Titans Rookies Having Fun With College Rivalry

Two Tennessee Titans rookies reflect on their college football days.

Tennessee Titans first-round draft pick JC Latham (55) heads to the next drill during rookie / Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA

NASHVILLE — Last September, T'Vondre Sweat's Texas Longhorns defeated JC Latham's Alabama team at Bryant Denny Stadium. Little did they know, less than a year later, they would become teammates with the Tennessee Titans in the NFL.

It was a rare home loss for the Crimson Tide under now retired coach Nick Saban. Latham likely would've remembered the defeat, but if he were to ever forget his new comrade Sweat will surely remind him of 34-24 outcome.

"I know he a Bama guy. I'm a UT guy, We got the best of em," Sweat told reporter after Friday's rookie minicamp practice. "That's my dawg tho. It's all love. He's a great person. We've been building a relationship over text since we both got drafted. It's great to get to know a Bama guy."

.@Titans DT T’Vondre Sweat on new teammate JC Latham. pic.twitter.com/0TR0uuxVsY

— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) May 10, 2024

In the Week 2 game against Alabama, Sweat performed well with a pressure, a sack, and a tackle. On the other hand, Latham struggled by allowing two pressures, a hurry, and committing one penalty against the Longhorns. It's worth noting that these two players had previously faced off in 2022 when the Crimson Tide narrowly defeated the Longhorns 20-19 at Darrel K. Royal Stadium.

Latham's memories of the rivalry weren't as fond as Sweat's but he's enjoying the bond the pair are building as fundamental pieces of a pivotal draft class.

"T Sweat is my guy," Latham said. "I sat down and talked to him last night and NIL (Name, Image, and Licensing) came up. One of the the other guys asked us how was the NIL at Texas and Bama. Over there at Texas it was great for him and he talked about that and how they won the game. It was friendly fire. That's my guy though."

Titans coach Brian Callahan mentioned the importance of the Titans signing the pair with their first two draft picks.

"Yeah, I think we've added, I don't know, maybe 700 pounds worth of player in two picks," Callahan said. "That's on purpose. That's by design. It's a big man's league. And you need big people to move the line of scrimmage. We wanted to make sure we invested the right players into the fronts. Those are important parts of building a football team. And hard to pass up people that are that size and that playing ability."

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