#ProDucks Flock To Tennessee
02/20/19 | @GoDucksMoseley
Oregon alumni in Tennessee have the chance to cheer for multiple former Ducks on the state's NFL and NBA teams.
For an Oregon fan, the next best place to be other than Eugene these days just might be Tennessee.
The Volunteer State is home to the Tennessee Titans, quarterbacked by the UO football team's first ever Heisman Trophy winner, Marcus Mariota. On the other side of the state sits Memphis, home of the NBA's Grizzlies, which acquired former UO swing man Dillon Brooks in a trade on draft day 2017.
Two weeks ago, each of those Ducks was reunited with a former UO teammate. On Feb. 7, the Titans signed offensive lineman Hroniss Grasu, Mariota's center and one of his best friends while at Oregon. That same day, the Grizzlies traded for Tyler Dorsey, who helped Brooks lead the UO men's basketball team to the 2017 Final Four.
Is this heaven, local Duck fans might have been asking themselves? Nope. It's Tennessee.
"It's just good to feel a connection to the Ducks out here," said Mike Zeck, who walked on to the UO football team in 2000 and since last year has been president of the Music City Ducks, an arm of the UO Alumni Association based in Nashville. "It bolsters what will hopefully be an even better year for the Music City Ducks."
Zeck said the Music City Ducks typically attract a dozen or more Oregon fans to their football watch parties. Among them is Brian Vingelen, a 1999 graduate who moved to Nashville in 2005.
Vingelen works for his wife's family business, which has season tickets for both the Titans and Grizzlies. The presence of Mariota – and now Grasu – "makes me even more of a Titans fan, obviously," he said.
And after the reunion of Dorsey and Brooks in Memphis?
"I still follow the Portland Trail Blazers," said Vingelen, a Portland native. "But I'll probably be a lot bigger of a Memphis fan now."
The Titans announced the signing of Grasu with a tweet that attracted nearly 1,000 "likes" over the ensuing days. The team's social media manager, Nate Bain, wasn't surprised.
After all, Bain also is a UO graduate, a former Oregon men's basketball student manager who knew the affection fans had for the Mariota-Grasu tandem.
"As soon as I heard the Grasu news, I knew we'd have a good day on Titans social," Bain said. "It was our most engaged post both that day and that entire week, and it just goes to show how much love Oregon fans have for the Titans. Not only is it a positive to add an all-American lineman, but it's also a huge lift when he's a former teammate and friend of your starting quarterback."
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Titans add veteran offensive lineman Hroniss Grasu
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) February 7, 2019
Roster Moves ?? » https://t.co/sdaL0NIxKx pic.twitter.com/lWpzE6I1Qu
Mariota was drafted by the Titans with the No. 2 pick in the 2015 draft, and in 2017 he led the team to its first playoff berth in 10 years – and the franchise's first postseason victory since 2004. Injuries have limited him at times during his professional career, and he's been hampered by constant churn among the team's coaching staff over the last four years.
The upcoming season is a critical year for Mariota in his tenure with the Titans – the team picked up the option year on his rookie contract rather than negotiate a long-term deal, meaning there's no guarantee Mariota will still be in Tennessee after 2019. Because of those circumstances, Zeck was encouraged by the Grasu signing earlier this month.
"I was stoked," Zeck said. "That to me is a good sign that the organization is making a commitment to stick with Marcus. Quite honestly, there was enough noise, I was sure they were going to do that. And hopefully it's a good feeling for him as well, to say, 'It's going to be a special year for not only the Titans but myself.' Having Grasu at center, it's gotta bring back a lot of good memories."
The signing of Grasu by the Tennessee certainly brought back good memories for the Music City Ducks.
"I feel like I'm watching the Ducks still," said Vingelen, who encountered former Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt on a golf course prior to the 2015 draft, and implored him to draft Mariota. "I hope that, if they play Grasu at center, they can run the offense like they used to back in the day."
Grasu is with his fourth NFL franchise, having been drafted by the Chicago Bears in 2015. He started eight games as a rookie, missed the 2016 season due to injury and started four more times for the Bears in 2017 before joining the Ravens and then the Dolphins over the course of last season.
The former UO basketball stars now playing in Tennessee know the feeling of the constant change at the pro level. Brooks was drafted by the Houston Rockets and traded to Memphis that same day in 2017. Dorsey was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks, and played in 83 games over two seasons there before being traded to the Grizzlies.
Vingelen spends time in Atlanta, and so he could follow Dorsey's progress somewhat closely.
"But now that he's in Memphis? That's a pretty good deal," Vingelen said.
Brooks is currently sidelined by a toe injury, and Dorsey's rookie contract expires after this season, so there's no guarantee they'll end up playing together as pros. But the UO fans in Tennessee would love to see them recapture the magic they provided during the 2017 Final Four run.
Brooks has another year on his rookie deal, and thus at least one more year to build his following in Memphis.
"One of the things that I loved about him, getting to watch him in person several times, is that he's a very passionate player," Zeck said. "And passionate where it's not cocky – it's clear he loves the game and gets caught up in the moment. People rally around that. He'll get a fan base sooner or later. People are going to want more."
Given the presence of the Music City Ducks, Brooks already had a few fans when he arrived in Tennessee. And as of this month, there are even more former Ducks for the UO alumni in Tennessee to cheer.
