NFL Coach Who Got Fired Reveals Tricking Ian Rapoport Into Breaking False News
November 22, 2024
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The NFL can be a rough place, especially for head coaches who fall out of favor with ownership. That was the case for former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Mularkey, who led the team for the 2016 and 2017 seasons. He was also the interim head coach in 2015.
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Mularkey ended his time with the Titans sporting a 20-21 record. During the two seasons he served as a head coach, he led the Titans to one playoff berth, but the team lost to the New England Patriots in the AFC Divisional Game in 2017.
Following the 2017 season, Mularkey was relieved of his duties. However, instead of taking his firing with negativity, he chose to have some fun.
Mularkey recounts the Monday following the loss to the Patriots in the playoffs. He knew he was going to get fired, and chose to leak a fake report to NFL insider Ian Rapoport.
“The best thing I did was at the end, which I can now talk about. When I got called in that Monday morning, after that New England game, I knew they were going to fire me. So, Sunday night I called Ian Rapoport and I said ‘Hey, I don’t know if you know this, but I’m going to break it to you. I am getting a new contract in the morning.’ He reported it, and it was all over the country that I was getting a contract in the morning, knowing that I was gonna get fired. I just wanted to see the faces of the owner and the GM who was out to get me. I’m pretty sure I got them for a minute or two,” Mularkey stated.
FOXBOROUGH, MA – JANUARY 13: Head coach Mike Mularkey of the Tennessee Titans reacts with the referre in the fourth quarter of the AFC Divisional Playoff game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium… FOXBOROUGH, MA – JANUARY 13: Head coach Mike Mularkey of the Tennessee Titans reacts with the referre in the fourth quarter of the AFC Divisional Playoff game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on January 13, 2018 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Former Titans HC Mike Mularkey recounts time he tricked Ian Rapoport into breaking false news.
Adam Glanzman/Getty Images
Naturally, the admission of this information got the hosts of the podcast laughing hysterically. It is not often that head coaches can have this kind of fun, nor do they get a chance to get in a last laugh.
Instead of taking his firing in a wholly terrible way, Mularkey chose to get a prank in knowing well that he was going to be fired. Following being let go by the Titans, the former head coach would be the tight ends coach for the Atlanta Falcons in 2019.
Mularkey has not coached since then. He’s spent time in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Miami Dolphins, Pittsburgh Steelers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Falcons, and Titans.
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