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The Tennessee Titans season might be over but for one Tullahoma resident this season and the previous seventeen hold special memories with the Titans.

James Rogers, husband, father of three, UTSI grad and AEDC employee, is one of two persons on each Titans scoreboard that shoots off fireworks after each Titans touchdown.

How do you get a sweet side gig like that with no pyrotechnics experience? “I started in 2007 when I was in college at Tennessee Tech. I had a good friend that worked for the Titans pyrotechnics company and he recommended me for the job when a position opened up. We rode to the games together from Cookeville.”

Rogers explained the game plan. “Typically, there are just two of us on each scoreboard. We arrive about four hours before the game to bring everything into the stadium and set everything up on top of the scoreboards before the game starts. Carrying things up into the scoreboard can be pretty exhausting. There aren’t stairs that go all the way up on the south scoreboard, so my partner and I have to carry everything up about seven different sets of ladders inside the scoreboard.”

“Right now, we set up about 130 different shots off each scoreboard before the game. Most games we should not have to reload anything but if it’s a high scoring game we might have to be ready with more fireworks. After the game is over, we put everything away we haven’t shot, take an inventory and head home.”

It turns out it not a cushy job. “Up on the scoreboard, it gets pretty hot in the summer but it gets really cold in the winter. The scoreboard funnels all the wind right to me. There is a roof so I don’t get rained on so that’s very nice.”

It turns out the system to trigger the fireworks has greatly improved over 18 years. When Rogers started, there was a switchboard with 50 different switches on it that was connected to three car batteries. It is much more sophisticated now and is automated and runs wirelessly.

In addition to having a great view from where Rogers sits, it turns out there are other perks. He gets to park right next to the stadium. He gets a nice meal in the press box prior to the game. During those meals he has seen and met a number of local and national TV and radio personalities.

“One of the coolest things I have been able to do is not only meet some of the Titans players on game day but being able to attend a few special events the Titans players have hosted and actually getting to sit down and have dinner with some of the Titans players.”

Rogers described the pyrotechnics team. In addition to the two on each scoreboard, there are six people that do things on the field like set up the smoke cryogenics for the players when they first run on the field.

So what can possibly go wrong? “Sometimes the fireworks go off when they are not supposed to. Someone might trip over a wire or maybe a fuse breaks and the fireworks go off. It’s bad when fireworks go off when they are not supposed to. Once or twice we shot off fireworks on a touchdown but the call was reversed and no touchdown.”

Rogers says going through security can be amusing. “Although we go through a special gate, security knows us and they make us go through a metal detector, we bring in cans of kerosene, boxes of ‘explosives’, knives and scissors. However, security still make us pour out our drinks because you aren’t allowed to bring drinks into the stadium.”

Rogers is not sure how much longer his sweet side gig will last. “Currently, fireworks are not allowed indoors for NFL games. The roof of the new Titans stadium will be transparent, so there is a possibility we could shoot something outside the stadium the fans could still see and hear. I guess we will have to wait and see.”