NASHVILLE – The members of the Tennessee Titans equipment staff have been named winners of The Whitey Zimmerman Award.
The award is given out annually to an NFL equipment manager and his staff to recognize them for excellence in their field.
The award has been given since 1994 in honor of the late Whitey Zimmerman of the Atlanta Falcons. It is the only award of its kind for NFL Equipment Managers.
Joey Barranco is Director, Equipment Operations for the Titans. He's been with the team since the 2000 season.
Matt Thompson (senior manager, equipment operations), Jerome Kline (coordinator, equipment technology), Trey Reid (coordinator, equipment technology), Justin Bridgemon (equipment assistant) and Jordan Middleton (assistant equipment) are all part of the team's equipment staff with Barranco. David Maynor, coordinator, football facilities and team operations, also assists the team's equipment staff on a regular basis.
The staff was recently recognized the week of the NFL owners meetings, during an equipment managers honors night.
It's the first time the Titans organization has been presented with the award, which is chosen by the league office.
"It makes us feel great, because it's voted by people who see what you do," said Barranco, who first began working as an equipment manager while in school at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. "We work with the league office, and we all try and work hard. We don't have a big staff compared to a lot of other staffs, but we are all doing the job to get the job done.
"Everyone is here for one thing, and that is to make sure the players, and coaches, have what they need on a daily basis. They say if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life. … We have good crew, and everybody around here pitches in to help, which makes our job easier."
