverBank Stadium.
Their lives changed that night, as Alexis went into cardiac arrest after the game. Alexis Prue’s heart stopped beating for three minutes before paramedics resuscitated her in the ambulance. She spent 87 days in either a hospital, or a rehabilitation center.
The Prues, who are from Myrtle Beach, S.C., were at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday after the Titans surprised them with a pair of free tickets.
“It’s amazing,” Alexis said. “I am so excited.”
“It’s unbelievable,” Andrew Prue. “We’ve both kind of been pinching ourselves. It’s very surreal. It’s a dream come true.”
Alexis, 29, is on the road to recovery. She’s still in a wheelchair, but she’s getting better each week. The rehab plan is for Alexis to be out of the chair in a couple of months, and to transition to a walker and then a cane.
“It was tough,” Alexis said. “But I made it through it, and now I am here and I am just very blessed to be able to be here.”
The Prues were sitting in Section 335, Row 13A, Seats 15 and 16 on Sunday.
“This is our first trip since Alexis suffered cardiac arrest,” Andrew said, “so this is a big confidence-booster for her, letting her know: ‘Hey, I can still live life as I progress with the rehab. I can still have fun and be myself.’ She’s not where she once was, but she’s getting there.”
Fernando Espejo (Chilly Pepper), Titans Fan of the Year
Long before he became known as “Chilly Pepper,” Fernando Espejo became an Oilers fan growing up in Mexico, thanks to his mom, and his aunt.
Espejo’s mother, Clara, and his aunt, Laura, loved the Oilers. It started after Laura moved to Houston, and Espejo and his mother would visit.
“They took me to see Warren Moon at the Astrodome, and Ernest Givins, Haywood Jeffires, and you know what’s next” Espejo recalled. “I fell in love with the sport, and the Oilers.”
Espejo has turned into one of the team’s die-hard fans. He regularly travels from Chihuahua, Mexico, to Nashville, or to road games.
Espejo was at Sunday’s game with his wife, Sandra, sitting in Section 408, Row 15, Seat 9 The Espejos received two tickets and a trip after he was named the Titans Fan of the Year.
“It’s amazing,” Espejo said. “Everything has been so amazing. I love the Titans, I love the team, and I am honored to represent the fan base.”
Espejo has become one of the team’s most recognizable fans since he started wearing a red pepper on his head years ago. It was gifted to him by a friend, who got it at Walmart.
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In time, he became known simply as “Chilly.”
“Since I was a kid, I always said I wanted to be a part of (a team),” Espejo said. “Of course, I don’t have skills, or the body, or the will to play. But I get to be a part of the Titans by cheering, and I want to be the loudest cheering dude. I love to dress up and be a part of it.”
Tyrone Shorter (High School coach of Titans DT Jeffery Simmons)
As the Titans’ Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee, defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons was in Vegas this week for Super Bowl LVIII.
Simmons also made sure someone special to him was also at the game: Tyrone Shorter, and his wife, Candy Shorter. Shorter coached Simmons at Noxubee High School in Mississippi.
Each nominee was given two all-expenses-paid trips to the Super Bowl to give to people of their choosing.
Simmons chose Shorter, and he was at Allegiant Stadium.
“Every time Jeffery comes home still, he always stops by to see me,” Shorter said. “He stopped by (in December) and surprised me with the tickets, and now I’m here. The whole thing, it’s just blown me away. One day I was hoping to go to the Super Bowl to watch him play in it. Hopefully that will happen one day. But to be here with him, and to be his guest, it is just an honor, and it just intensifies what he is.
“Jeffery is a great guy. We’ve been a part of each other’s life since he was in the fifth grade, and I’m so happy and proud that he’s in my life still. And I know he always will be.”
Shorter, who has coached for 26 years, said he was thankful for Simmons.
“I’ve been coaching my whole life, and never thought I’d have the opportunity to go to a Super Bowl,” Shorter said. “And to get a trip out (here) is cool.”
Simmons said choosing Shorter to go to a game was an easy decision.
“Coach Shorter is everything you look for in a head coach, and a dad figure,” Simmons said. “I didn’t have a dad growing up in life. But Coach Shorter, it’s been unbelievable to have him in my life. I knew that is who I wanted to bring. He’s always been there for me.”
Umpire Terry Killens, former Titans linebacker
Terry Killens, a third-round draft pick of the Houston Oilers in the 1996 NFL Draft who played linebacker/special teams with the Oilers/Titans for five seasons (1996-2001), made history on Sunday.
Killens became the first person to play in and officiate a Super Bowl. Killens, who played in Super Bowl XXXIV with the Titans, served as umpire for Sunday’s game. He was one of four first-time Super Bowl officials.
“It’s a huge accomplishment,” Killens said leading up to the game. “It’s basically a culmination of all the hard work and dedication I have put in. … It is a reward, not only to me, but to my crew. And a big thank you to all the people who have helped me along the way, and given me opportunities.”
Former Titans GM Ruston Webster, and his son Jacob, an assistant with the 49ers
As a teenager, Jacob Webster used to go to Titans games with his dad.
His father, Ruston Webster, was General Manager of the Titans back then, at a time with young Jacob was trying to find out everything he could about football, and his dad’s job.
Here on Sunday, Jacob Webster, now 26, was at Super Bowl LVIII as an assistant coach with the San Francisco 49ers. Webster is in his first season as the team’s defensive quality control coach, after previously working as a graduate assistant at Wisconsin and Missouri.
Ruston Webster and the family were on hand to support him, sitting in Section 118, Row 29.
“Just to see him experience this, and the joy he has for coaching and what he is doing, and being a part of this with an organization like the 49ers,” Ruston Webster said. “It’s great.”
After attending two Super Bowls while his father worked with the Buccaneers and Falcons, Jacob Webster was now at the big game for his job.
“All of this has been everything I dreamed of, growing up watching my dad,” Webster said at Super Bowl LVIII Opening Night. “Being able to have my dad and my family come to a Super Bowl (supporting) me is really cool.
“Really, it makes me happy to see how excited everyone is for me, and how supportive they are. I know how excited my dad is for me.”
Ruston Webster worked for the Titans from 2010–2015, first as Vice President of Player Personnel (2010-2011), and then as General Manager (2012–2015). Webster previously worked as Vice President of Player Personnel with the Seahawks (2006–2009), and he worked in scouting for the Buccaneers from 1988-2005, ending up at Director of Player Personnel.
Webster is now with the Falcons, where he’s been since 2016. He’s currently a senior personnel executive with the Falcons.
Former Titans tight end Bo Scaife
I wasn’t expecting to see former Titans tight end Bo Scaife at the game, but I bumped into him on the lower concourse decked out in 49ers attire.
Scaife, who played from 2005-2010 with the Titans, was college teammates of 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan at Texas.
Here’s a video I shot of Scaife at the game:
