#I have a fun quote I wrote out for this guy to rb on my main with

[kirisclangen]

Tanglespots

He/him, 86 moons, cis tom

[mossyrossaliceinterviews]

Talking Toxic Masculinity with CRICKETS

Sep 8, 2020

By Mossy Ross

From left to right: Roddy Bottum, JD Samson, and Michael O’Neal 

Photo: AF Cortes

Each member of CRICKETS comes with a rich history of musical experience. One might think that with so many strong sonic personalities from such different backgrounds (Faith No More, Le Tigre, MEN), it would be nearly impossible to hone in on a sound that’s anything other than chaos and noise (with a bit of ego sprinkled throughout). But CRICKETS has managed to do the opposite. Instead of going the way of so many supergroups and pulling out all the stops, they’ve uh…pulled in all the stops. Continuously stripping down to a sound that is a pure expression of not only the sonic landscape they’re seeking, but their ethos as well. The result is music washed of all toxic masculinity, and what remains is only what’s necessary to express their intentions.

Mossy: How did you all start playing together?

JDS: I put out an Instagram story saying, “Anybody want to start a band?” Because I was kind of sick of making work on the computer, and then covering it for live. That’s what I had done with previous bands, so I was like, “Who wants to get into a room and play music together?” And Michael and Roddy and a few other people responded, and we just started meeting up once a week and jamming. And then other people had different priorities come up for them, and it ended up that Michael and Roddy and I were the people that kept coming back for more. I can’t remember when that started.

MO: 2018.

Mossy: How long were you writing and jamming before you actually started recording?

RB: The process was probably over a year. We started in a different formation, like JD said. We had a couple other people playing with us, too. And what we’ve done since we started, has just been this slow process of stripping things away. I don’t want to say in terms of the other people. But the process of the music evolved in a way where stuff kept leaving. And so we wrote songs and stuff, and it was kind of unconventional in the way we went about it. We just started taking things away from what we were doing. Stripping things down and become simpler and more sparse. And it took a year to kind of get our sound.

JDS: We went to Roddy’s friend’s house upstate in a place called Peekamoose, and I think that was kind of a really important moment for us. Because I remember this feeling of like, “Yeah, just let the guitar ring out over nothing for a second. That’s what this is!” And it was just this beautiful moment where we realized we wanted to, I don’t know, appreciate the space in between.

Mossy: I feel like the hardest thing for me about making music, is coming up with the sound you want. Do you all find that to be the same?

JDS: I think that…sorry if I keep talking, but…talking is fun. (Chuckles). But I think sometimes the computer and the opportunity to use many sounds is an obstacle. Because then you get confused about what you want to do. And I think that the beauty of this project was Roddy had his keyboard, and Michael had his guitar, and I had this one drum machine, and this mic with this one effect. And we just kind of jammed, and there was no way to do anything different than what we made. So we didn’t really have another option to question. I think our questioning was more around the idea of how other people would hear it. For me, at least. I was just, at times, confused or concerned that people wouldn’t get our intentions. But these guys are really good at helping me get through that.

Mossy: One thing that struck me is that you actually use the words “toxic masculinity” in a song. I would love to hear a defining moment for each of you, where you experienced that toxicity; and then, like you say in the song, realized it was something that was in you, that you could grow from?

Roddy: The toxicity that sort of creeps into the craft of songwriting is so many things, but for me…the abundance of options. There’s just so many things you can bring into the craft of what you do. And I’ve just learned over the course of time, to ignore all of the options, or just limit the options. And it’s the excess of the options and excess of bringing different elements in and in and in; like overdubs and overdubs, and adding and adding and adding, that’s just this pig-ish sort of behavior for me. And a good example of what I consider sort of a toxic masculine force that comes into the craft of songwriting or creating. I mean, it’s been the course of my whole life, it’s been a creating step.

I’ve always known in the back of my mind that less is more. But making a real decision to act on that, felt like a pivotal place for me. It’s like, I know that less is more, but even so…I do more. And I like things dense and more and more and more. And to sort of go away from that grain of thought was profound for me. And in CRICKETS, making that decision, talking about it, and stripping down in the way that we have, was really empowering in a political way.

JDS: Yeah, I think in the case of commenting on toxic masculinity, I think abstractly and conceptually without the lyrics, we still would have been doing that. And I think that particular song just also happened to reflect that content lyrically. So maybe it’s the song that tunes people into that conceptual experience. But yeah, I think a lot of the lyrics were written for a different purpose. I was working on a book. Actually the interesting part about it, is I’ve never been in a band where I jammed vocally with people in a room. It was always computer based. It was like, “Here’s this track. Sing something on it, bring it in, let’s workshop it, what are the lyrics, what’s this song about?” So this was the first time I was actually vulnerable vocally in that way. I think sometimes, you could call it a crutch, you could call it a beautiful collaboration of mediums, but I think I went to this writing I was doing to comfort me, so that I had something to say that felt already grounded, and it made me less fearful or vulnerable or scared to present something to the group.

Mossy: So you went to the book you had been writing?

JDS: Yeah, and to be honest, now I’m not writing that book. Because it felt like it was this therapy that brought me to the lyrics for this record.

Mossy: Michael, what about you? Any defining experiences with toxic masculinity?

MO: Yeah, it’s interesting, I think in the context of bands, it’s making me think of MEN, and that time of my life. I feel like I was a lot more insecure. And I feel like MEN was awesome, and there were so many great moments with it. But it had its toxicity, too, and frankly didn’t end on the best of notes. And that was sort of a mix of a lot of different things. I know for myself, I was wanting success, like, so bad, that I would be an asshole about things that I thought would equal success, or that I thought were right. I feel like, in bands, we can fight so hard for our opinions and our positions. So that often led to shit between JD and I and our other bandmates. So bringing it to CRICKETS, one of the best parts about this band, is JD and I have repaired that damage. We’ve learned how to be in a band together in a way where we always challenge ourselves when it comes to that toxicity, and with Roddy, too. I feel like we’re always trying so hard to be agreeable bandmates.

Mossy: Because you have the power “to heal and change and grow” (I’m quoting the lyrics to Elastic here)!

MO: Exactly! It’s exactly that within our band. I mean, I haven’t heard all the stories with Roddy and his previous bands. I mean, I’m sure you’ve got plenty! Faith No More, I mean…(laughs) Like times when you’re just an asshole to your bandmates, you know. So I feel like we all try to be really good to each other in this band, and come to democratic decisions.

Mossy: That’s one thing I love about getting older and being able to change, and then have people in your life that are willing to change as well. It makes things so much more cooperative.

RB: Yeah, and it’s such a good point. The communication part of it all. If we didn’t communicate well, it would be such a different organization, such a different band. But it’s so key just to be able to listen. I grew up with three sisters. In my life, with my family, it’s just been listening. And then you get into certain situations and it’s like, people don’t listen. But it’s so key to our equation and what we do together.

JDS: Yeah, our methodology is simplicity, in order to erase toxic masculinity. Both in our communication and in our instrumentation. So it all fits in together.

Mossy: Would you say being a good communicator is more of a female quality?

RB: I think for sure. And listening. It’s such a masculine thing to do, to overstep, and to talk over other people. I was watching that on the news yesterday. Kamala was talking to…I can’t remember who it was. But it was so cool to see Kamala Harris go, “I’m talking,” to the guy.

It’s such a guy thing. He wouldn’t stop. He just kept talking over her, because he’s accustomed to letting people allow that. People let him speak over them as a man. But to stop and listen is, for me, I don’t know, I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a feminine thing, but it’s definitely not a masculine quality.

Photo: AF Cortes

Mossy: Have you heard of “toxic femininity?”

RB: (Chuckles) That’s a good question.

Mossy: I was just reading an article in Psychology Today about it. I’m paraphrasing, but it said that male toxicity is when a man behaves in a way that is damaging to himself, when he exhibits these overtly male qualities. And toxic femininity is when a woman acts in a way that is damaging to herself, in order to embrace femininity. One of the examples (of toxic femininity) in the article was how a woman will order a salad on a date even if she’s starving.

RB: Honestly, it’s hard for me to stretch and see examples of feminine toxicity. I couldn’t use toxic in that definition. That’s a really poignant and funny example, eating salad. (Laughs) Like just as a poetic example, that is far from toxic.

Mossy: I guess the “toxic” part of it is how a woman will allow herself to suffer in order to appear more feminine, and appeal to a male ideal. Like not saying “I’m talking” when someone is talking over her.

JD: I think that (calling it “toxic femininity) is like saying it’s reverse racism. I think it’s impossible. I hear where you’re coming from, and I’ve heard of feminine toxicity before, but it’s kind of impossible to, quote/unquote, “blame” a marginalized community for the toxicity of the patriarchy.

Mossy: Because would female toxicity exist without male toxicity?

JDS: Exactly. And that’s just my opinion. And to that point, I think it’s interesting because my persona has been this butch woman, and publicly, that is how people see me. And I think addressing that toxicity within a female masculine body is really important. And I think maybe that hasn’t been done that overtly, so I felt like it was really a responsibility of mine to say that out loud. So I think maybe this is a little bit more complex.

Mossy: What do you feel are some of your responsibilities?

JDS: Everything for me, gender wise, is very fluid. And I think we all inhabit these qualities that are masculine and feminine. And I think we all fall into this space of masculinity being equated with power, and those dynamics become entrenched in some of our relationships. Just because of our inherent understanding of confidence, and what it means to be in relation to other people, and how to maintain power in service of our desires. And I think sometimes that is toxic. And I think nobody is free from that experience. But I do think that, specifically in my case, both growing up with the media around me of toxic masculinity everywhere, and me seeing that in order for me to feel power or to feel confidence, I need to do x, y, and z; I did kind of create a roll for myself that was not only dangerous, at some points, but also oversexualized in some way. And I think this band was a way for me to get out of that experience of my, quote/unquote, “persona.”

Mossy: How did the name CRICKETS happen?

MO: I wanna tell this story! (Laughs) We were trying to come up with a band name, as most bands find is very, very difficult. So we had this text thread between the three of us, and we’re communicating about this or that. And every once in awhile someone would throw out a band name, and we’d see if it lands. And Roddy said something in the thread, and JD and I didn’t respond for a really long time. And his response to us was, “Crickets.” And we’re like, “That’s the band name! CRICKETS!” (Laughs)

Mossy: One of my favorite games to play is coming up with band names.

RB: Yeah, we had a running list. I have it somewhere written down. Dozens and dozens of names.

JDS: I really wanted Seltzer. 

RB: I really liked The Inhalers.

Mossy: But don’t you think CRICKETS is a pretty good name, when you think about how your sound is just stripped down?

MO: Oh yeah, we even played one of our shows with a Youtube video of cricket sounds, that JD would pull up on her phone and play in the background the whole time. So in between songs, or in quiet moments of a song, all of a sudden you would hear the sound of crickets.

RB: I think the name works well. I think it’s one of our proudest achievements, is naming our band. It’s not, like, super on the nose. But it suggests really right where we are, I feel like.

Mossy: What is “Drilled Two Holes” about?

JDS: I did this project that was about drilling holes into stones. It was kind of questioning the identity of being stone. I wrote an essay and it was a sexual reference about the different holes in the body.

Mossy: What was the project with drilling holes into stone?

JDS: It’s kind of a long story, but my dad was a sanding gravel miner. So stones and rocks are a big part of my life. But also having this identity of stone, which is a historical lesbian identity of somebody that doesn’t allow other people to touch them sexually. And so I was kind of, no pun intended, digging into this idea of why that has been my identity. And it came about in relationship to writing this book, and thinking about my responsibility of healing toxic masculinity, basically. So this project was me drilling holes into hundreds of stones, and creating a suit out of them. And during the process, it was so monotonous and physical, that I experienced a lot of feelings around the memory of having sex with people throughout my life.

Photo: AF Cortes

Mossy: How do you see the “American Dream” being revised, now that we’re discovering our values have been influenced so much by the patriarchy?

JD: Well, I think more specifically, within the music industry, there are some issues of pretending you have more money than you do. And also just this farce that people who are famous have money. Myyki Blanco just posted something relevant to this conversation a few weeks ago. And I felt like this was an interesting next step of the idea, that more popular/famous/renowned artists are still using wealth as a part of their image, and maybe this is something to discuss when thinking about how much money musicians are getting for streaming. It is just so clear right now with Spotify, if you have 250 streams, you get like, less than a dollar or something. And I think it’s relevant in the sense that, as musicians, we can’t support ourselves from just making music. So that’s something I’ve been thinking about recently, is new ways of thinking about the streaming industry and digital distribution.

Mossy: Any brilliant ideas yet?

JDS: I’m on a steering committee for a project right now called Ampled. It’s kind of similar to Patreon. But there’s a lot of organizations, companies, and co-ops starting where people are just rethinking. And I think Bandcamp has done such a great job this year of centering the artist and their needs, and particularly centering movements like Black Lives Matter, so they can be aligned politically with what the artists all want. We put something out on Bandcamp, and I know Roddy has a project on Bandcamp he’s been doing, too. Mossy: What’s the other project you’re working on, Roddy?

RB: I just started something a few weeks ago that’s like a daily music share, just to sort of keep me busy and to work on my craft. I go back and forth with it because it seems like a little bit indulgent of an expression. But I think the craft of what we do, writing, music, whatever you do…I think the craft often gets overlooked. So I just got this notion a few weeks ago, that to work on that craft on a daily basis is really, really important. Especially in times like this. Not that everybody has a lot of time, but people have a lot more time right now. It just seems pertinent to address the craft of what we do, and to become better at what we do. So I just started this process of doing a daily music share. So it’s sharing a piece of music every day, and every day I have to finish it. It’s helping me get to where I’d like to be as an artist in a quicker way. The music is free, but any donations people make goes to The Okra Project, which is an awesome organization that feeds black trans people who need food.

Mossy: You’ve made it a point to make sure your music is political, which I think is a vital component of making any sort of art.

JDS: Yeah, I think there’s been some really interesting conversations throughout COVID about the purpose of making music right now. And I think (the conversations are happening) for a lot of reasons, but mostly because you can’t tour and make money that way. It’s like, people are forced to kind of consider what the model of the future of the music industry is. Holly Herndon posted something really interesting the other day about just experimentation music. And like Roddy said, for CRICKETS in general, the ethos is, we’re trying something out, and we’re just making work. Why does it have to be completely 100% perfect, and factory made for it to succeed? Why can’t the experience and the process of making it be enough? And why can’t this music be just for our community, and just ourselves, and just for the people who want to listen to it, and not try to fucking get the world to be obsessed with it? Because it’s really just about our process.

MO: Yeah, you mentioned the American Dream earlier, and I think what’s interesting is the American Dream is what instills in us, that we have to be famous in order to be successful. And that’s what leads to this toxic place. And that’s what’s so fucked about the capitalist way, is we push everybody aside and just start tearing shit down just to be, quote/unquote, “successful.” So I really hope the American Dream shifts so that we can all understand a different kind of success or dream.

JDS: Celebrity culture got us to where we are right now with the president that we have. What’s the most punk thing we could do right now? Fucking kill celebrity culture.

RB: Yeah, the way we grew up, we looked at these images of opulence. That’s what we’ve seen for so long, like “Oh, shiny, flashy expensive.” It’s such a lazy approach to make things attractive in an expensive looking way. I just think it’s lazy and boring. There are so many more eccentricities to accentuate in a presentational way, rather than gold and glitz and glamour. That trend needs to end.

Watch the video for “Elastic:” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3y17lNE_gQM 

Follow on IG @thesoundofcrickets

Web: www.thesoundofcrickets.org

[luckykhuxguide]

Have you found a lot of resistance or ire pointed at you for encouraging people to play JP? I find that there's a good amount of people who insist JPUX is "easy mode" and I've even been called a shill for pointing out how different the two servers are in an effort to teach others how the NA playerbase isn't treated fairly. It's made me want to leave the NA experience entirely...

(*´◒`*) Hi Anon!

This really depends on the people you’re around. I’m going to put our replies under a read more (so click on the question) since I’ve a lot (I wrote way too much so I apologize for the wall) to say regarding this, and Lucky probably has some things to add as well.

I’ve been met with healthy skepticism, which is perfectly fine. After all, I AM biased. You shouldn’t just believe everything everyone says, and always think for yourself. 

I did try to convince my friend (IRL) to play JP KHUX, because she loved playing NA KHUX. At first she said no because she didn’t want to fall into KHUX hell like me, but after I told her how different JP KHUX and NA KHUX was treated, she did join! :> She said she enjoys JP KHUX a whole lot more than NA KHUX and stopped playing NA KHUX.

~ Lucky ★彡

We try to state hard facts in addition to our own experiences and there’s plenty of those. We’ve listed differences in play, treatment, jewels, bonuses, events and handling before. The reasons we list as PSA or when people ask for differences/reasons to migrate are to make people aware. After that, it’s up to them what they want to do with the information.

I’m guilting of urging NA KHUX players to play JP KHUX though. =w=;; When they come and rant to me on this blog, there is nothing I can do but tell them to play JP KHUX if they enjoy the game play but couldn’t handle the way NA KHUX were being treated. Honestly, I wouldn’t have much of a problem with playing NA KHUX if NA KHUX were treated the same way as JP KHUX. But all I can do is to advice them to change. Whether they take action or not is ultimately up to them. I’ve done all I can do urge them, but the choice is their’s to make.

~ Lucky ★彡

While it’s sweet of you to make them aware of the differences (and suggest they try JP KHUX), a lot of people have trouble with language barriers or straightup abandoning their account. Personal reasons also apply. This is completely understandable, and we do encourage to read up on the plot of KHUX through either the global version or youtube videos/translations if they try JP KHUX.

I’ve always found it a bit difficult to recommend KHUX JP, especially at first. I got better at reading Japanese through it, but I’m definitely among the select few of intl players who can read Japanese. The more feedback I got from happy migrated players, the more confident I got with recommending the JP server to others (using quotes and numbers to back my claims more in addition to the facts and my own experiences). Obviously I still put a disclaimer; part of my experience differs, since I don’t need to look things up. This makes me a faster player and enables me to enjoy the story. Heck, my own party members read either no Japanese at all, or picked up some keywords for when I’m not around.  And even they enjoy the game a ton. In both versions, being part of a good party can make such a difference…I’m trailing off.

Okay on my part, I’ve never understood the plot for KH games. I just know that my goal is to kill whatever I see really. There is too much in-between cut scenes that you forget why you’re doing it in the first place. So, the same happened for me with KHUX. I just kill whatever I see and complete missions. I didn’t REALLY care for the story because I’m so lost with the KH plot already and I couldn’t figure out why KHUX is so important to the KH plot aside from the keyblade war. (We’re going to be dead kids.)

~ Lucky ★彡

NA KHUX is the way it is, and probably won’t change much due to the amount of players still dishing hefty sums of money out. The resistance you’ve been seeing is part of that problem. Calling JP KHUX ‘easy mode’ is a new one to me, and makes me think that’s what they call it to make themselves feel better about it. So long they’re enjoying the game, that’s fine with me, though.

I can understand why NA KHUX players call JP KHUX easy mode, and they’re not wrong to call JP KHUX “easy mode”. Especially going from JP KHUX to NA KHUX, my JP KHUX account is GODLY compared to NA KHUX. The enemies I fight in JP KHUX die easily with a single guilted premium, yet I’m suffering in NA KHUX even using an entire deck. You do have to strategize differently in NA KHUX than you do in JP KHUX, such as giving good skills (i.e. SP+&Atk boost 3, or Lux+&Atk Boost 2) to guilted non-premiums, because chances for f2p to guilt premiums is rather impossible. 

And, TBH, because JP KHUX are so strong now, we can easily solo Raid Bosses even at level 99 (no joke guys, we can bring in like 5 million lux in one fight against a lvl 99 RB). It used to be more fun when the entire party coordinated together to kill a raid boss because we really needed to work together to defeat the raid boss and bring the raid boss to level 99. Someone needed to be a summoner and everyone else participated in killing the raid boss. Now, it is just us soloing the raid bosses. Yes, we need to work together as a party to rank well party wise, but it’s not the same... There is something fun and satisfying knowing your party members rely on each other to help each other out, and being too strong with the RBs took that aspect away.

Square KINDA brought back the “work together as a party” aspect by giving up 101 Dalmatian hell in JP KHUX, but it is only temporary. I do hope multi-player will allow us to work together again in a party. 

~ Lucky ★彡

I do not advertise JP KHUX actively. I recommend it casually when I see players struggling on global, or when they approach me about it.

I’ve seen JP KHUX players obnoxiously advertise (under SENA KHUX tweets, for example) that NA players should just join JP, that JP is better, that NA is being ridiculous. 

IDK, I DO THINK NA KHUX IS RIDICULOUS THOUGH. I mean the requirement to get a commemorative medal requires NA KHUX players to have them guilted?! LIKE SERIOUSLY? If the new premiums are guaranteed to come with 3 dots. FINE. So we need to make at most 10 draws to be qualified to get the premium and NA KHUX f2p players can do that. But asking us to get SEVEN COPIES of a premium so we can have it GUILTED by a CLOSE DEADLINE TO THE RELEASE DATE is ridiculous!!  No way can ANY f2p or c2p players can obtain these commemorative medals. Or if Square keeps the requirement in order to obtain the commemorative medals you need so and so premiums guilted, but no deadline, is okay too because f2p players can EVENTUALLY get the commemorative medal. But Square is expecting NA KHUX to have premiums guilted by such a close deadline to the release date is similar, if not the same, as the JP KHUX standard. While it is difficult for f2p JP KHUX players to obtain a commemorative medal, it is not impossible. Honestly though, they should’ve kept the requirement to obtain the commemorative medal as obtaining the premium by a deadline.

And don’t get me started on the lack of special VIP missions available every week and lack of guilt bonus events. IT WOULDN’T HURT TO GIVE US MORE GUILT BONUS CAMPAIGNS. JUST SAYIN’ SQUARE. GIVE US MORE GUILT BONUS CAMPAIGNS.

~ Lucky ★彡

To me, that’s JUST as annoying as NA players calling JP easy mode or calling players who migrate “traitors” or “weak”.

OH SNAP. I DIDN’T KNOW NA KHUX PLAYERS CALLED THOSE WHO SWITCH TO JP KHUX PLAYERS NAMES. I mean yeah, NA KHUX players would feel like they’re being betrayed, but it’s not like everyone is willing to have their wallets go on a diet for NA KHUX, or have access to the google survey to get free money and offer that as sacrifice to NA KHUX. 

~ Lucky ★彡

Nobody has the right to ruin another player’s experience. You do whatever leyts you have most fun. It’s fine to call SENA out for being unfair, but be specific, be factual, and be articulate. 

There’s NA players who will call you a shill for advertising JP KHUX. There’s NA players who will stick with NA regardless of what anyone says. There’s also JP players who feel overly sorry for NA players or will think highly of themselves for having made the switch to JP. There’s annoying/obnoxious players in both versions of the game, because we’re all just players looking for a fun experience. And players are humans, so there’s always going to be ones you don’t get along with. But there’s also those you’ll be able to befriend.

In the end though, it’s not your responsibility. If they’re having fun as is, or don’t feel like giving JP KHUX a shot, that’s their own decision. If it really starts causing you grief, remember it’s not your responsibility to persuade them or make them aware. In fact, if you’re actively persuading, I recommend you to not do so. It’s a lot of wasted energy, and if they resist, it’ll make their game experience less fun to be (constantly) reminded of the differences, too.

If they’re having fun, and you’re having fun on your own, then that’s perfectly fine the way it is. 

If they don’t want to try/play JP KHUX even after knowing the differences, there’s little anyone can do about it, and it’s their choice.

There’s a whole lot more I could say about this, but I’ll stop here. 

I don’t know if you just point it out, or if you’re actively persuading, or if you’re part of the group who’s actively advertising.

I don’t mind what you choose to do, that’s your responsibility too. 

But you did hint that the feedback you got impacted you negatively, which means you’ll want to rethink your actions– not because you have been wrong (or depending on how you went about it, maybe you approach was, I cannot say) but because your advice has been ignored or you’ve been called out for advertising.

( I’m aware that my phrasing may give you the wrong idea, so I’ll repeat: I’m not making assumptions about you. This is why I include multiple scenarios. I don’t know what type of person you are or how you tried to approach those players. You know who you are and how you approached them, so you know exactly how it went. You don’t owe me that explanation and I don’t need you do go into detail– you can figure out where to go from here. But again, my advice in a tldr: if it causes you so much grief and frustration, maybe it’s better to focus on having fun and being a bit more picky with who you try to help out. )

–Salt

[cover32-yahoopartner-blog]

That forgotten Titans player

That forgotten Titans player

The “nobody” on the depth chart. The guy that plays well in preseason and is “never heard from again” until next summer. This silence makes fans wonder why. It makes fans curious. There was Kurt Warner and there was Priest Holmes. There’s been plenty of “nobodies” that went on to become… somebody. It’s not that he’s forgotten, but you almost have to be reminded that he’s there just the same. NFL fans love these nobodies- love em!

The Titans had a nobody is Antonio Andrews. During this information age, Andrews wasn’t exactly a surprise. He ran for a zillion yards at Western Kentucky and was an intriguing undrafted free agent. When Andrews became the Titans featured running back, some fans asked “who?” but yet, for the most part, he was a known commodity. Maybe also as a result of guys like Kurt Warner, it’s almost difficult to be a nobody in today’s world. Everyone is looking for the darling undrafted free agent. Then everyone is looking for the sleeper in fantasy football. Next, you can add-in dynasty fantasy football folks that are looking for the deep sleepers. Andrews’ one year of prominence would have been a bigger deal if it happened 20 years ago.

Amidst this giant confusing pile of contradictions, the Titans still have another nobody and I’m predicting that 2017 will be his year.

AROUND COVER32

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2017 NFL Draft: 2017 NFL Draft Complete Results: Rounds 1 – 7

Report Cards: Grading how all 32 teams came out in last week’s NFL Draft

Josue Matias was a four-year starter at Florida State. Four years starting for a nationally prominent program that plays the best of the best in college football, and yet he went undrafted. 2015 began with Matias being on two prestigious lists- the preseason Lombardi trophy and preseason Outland trophy. These lists indicate players that may turn out to be the award winners. They may not, but it’s basically a “keep an eye on these guys” list.

During the 2015 preseason, the second offensive line group was effective. The first group would struggle mightily and when the subs came in, it was a total contrast. Suddenly the Titans had time to pass and ran effectively. David Cobb and Zach Mettenberger were two players that greatly benefitted from the far better offensive line. It gave the impression that they were better than the starters, since the starters struggled to run behind the first unit’s offensive line.

The first offensive line group had three drafted players that never panned out- Jeremiah Poutasi, Chance Warmack, and Brian Schwenke. The group also had Andy Levitre for whom the Titans signed as a key free agent, but he didn’t play well for them. None of them are with the team. Oh and somewhere in the corner is Taylor Lewan waving “don’t forget about me!”

The second group had Quenton Spain. Spain has become an excellent starter; statistically one of the best guards in football. One of “Munchak’s boys” in Byron Stingily. He would be cut and then go play for Munchak with the Steelers. Byron Bell whom would play four positions on the offensive line that season, replacing each of those castoffs. At center was Fernando Velasco- a journeyman center with decent, if not impressive, ability. He was a typical backup that could come in and be effective for a time. Everyone played. Everyone on this second unit got promoted to the first unit in some fashion.

Oh I forgot the right guard. That was Josue Matias. He didn’t get promoted. He was impressive in preseason. He caught my eye, not Spain. No one got past this guy and when they did run…whew did he move the defensive lineman! The season was horrific. The Titans would allow roughly ten million sacks as they clinched the worst record in football. As each of these replacements got called up, I waited for Matias to be inserted. Near the end of the season, they were giving the quarterback some time and they were opening some holes for the running back. The replacements were far better and replacing the starters at a clip of about one every two or three weeks. Soon Matias would be promoted and….nope the season ended without him getting a snap.

I was annoyed. I wrote of it. I vented. When one lineman is a human turnstile, it creates this begging that almost becomes a demand to put someone else into the game. When JJ Watt is dominating it hurt. When linebacker Whitney Mercilus was such an effective rusher up the middle that people began to list him as a defensive lineman(yep, look it up)…ooh that stung. Then Ken Whisenhunt was fired and there was this hope that my frustration would be replaced with far better talent evaluation.

Last spring, Matias played tackle and guard as did Quenton Spain. Each of them played both in college. Since Blake Bell was such an effective sub in 2015, it was a common thought to imagine him supplanting one of the starters. Would it be Warmack? Spain? Would the rookie Jack Conklin be ineffective? Bell was thought of like a sixth starter or sixth man in basketball. The Titans drafted a guard named Sebastian Tretola He made the most amusing prospect quote ever when he said that Mariota robbed him of his Heisman trophy. Whether it was a silly quote or not, he drew attention and fans wanted to know how he was doing. Matias…how much press is there really about backup linemen? He went back to being a nobody.

Bell got injured, but the Titans staff and players made plenty of comments that gave the impression that they would be fine without him. It wasn’t that his play wouldn’t be missed, but that they had it covered.

Then guess who got injured? (There should be a Josue Matias popup book) Matias was injured and suddenly the Titans had to act. They traded their supposed prized wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham to Philadelphia for backup tackle/guard Dennis Kelly. DGB was struggling during the offseason activities, but he was also still widely thought of as an upcoming talent. He was a second round pick and led the team in receiving as a rookie. He was a huge man that could run fast and seemed to have a bright, bright future. Teams don’t usually quit on a player like that. DGB wouldn’t do well in Philadelphia and his career seems to be fizzling out quickly, but look back at some May and June fantasy football lists. Pick up a “fantasy rag” or pro football preview. People certainly expected him to be an integral part of the Titans offense. Since when do teams trade away an integral part of their offense for a backup lineman? Has that ever happened before in NFL history? How good does that backup lineman have to be to give the team the impression they had better do something drastic and replace him?

I had written that I expected Matias to replace Chance Warmack. The Titans didn’t seem pleased with him and his preseason play did nothing to change this impression. The Titans did replace Warmack, but with waiver wire pick up Josh Kline.

In 2017, Tretola has made some sort of declaration that he plans to challenge the starters and win a spot in camp. While I doubt he wins a spot, I love how this guy speaks. He is so fiery and fun. The Titans drafted Corey Levin in the seventh round. Levin is a mauler of a guard and his college highlights have received some attention. He also went to Chattanooga, so he is considered a local “boy” as well.

Guess who is forgotten?

I am predicting Matias steals Kline’s spot and starts in 2017. I haven’t forgotten that during a time when the line looked like garbage, he shined. To now have impressive teammates playing alongside him, his job will be so much easier. He should bust his way up to the starting lineup in 2017.

  Another odd moment, just because

Last summer someone somehow let the word out that Matias was waived. I was all “there is no way they waive him! They made this trade clearly showing how valuable they felt he is. There is no way!” I wrote and wrote. When are NFL transactions wrong? People wrote me how it’s pretty cut and dry isn’t it? See here, ESPN has him waived. Also here, the Titans website has him waived too. I was insistent. He IS still on the roster. I noticed this transaction wasn’t on the NFL website and inquired with the team. He absolutely is on the roster and under contract. How’s that for a nobody or forgotten man?

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