NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee Titans defensive lineman Michael Smith got rave reviews from his coach and teammates after singing the national anthem prior to the team's scrimmage at Nissan Stadium on Monday night.
"I feel like it went pretty good," said the undrafted rookie out of Southern Miss, who recovered a Matt Cassel fumble a bit later. "I was a little nervous. That was the first time I ever performed. It was a blessing that they let me do that. It was a great day out there."
Smith said he's usually shy with his singing but that when coach Mike Mularkey asked him to do it that he couldn't say no.
"I'm really proud of him, I thought he knocked it dead," Mularkey said. "It was tremendous."
"Awesome," Marcus Mariota said.
Outside linebacker Brian Orakpo, who's known for his deep voice, joined in the applaud for Smith.
"Great, Mike did a tremendous job," Orakpo said. "He showed us he could sing early in the little rookie show we had. And it was phenomenal of him to go out and really start it out for us."
