Published
by
The
Tennessean
Saturday,
1/22/00
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Fan in field of his own
When the Titans take the field, David Sutton rolls out the green carpet. Season tickets put him in his seat at the home games, but when the game's away, he might suffer withdrawal if not for the grass-green "artificial turf," complete with an airbrushed 50-yard line, logo and end zones, on his living room floor. But, hey, it's all in the name of love for the Titans, making Sutton the Ultimate Titans Fan, but with 57 other entries in the Tennessean contest coming oh-so-close. They're among tens of thousands of fans who have embraced the team that's made it to the AFC Championship game tomorrow -- fans like Larry Rumsey, who has the team logo tattooed on his leg and Ken Hampton, who wears a suit of armor to the games. "The Titans are great," said Sutton, who bought tickets from a permanent-seat license holder. In the spirit of the season, Sutton, a Franklin locksmith, rolls out the 6- by 10-foot rug not only at home, but also in friends' homes when he travels to games in other cities. To further show his spirit, Sutton decorated his home office with Titans team photos and a Titans wallpaper border, and he's bought an RV that he's refurbishing in Titans blue -- light and dark. "I'm going to have it ready for next season," Sutton said. But that's as far as he's going to go, except to display the $250 in Titans merchandise he's earned as the Tennessean's Ultimate Titans Fan. "I am truly blessed but when the house needs repainting, I probably won't try to convince myself navy shutters and light blue gutters are a good idea," Sutton said. However, when it comes to fans' wacky antics, there's no limit: • It's Titans forever for Larry Rumsey, who has the team's logo tattooed on his left leg. "Like most fans, I have the properly decorated SUV," Rumsey said. But the real loyalty comes with the tattoo, which he got as a follow-up to the Nashville Kats logo tattooed on his right leg. The colorful designs are publicly visible only when he's wearing shorts, since he works in records management for "a conservative Republican law firm that probably wouldn't appreciate them." Next up: "I want to get a Predators logo so I'll have all Nashville's pro sports," he said. • The guy in the toga at every game is Tom Evans, who, with fan-pals Ken Hampton and Tom Evans, have formed the Three Amigos. "We're pretty obnoxious," said Ken Hampton, aka Titronic Man. "We give the other team a lot of grief." But from their seats in the south end zone, Row 3, they also serve as very enthusiastic cheerleaders. "We've taught a lot of people when to cheer and when not to cheer, when they need to be fired up and when they need to be quiet." The Three Amigos are very visible, with Evans in his toga and Hampton in a suit of armor. Amonette's gear is more mainstream, but he does wear exactly the same hat, Jevon Kearse jersey, T-shirt, jeans, socks, shoes and ticket holder around his neck to every game. And, for what he is sure is the team's good luck, he gets out of bed at exactly the same time for every game.
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